Transcript:
Kurt Vonnegut earned his fame in the mid-20th century as a groundbreaking science-fiction writer. In 1961, he published “Harrison Bergeron” in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. This short story outlines a future America where the government enforces complete equality, to the point where people with above-average traits must use “handicaps” to deplete their skills.
“The year was 2081, and everyone was finally equal. They weren’t only equal before god and the law, you see. They were equal every which way” (2081 00:25 – 00:40).
Thus begins the story.
The government kidnaps and jails the title character as a child for having above-average abilities and traits in a plethora of fields. Time passes, and Harrison Bergeron breaks out of prison and attempts to overthrow the government – an action which ends in the enforcer, the Handicapper General, shooting him down in a television studio. Vonnegut crafts a story about those in power stifling individuality and freedom in a failed attempt to create a utopia. At first glance, the story seems to promote an anti-communist and anti-fascist government, but it goes beyond this. Through Vonnegut’s contrasting physical depictions of government and citizens as well as the perversions of ideals held by the characters, “Harrison Bergeron” promotes an anarchist philosophy, advocating against government control altogether.
Vonnegut aptly describes the citizens of this America in terms of their handicaps rather than their actual characteristics to convey the overreach of government. About halfway through the story, when the title character is introduced, he is introduced as “Halloween and hardware” (Vonnegut para. 44). The intensity conveyed through alliteration and horror language brings out the fear that Harrison’s image garners – not just to observers, but to the government. Vonnegut establishes this throughout Harrison’s description. He “[looks] like a walking junk-yard,” with “scrap metal hung all over him” (para. 45); while other handicaps have a symmetry to them (para. 45), the government seems to haphazardly nail whatever metals they can find to him. But no matter what they do, Harrison only grows more powerful, prospering despite the roughly 300 pounds hung all over his body. It is as if he is destined to rise above. To Vonnegut, when fascist regimes are confronted with a challenge to their leadership, they try to stifle it – but it cannot be stopped. A revolution always brews, and even if it is shot down (as Harrison Bergeron is), it will return to fight oppression. Fascism is never a lasting regime; there will always be forces to stop it, no matter how long it takes. The story’s use of freak-show-esque language conveys the government’s hunger to stay in power and the people’s destiny to fight against it.
Furthermore, Vonnegut conveys the power imbalance between the people and the government through the absence of a vivid physical description, in contrast to the other citizens. In “Harrison Bergeron,” introduced characters are defined by the handicaps they wear. George Bergeron has a “little mental radio” (para. 3) and “forty-seven pounds of birdshot” (para. 24) hung on his neck. The ballerinas have “sashweights,” “bags of birdshot,” (para. 10) and masks on their faces. And Harrison Bergeron is, of course, burdened with obscene handicaps scattered all over his body. The only character without any handicaps is Hazel, Harrison’s mother, who bears “a strong resemblance to the Handicapper General” (para. 16). This presents the idea that Diana Moon Glampers, the Handicapper General, has no handicaps. As the enforcer of an oppressive regime, she undoubtably possesses above-average intelligence; if she were handicapped, the order she has created would fall. It can be reasonably assumed that she is not being handicapped, directly breaking the laws she enforces. Vonnegut highlights this sort of hypocrisy of the government – if the Handicapper General’s agents have “unceasing vigilance” (para. 1), they cannot be hindered by piercing noises every twenty seconds as the rest of the population must endure. A government in which those in power subject citizens to rules they themselves do not follow is not democracy. Despite complete equality across the population, it becomes clear that the laws are not meant to create a utopia, but for the government to hold unceasing control over its people. Through its description of the government, or lack thereof, “Harrison Bergeron” presents the idea that the laws enforced by fascist leadership have little purpose other than exerting control over the populus.
Separately, in his portrayal of characters conforming or rising above the government, Vonnegut draws attention to a perversion of ideals which makes it impossible to have a successful government. George Harrison is the epitome of not using strength to challenge government – in a sense, Vonnegut writes him as a call to action for readers. While watching ballet, he thinks about how it would look with them not handicapped, but then following a noise, he stops (para. 10). Clearly, he is not happy with the reality of America. However, he subsides and follows; when his wife suggests he remove his handicaps to relax, he argues that the prison time and monetary fines which would follow are, in his words, “’not a bargain’” (para. 27). He understands the ruling government is wrong in their actions, yet he chooses to conform in fear of the consequences which might follow. This represents the supposed will of the people. While many might subscribe to a belief in opposition, they fear punishment or isolation from the rest of the population, so they choose to conform to the rest of the population. This story asserts that the trust of the people does not lie in the government, despite many subscribing to it; it is instead fear which holds a government up.
The additional problem to government which Vonnegut writes is that one oppressive regime is replaced with yet another; in his mind, there is no inherently good government. When Harrison Bergeron enters the television studio and rips off his handicaps, his “clanking, clownish, and huge” (para. 53) presence garners fear from the people who “cower” (para. 53) before him. He declares himself the emperor (para. 54) and chooses an empress (para. 60), to rule over the people. Though it initially seems a welcome change, with Harrison removing the handicaps of the people and restoring the country to a freer state, upon further thought, he is only becoming another oppressive ruler. Harrison even says, “everybody must do what I say at once!” (para. 54). Vonnegut depicts a lateral change – not in freedom, but in only leadership. Though the revolution is quelled, it would not be much of a revolution. Vonnegut worries that until government control is halted, or at least weakened, there cannot be freedom. The laws which government makes violate the social contract by neither protecting the people from oppression nor granting any freedom to the people. Harrison Bergeron’s tendency towards dictatorship shows that any government inevitably oppresses the people which it rules.
In brief, Vonnegut illustrates the dangers of government through the descriptions of his characters and the warped ideologies they hold. In the dystopian reality he creates, he promotes a form of anarchism, that government inevitably corrupts, and even seemingly positive regime changes often represent no advancement. Further depth is added to this narrative given that Vonnegut wrote “Harrison Bergeron” in the heart of the Cold War. Americans came from seeing an age of fascism in the second world war to living at a time of oppressive communist rule in the USSR and American suppression of anti-capitalist thought. In an age when the free world broke the fundamental rights of freedom, all government seems defective. Though “Harrison Bergeron” is clearly a satire on the state of the world during the Cold War, a deeper narrative must be understood. It is a message to the people, Vonnegut shouting at them to not blindly follow their government and question who it suppresses, the would-be Harrison Bergerons of the world.
Works Cited
2081. Directed by Chandler Tuttle, performances by Armie Hammer, Julie Hagerty, Patricia Clarkson, and James Cosmo. 2009. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sU3myZ3H6u0.
Ajay. “People Holding Masks to Fake their Identity.” Adobe Stock. https://stock.adobe.com/images/people-holding-masks-to-fake-their-indentity/366438420?prev_url=detail.
Beethoven, Ludwig van. Beethoven: Symphony No. 7, 2nd Movement. Performed by the Deutche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, 10 Mar 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sv2QnrCJNk0.
Bryant, Andrew. “Not Quite Free.” Self Leadership, 9 Jul 2021, https://www.selfleadership.com/blog/freedom-free-will-dealing-with-the-paradox.
“Cold War.” Forces, 5 May 2021, https://www.forces.net/news/cold-war-what-was-it-and-how-did-it-start.
Dzierba. “Harrison Bergeron Clipart.” Hubpages, 24 Feb 2011, https://discover.hubpages.com/literature/Harrison-Bergeron-vs-The-Pedestrian-Analysis.
Fritz, Plakatsammlung Karl. “Iron Front Poster.” Wikipedia, 1932, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Front#/media/File:Three_Arrows_election_poster_of_the_Social_Democratic_Party_of_Germany,_1932_-_Gegen_Papen,_Hitler,_Th%C3%A4lmann.png.
Graffius, Catriona. “Capitol Hill.” US Sun, 6 Jan 2021, https://www.the-sun.com/news/2094653/what-is-capitol-hill-where-is-it/.
Green, Harry. “Freedom Tape.” Eastside, 17 Nov 2016, https://eastside-online.org/opinions/freedom-of-speech-not-at-east/.
“Harrison Bergeron Cover.” IMDB, 13 Aug 1995, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113264/.
Hastings, Tom. “Dictatorship.” LAProgressive, 13 Oct 2022, https://www.laprogressive.com/progressive-issues/dictatorship-raise-hands.
Hendryx, John. “Conformity.” Monergism, 14 July 2016, https://www.monergism.com/blog/diversity-through-relentless-conformity.
“Homefront: The Revolution.” Deep Silver, 11 June 2017, https://www.deepsilver.com/en/games/homefront-the-revolution/.
Hummel, Joseph Nepomuk. Hummel: Trumpet Concerto in Eb, 2nd Movement. Performed by Tine Thing Helseth, 27 Apr 2011, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skJS-ozIyZk.
Joy, Shemin. “Jail.” Deccan Herald, 23 Oct 2019, https://www.deccanherald.com/national/north-and-central/1658-in-jail-despite-completing-sentence-due-to-fine-770592.html.
“Kurt and his Works.” Bookmarks, 11 Nov 2020, https://bookmarks.reviews/the-first-reviews-of-slaughterhouse-five/.
M, Lynn. “Ear Piece.” Fiction Predilection, 10 June 2014, https://fictionpredilection.weebly.com/blog/harrison-bergeron-a-summary.
Mohin, Andrea. “Square Dance.” The New York Times, 5 July 2014, https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/07/arts/dance/us-ballerinas-redefine-an-art-but-what-about-history.html.
Moise, Alexandru. “Protest.” CEU Weekly, 23 Feb 2014, https://ceuweekly.blogspot.com/2014/02/debate-opposition-movements-should-not.html.
Peters, Scott. “Legal System.” Scott Peters, https://scottpeters.house.gov/legislative-accomplishments/bills-introduced-that-have-become-law.
“Photo of Kurt Vonnegut.” Wikipedia, 17 Feb 1962, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Vonnegut#/media/File:Kurt_Vonnegut_1972.jpg.
Price, Zachary. “Congress in Session.” The Conversation, 13 Dec 2019, https://theconversation.com/us/topics/government-shutdown-64785.
“Rabid Harrison.” Medium, 4 Oct 2017, https://medium.com/the-mission/what-happens-when-everyone-is-finally-equal-3827f134150a.
Renegade. “Political Cartoon.” Renegade Tribune, 22 Oct 2017, http://www.renegadetribune.com/eye-opening-survey-shows-no-1-fear-us-citizens-government-not-terrorism/.
Sauvey, Gretchen. “Hollywood 10.” Marquette, https://academic.mu.edu/meissnerd/mccarthyism.html.
Skyers, Nathan. “Harrison Comic.” Nathan Skyers, https://www.nathanskyers.com/harrison-bergeron/.
Soto, Susan. “Harrison Bergeron Play.” Behance, 15 July 2012, https://www.behance.net/gallery/4530355/Harrison-Bergeron.
“The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction Cover.” Amazon, Oct 1961, https://www.amazon.com/Magazine-Fantasy-Science-Fiction-APPEARANCE/dp/B005W7A0W4.
The Shawshank Redemption. Directed by Frank Darabont. Performed by Tim Robbins, 22 Sep 1994, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvPerZLPnm4.
Valery, Mary. “Anarchy Symbol.” Brittanica, 18 March 2014, https://www.britannica.com/topic/anarchism.
Visalli, Santi. “Kurt at the Typewriter.” New Yorker, 13 June 2019, https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/what-kurt-vonneguts-slaughterhouse-five-tells-us-now.
Vonnegut, Kurt, Jr. “Harrison Bergeron.” Oct. 1961. Internet Archive, https://archive.org/stream/HarrisonBergeron/Harrison%20Bergeron_djvu.txt.
Waters, Gary. “Power Imbalance.” Getty Images, 1 May 2014, https://www.bmj.com/content/348/bmj.g3178.
Zeitung, Sueddendeutche. “Protesters March in New York Against Fascism.” Bill Downs CBS, 1934, https://www.billdownscbs.com/2018/02/how-new-york-times-covered-rise-and.html.
Featured Image:
Creative Commons for Free and Fair Reuse