Equality In Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron

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The short story,”Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. paints the troubles of a society believing in equality among all. This short story speaks of a time in the year 2081 when people must wear handicaps to bring the more talented people down to the level of average. These ideals of justness result in problems such as Harrison, an extremely gifted young man who shakes the world for a few minutes by invading a studio and proclaiming himself to be the “king”. This ultimately results in him, the problem, having to be fixed by the Handicapper General, the person who creates, updates and changes handicaps. One lesson this story illustrates is that true equality is unattainable. In their world, equivalence is very important and is shown when George …show more content…
One example is Harrison who grows and evolves so fast that handicaps can’t be made for him. “Nobody had ever born heavier handicaps. He had outgrown hindrances faster than the H-G men could think them up.” This aids the theme because it proves that with people like Harrison, no one can be equal. In addition to this, a scene shows Harrison rip his handicaps. “Harrison tore the straps of his handicaps harness like wet tissue.” This conjointly supports the theme because I believe the author added this to show certain people are just not meant to be considered equal to others and unable to live in an area where everyone is the same. In the short story “Harrison Bergeron”, their society seems advanced and has everything they need though the one thing they don’t have is equality. Their ignorance masks the fact that they are unequal and shines through in the disadvantages that those wearing handicaps have. This is also noticeable because of people such as Harrison, so talented and strong, are unable to wear handicaps for they outgrow them too quickly. All in all, everyone is different in some way, shape or form and nobody can change that through
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