Harrison Bergeron Project

capture4

In the short story, “Harrison Bergeron”, Vonnegut satirized the aspect regarding absolute equality. In the year 2081, everybody was equal. Everybody’s potential has been suppressed by the government and the protagonist, Harrison Bergeron stood up to the government by disposing of his handicaps in public. The Handicapper General took his life for he has broken the law. Everybody remained equal, because of the amendments. One of the amendments stated that one must not discard their handicaps either or not done of one’s own free will, because handicaps ensure one’s equality among others. This relates to the story, because everybody wore handicaps to represent absolute equality. Law enforcers being entitled to use brute force on those who violate the law is another amendment in the charter. This amendment can be applied in the story, because of how the police went in Harrison’s home and arbitrarily arrested him. Another amendment in the charter is that any type of Insurgency among the regime will result in immediate execution. This connects with the story, because when Harrison stood up to the government, he got killed immediately. One would notice how the amendments were created to establish absolute equality and if these laws were broken, the perpetrator does not face justice, but severe punishment instead.

Be First to Comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *