"Harrison Bergeron"

Paper Summary:

In the short story "Harrison Bergeron," Kurt Vonnegut Jr. speculated what a Utopia-like society in the modern period would be like. This paper posits that the achievement of equality in the story puts forth the message to the reader that what makes human society live in harmony and unity is primarily because of our differences. Differences make 'gaps' left by someone else be filled out by another one in the society: this process makes humans interdependent on one another because each one of us complement each other.

From the Paper:

"Apart from the lack of competitiveness and creativity that was shown in the ballet dance, another frightening notion that Vonnegut implied in the story was that achievement of equality could become detrimental to human rights. Illustrated in the story was Harrison's and the beautiful ballerina's death, which reflects how, in an attempt to establish an extreme kind of equality, the Handicapper General Diana Moon Glamplers killed both Harrison and the beautiful ballerina."

More papers on "Harrison Bergeron":

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• Term Paper # 75648 : "Harrison Bergeron" and Equality"

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