Kurt Vonnegut's Short Story Harrison Bergeron
An Analysis and Discussion on Dystopian Themes and American Trends
Jul 22, 2009
Vonnegut best demonstrates already-developed themes of freedom, civil rights, the American dream, and media influence as well as opposition between strength and weakness and knowledge and ignorance through exaggerating them into a futuristic dystopia that creates a call to action for modern-day Americans, especially because in the forty-eight years after its publication many of the themes have become more noticeable in modern society.
Lack of Freedom in "Harrison Bergeron"
One of the most prevalent themes in “Harrison Bergeron” is the lack of freedom. Freedom is one of the most-highly valued American ideals, and Harrison strives to display this through his escape from jail, removal of his handicaps, and attempt to influence others around him.
In Harrison Bergeron’s world, people cannot choose what they want to take part in or what they are good at because if a person is above average in anything, even appearance, they are handicapped as a result, as the dancers are weighted and masked to ensure that nobody “would feel like something the cat drug in."
While the loss of freedom in America is not as obvious today as in Harrison’s world, our rights are slowly being stolen as well, an example being recent smoking ordinances implemented in public areas. While these ordinances might help one group of people (non-smokers), they are restricting another group’s (smokers and others who profit from smokers) right to perform a legal action in a public place.
Loss of Civil Rights in "Harrison Bergeron"
With the loss of freedom comes the loss of civil rights, something ironic because these rights theoretically should be one of the greatest steps to freedom and equality, but these rights only cause more restrictions, which ultimately leads to their destruction.
In Vonnegut’s story, there are no longer civil rights because every person must be completely equal, at least by the government’s standards, which leaves them without the right to anything, even their own natural abilities.
The slow stripping away of our own civil liberties is apparent, especially in our post-9/11 nation. Less than a month after the attacks, the passing of the US Patriot Act gave unlimited authority to governmental agencies, leading our world just one step closer to the dystopia Vonnegut created.
Social Status in "Harrison Bergeron"
Vonnegut reveals the importance of maintaining the American dream and the ability to move up in society or achieve personal success through his characters’ inability to change their economic or social status.
Each person in the story either possesses “average” (though different than our average standard) or handicapped intelligence, so even if people could utilize their talents to their fullest potential, they still wouldn’t possess the knowledge required for social mobility.
Contrast of Strength Versus Weakness in "Harrison Bergeron"
The contrast of strength versus weakness in the story is one of the strongest resemblances between modern America and the dystopia Vonnegut has created. Every strong person in the story (whether that strength be physical, mental, or aesthetic) is disabled to prevent the weak from harm, but they are still harmed because of the loss of others’ talents that could enrich, or even save, their lives.
The pretty dancers are forced to conceal their faces to prevent the insecure feelings of others who do not possess the same beauty, thus preventing their strength, but also robbing the community of that beauty and appreciation.
In our culture, we often put limits on how much control or strength any person can have, even the president of the country. We punish too much success by ensuring the weaker of the community receives part of the stronger people’s strengths, an example being the general rule that the more a person makes, the higher they are taxed by the government, a subtle stealing of strength.
How Vonnegut Shows that America Could be Slowly Moving Toward a Dystopia
Vonnegut uses subtle changes in society to satirize America through opposition of knowledge and power versus suppression and ignorance. Each time the government and other authority figures in America gain more power, even for something that might be trivial to most people, the population becomes a bit more ignorant, allowing the ignorance to build and form deep layers that become impossible to chip with each bit of power the government gains.
The more knowledge the government acquires and does not share with the public, the more impossible it becomes for Americans to think, and act, for better or worse. Even when Harrison defies society by demonstrating his abilities and suggesting radical and freeing change, several obstacles prevent any real success on his part.
The largest cause for this is the ignorance and lack of knowledge of the people in Harrison’s world. Hazel watches her son die on television after performing a beautiful dance that theoretically could have brought about radical change, and instead of gaining even an ounce of understanding, she ends where she begun. When George asked her why she had tears in her eyes, her memory had already failed her, but she takes his advice to simply forget sad things, commenting that she always does. The only real understanding in the story comes from outsiders (readers) who are not immersed in the world of control.
What Vonnegut calls readers to notice are the seemingly major differences from the present world to Harrison Bergeron’s world and examine the notable similarities in this world and his world. Through demonstration of a dystopian world and today’s actions that might result in a future dystopia, readers are called to act on what might normally not affect us enough to take action before we are incapable of acting because of control or our own ignorance.
Through a grotesque demonstration, Vonnegut indirectly encourages appreciation of differences within humanity because failure to appreciate uniqueness could lead to actual equality and a world without competition, dreams, or mobility.
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