Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron: Equality, Fairness, And Freedom

……………Most of the numerous and very disparate urban utopias imagined since antiquity, claim more or less a social justice combining equality, fairness, and freedom. However the methods invented to reach this social justice often lead to more binding law, sometimes up to the absurd, that limited the abilities and capacities of the citizens. Thus, behind the mask of an ideal equality, is concealed in fact, a tremendous social injustice. In “Harrison Bergeron”, Kurt Vonnegut’s shows us the consequences of sacrificing freedom for perfect equality by using the story of an excessive utopia to demonstrate that a society in which total equality exists, is not only oppressive, but also static and inefficient. Vonnegut exemplifies the image of fairness

……………“The year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal…They were equal every which way” (1224). Diana Moon Glampers, the Handicapper General, is the guardian of this equality. She represents the symbol of fairness in the society, the one that prevent the society to fall back into” the dark age”. Although the story only mention her in a few sentences, it is obvious that she is the one who is running the show. Her job is clear and she is tough in accomplishing it. She shot to death Harrison Bergeron, the self proclaimed emperor and his empress the ballerina, with double barrel shut gun, and ordered the orchestra musician to put their handicaps back on immediately. Far to say that this lady is dumb and ugly, because we don’t have enough evidence in the story to confirm so, we can assume that she is the personification of the lowest mediocrity in this futuristic society. The story never mentioned her “handicaps” and that makes us apprehend that maybe the society assumed that she has already enough of natural

It is sad to reveal an enormous hypocrisy behind this utopia. The Handicapper General is not like anyone in the story. ……………Primo, she didn’t have any handicaps on her but she wasn’t a female Quasimodo either. She is fast and has a certain dexterity in handling firearms. She shot Harrison and the Ballerina while they were dancing and flying with only two shoots. That prove that she have a talent and she should wear some “pounds of birdshot in a canvas bag” around her arms to limit her ability to shoot people. ……………Secondo, she makes other people jealous of her position, maybe not in purpose but it happened. Remember when Hazel, Harrison’s Mother said that “she think she could make a good Handicapper