Literature Paper 1
The story, “Harrison Bergeron,” by Kurt Vonnegut is told in third person, and the setting is the year 2081. The setting has significance to the story and is a satire of our government and what our government has created. The main characters of the story are Harrison Bergeron, his father George, and his mother Hazel. The government controls these characters and allows them to live their life as equal, in a society where everyone is equal. No one stands out in this society or they will pay the consequences for their action. The story is meant to show the struggles of everyday life as it relates to our government, its restrictions, and how it will affect the quality of life in the future.
Harrison Bergeron is tall and handsome in a society where everyone that is
above-average is handicapped, even their looks, in an attempt at equality among all the members. Harrison is far above average in looks, therefore he is handicapped more than if he was only slightly above average. He is forced to wear a disguise, a funny nose, black caps over his teeth, thick lenses, and he is shackled with weights. Harrison’s appearance is described as, “Halloween and hardware. Nobody had ever born heavier handicaps” (1302). These handicaps were to change his appearance, and the government could force Harrison to wear these handicaps but they did not stop there.
The government tries to control Harrison’s thoughts and makes him wear, “ a tremendous pair of earphones instead of a little ear radio, and spectacles with thick wavy
lenses. The spectacles were intended to make him not only blind but to give him whanging headaches besides” (1302). Harrison and his struggles with the government are obvious but he also struggles with himself and his rebellious attitude. Harrison has...