Summary Of Harrison Bergeron

975 Words4 Pages
In the short story "Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut, the government has taken over the future where everyone and everything has been forced to become equal.George and Hazel Bergerons son, Harrison, who has been taken into the custody of the government.Now as tragic as that is Hazel couldn't really think about it too much because she was average in every way. George on the other hand is above intelligence that means he needs a mental handicap radio that sends loud annoying noises that disturb his train of thought so George does not take unfair advantage of his brain. George also has another handicap, this handicap is 47 pounds of birdshot, lead balls, that he carries around with a padlock necklace on his neck because he is stronger than…show more content…
While he is doing both he doesn't notice Diana Moon Glampers the General of handicappers who shoots them till death. Now I know what the readers should be thinking, why did the author just kill the main character for no reason. Well that is where you're wrong, you see the author kills Harrison to show how far the government will go to remain in control. The author shows how far the government will go to remain in control in “Harrison Bergeron” by the government trying to make the populace equal, and stripping rights from citizens.How the H.G. Men made the people equal was to see where their strong suits were. Then they would try their best to try to downsize it to be "equal". Using an example from the story and I quote, "And to offset his good looks, the H-G men required that he wear at all times a red rubber ball for a nose, keep his eyebrows shaved off, and cover his even white teeth with black caps at snaggle- tooth random.".Or another example from the story would be and I quote,"She was referring to the forty-seven pounds of birdshot in a canvas bag, which was padlocked around George's…show more content…
Also "You been so tired lately-kind of wore out," said Hazel." This shows that the government will basically put the public in shackles just to make sure that they won't try to speak up against the government. Therefore the government will stay in control of the public by basically making the populace the same so it is like talking to one very predictable person instead of millions, and you are always one step ahead of them. The next way the author shows how far the government will go to remain in control is by making it a law. It even says within the first paragraph that they added three more amendments to the constitution. The story also says and I quote,"If there was just some way we could make a little hole in the bottom of the bag, and just take out a few of them lead balls. Just a few." "Two years in prison and two thousand dollars fine for every ball I took out," said George. "I don't call that a bargain.".A nomophobic person is someone who afraid of the law or the mention of the word law. I believe that some people in this future U.S. will be afraid of the government if all they had to do in order to go to jail was to cut a canvas

    More about Summary Of Harrison Bergeron

      Open Document