The Lack Of Equality In Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron

Being unique is a necessary part of life. People are told from being children to adults that they need to be themselves. They are told to do what they love and love what they do. What if the world didn’t allow this? Kurt Vonnegut ponders the idea of a life in which the government enforces complete equality. “Harrison Bergeron” takes place in a future society that hinders people with skills to make everyone equal. This society makes everyone worse instead of better. People having skills and differences is key to life. Equality should be for all in the eyes of the law, however people must be allowed to be unique and have different skills.

First of all, the story makes it quite clear that complete equality should not be pursued, and that every

Taking a look at several of the characters in this story is a key way to see the impact that a lack of individuality can have. The first characters talked about in the story are George and Hazel Bergeron. Hazel is a very average human, but George on the other hand has several above average attributes. His intelligence is hindered by a radio that plays obnoxious sounds every few seconds. He also carried a bag of birdshot around his neck. However, the main handicap he deals with is the sounds. The transmitter destroys his ability to think and analyze events and ideas. One example is shown while they are watching the heavily handicapped and extremely average ballerinas. “George was toying with the vague notion that maybe dancers shouldn’t be handicapped. But he didn’t get very far with it before another noise in his ear radio scattered his thoughts.” (Vonnegut 193) This quotation continues to show how the government is now in an all-powerful place. Anyone with the mental power to realize that the government was wrong would have a distraction that would make them abandon the thought. George and Hazel are the biggest example in the story about the heart breaking measures the government has taken against its citizens. They watch their son get taken away, are sad for a bit, and then forget about it like it was an unimportant event that happens every day. They see their son on television, notice it for a few seconds, and then due to loud noises and incompetency they forget about it. The most heartbreaking event of the story is when Harrison is shot by the Handicap General. George returns to the kitchen and notices Hazel had been crying. He questions her about it and she does not know why she cried in the first place. Vonnegut shows here how complete equality takes people away from their humanity and their ability to be human beings. Characterization plays a key role in several of the other