Egalitarian Dystopia in “Harrison Bergeron”

 
              Kurt Vonnegut, in his short story, “Harrison Bergeron,” gives a scathing satirical

commentary on egalitarianism with his fictional society’s obsession with universal equality.

Vonnegut uses the character: Harrison Bergeron to comment on freedom, civil rights and a

society that gradually becomes a dystopia. In the story, society tries to make everyone equal by

putting a cap on talent and ability. According to Vonnegut they only succeed in defacing grace

beauty and athleticism.

              Freedom is the prevalent theme in “Harrison Bergeron.” Freedom is one of the most

cherished values enjoyed by Americans. Vonnegut paints a picture of what the downfall of

freedom looks like with the help of the antagonist, Handicapper General, Diana Moon Glampers.

In the story Glampers is a powerful government agent who uses her authority to impair those

with certain “unfair” advantages. She uses weights to hinder the strong, distracting devices to

restrict intelligent thought and dreadful masks to cover up beauty and grace. By restricting civic

rights, Glampers is able to take away the freedom of her fellow citizens, who are too subjugated

to fight back.

              Civil Rights is a theme that is discussed more lightly in “Harrison Bergeron.” Through

the use of 213 amendments in the fictional constitution, government has finally forced everyone

into equality. The futuristic constitution is compared to the Constitution of the United States,

which has only 27 amendments. Through years of Fanatical legislation, oppressive means are

established to create and perfect egalitarian utopia. To the contrary, legislative efforts end up

only benefiting the mediocre and incompetent. Vonnegut suggests that individual civic freedom

should never be surrender, even for the common good.

              Vonnegut demonstrates through his short story how a society can over time, change

dramatically into something that it was ever intended to be. Changes over a long time span can

lead to situation that people would not normally allow outright. The Boston tea party was

sparked over a two percent tax rate; in some places in America today tax rates have reached 30

percent.

Although Vonnegut illustrates some differenced between modern society and his fictional

civilization, the similarities are much more disturbing. Ultimately, Vonnegut’s message is that if

we fail to appreciate our uniqueness and our talents, it will lead to a decline in society.

Works Cited
Vonnegut, Kurt. “Harrison Bergeron.” Making Literature Matter: An Anthology for Readers and
Writers. 4 ed. Eds. John Schlib and John Clifford. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2009.
th

1513-1517. Print.