Vonnegut+Jr.,+Kurt

=Harrison Bergeron= Harrison Bergeron takes place in the United States, during the year 2081. The Handicapper General and the H-G men restrict anyone from being smarter or better looking than anyone. They make sure everybody are equal. The story focuses on a family of three, George, Hazel, and Harrison Bergeron. George's intelligence is above everyone elses so he is required to wear a mental handicap radio in his ear at all times. The radio is controlled by the government, to control "smarter" people from taking unfair advantages. Hazel is average, so she does not have any handicap. Harrison is a genius and an athlete who is in jail for plotting to overthrow the government. Harrison has more handicaps than anybody else. George and Hazel are in their living room, watching ballerinas on the T.V.. The ballerinas have to wear masks and are weighed down by sashweights and bags of birdshot because the government does not want anyone to feel subordinate. Hazel suggests that George take some lead balls out of his bag, but George is too afraid. George says this would lead to everybody competing against everybody else, the "dark ages". Abruptly, a ballerina announces that Harrison Bergeron has escaped from jail. Harrison breaks into the studio and can be seen on the T.V. screen. George and Hazel are watching their son declare himself as emperor. Harrison removes all of handicaps and selects a ballerina as his empress. He removes the ballerina's handicaps and the two dance (George goes into the kitchen to get a beer). Shortly after they start dancing, the Handicapper General and her men rush into the studio with a shotgun. The Handicapper General shoots the two of them and threatens everybody else to wear their handicaps again. George returns with his beer and notices that Hazel is crying, she forgets seeing her son be shot and only remembers "something real sad on television". She does not remember because average people have short attention spans.
 * Summary:**

"Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else."
 * Correlation:**

"And George, while his intelligence was way above normalm had a little mental handicap radio in his ear. He was required by law to wear it at all times. It was tuned to a government transmitter."

"They were burdened with sashweights and bags of birdshot, and their faces were masked, so that no one, seeing a free and graceful gesture or a pretty face, would feel like something the cat drug in."

The theme of the story is equality and freedom. Vonnegut expresses society in the U.S to be a mediocrity. Anybody who is above average like George, Harrison, and the Ballerinas, is given a handicap. The government tries to keep everybody the same physically and mentally. Since Harrison tires to overthrow the government, he is thrown in jail and eventually killed. In the story, the characters have no freedom to express what they believe. For example, the ballerinas can not properly express themselves because they are forced to wear masks and are weighed down by bags. Harrison tries to be free and different by removing all of his handicaps, but is killed by the Handicapper General.

I thought Vonnegut's vision of the future can somewhat be seen today. I think many times, especially in school, certain things are made to benefit the "average" person. For example, block scheduling is made so that if someone fails a class the first semester, it can be retaken the second semester. Another example is the whole issue about valedictorian. The title was taken away because some people felt that it would make the "average" person feel inferior. I think people that work hard should be recognized rather than being omitted. I also thought the reference to technology in the story was creepy. Today technology is a useful resource, but to think it could be used to manipulate someone is scary. For example, the radio transmitter that is controlled by the government. I would definitely take Harrison's side rather than the governments. I think the world would be dull if everybody was the same. Instead of being shunned for being above average, I think people should be recognized.
 * Reflection:**