Harrison Bergeron

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"Harrison Bergeron"
Short story by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Genre(s)Dystopia, Science fiction, Political Fiction, short story
Publication
Published inThe Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (1st release)
Publication typePeriodical
Media typePrint (Magazine)
Publication date1961

"Harrison Bergeron" is a satirical, dystopian science fiction short story written by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. and first published in October 1961. Originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, the story was re-published in the author's collection Welcome to the Monkey House in 1968.

Plot summary

The plot is set in the year 2081. Due to the 211th, 212th and 213th Amendments to the Constitution of America, all Americans are mandated equal. “They were not only equal before God and the law. They were equal every which way." In America no one is more intelligent than anyone else, no one is better looking or more athletic than anyone else. In order to stop any sort of competition in society these measures are enforced by the United States Handicapper General. The current Handicapper General, Diana Moon Glampers, and her team of agents have developed several forms of "handicaps." Beautiful people are forced to wear masks, athletic people have to carry weights, and intelligent people have to wear radios in their ears that interrupt thoughts with loud noises. In April 2081 the agents of the Handicapper General take fourteen-year-old Harrison Bergeron away from his parents, George and Hazel. The couple is not aware of the full extent of that tragedy because Hazel is of average intelligence and George has to wear the mental handicap radio. Later that day the two are watching ballerinas on live television where the talented dancers have weights on their arms and feet. The show is interrupted by a bulletin announcing that Harrison Bergeron has escaped from prison. A picture of Harrison wearing several handicaps is shown. Suddenly the photo is replaced by images of Harrison storming the studio. Ripping off all his handicaps he declares that he is the emperor and a greater ruler than anyone else. He chooses one of the ballerinas as his empress, liberates her from her handicaps, and starts to dance with her. They dance until they kiss the ceiling. A few seconds later Diana Moon Glampers enters the studio and kills Harrison and his empress with a shotgun, and then the screen goes dark. George Bergeron misses these events, having left to get a beer. He returns and finds Hazel crying on the couch. She says that something sad must have happened on TV, but that she cannot remember what it was. George tells her to forget about sad things.

Main characters

Harrison Bergeron

Harrison Bergeron is the son of George and Hazel Bergeron. He is above average in many respects. Although he is only fourteen years old he has been jailed by the Handicapper General’s office for planning to overthrow the government. He is seven feet tall, highly intelligent, extraordinarily handsome and athletic. Furthermore he is willing to live as a full human being and does not want to obey the laws of the Government, which tries to dumb down the whole American society. He is therefore a real threat to the Government not only currently but also in the future because he could produce generations of superior children. The Handicapper General forces him to put on the heaviest handicaps: he does not only wear the small mental handicap radios but also huge earphones and spectacles which are intended to make him half blind and to give him tremendous headaches. He has to carry three hundred pounds of additional weight, a red rubber nose, and black caps for his teeth. When he escapes from jail, the Government describes him as “a genius and an athlete” and tells people that he should be regarded as extremely dangerous. In fact, Harrison has a great self-confidence and when escapes from prison and enters the television studio he is fully convinced that he is able to overthrow the Government. But he has also artistic and romantic characteristics. He sings and dances with his empress in a somewhat divine way; they are even able to neutralize gravity. He represents the part of American people who still long for greater goals, for a better way of living, and for progress. He seems to be a new Messiah who tries to free people from a totalitarian system. He is the symbol of defiance but the fact that he is shot down almost immediately shows that America is not willing to tolerate people who show all the potential they have got.

George Bergeron

George Bergeron is Harrison’s father and Hazel’s husband. He is a very smart and sensitive character but he is handicapped artificially by the Government. Just as his son, he has to wear mental handicap radios in his ears which keep him from thinking intensely and analytically. Due to the fact that he is stronger than the average man he has to wear weights around his neck. When his wife Hazel suggests that he could take these weights off for a little while to relax he turns the idea down. He wants to obey the laws of the Government in which he is convinced and is not willing to risk the punishment for a little comfort. He believes that the situation in 2081 is way better than it had been back in the days when there was still competition in society. He has a lot of respect to the rules and represents the common passive citizen who does not show any critique towards a Government which manipulates people and fights individuals. Obeying the rules, he is not even capable of recognizing the tragic situation he is in when his son has been shot to death. His fate is a harsh critique and makes the readers question their own passivity towards the Government.

Hazel Bergeron

Hazel Bergeron is Harrison’s mother and George’s wife. Hazel has a perfectly average intelligence which means that she cannot think deeply about anything. Helpless as she is, she is still a very sweet and well intentioned character. She is a loving wife and mother and tries to comfort her husband by suggesting him to take his handicap weights off. She also cries when she sees what happens to her son but her brain does not allow her to keep in mind what she was crying about. So in the end all of her kindness does not count because her stupidity outruns her good intentions. It is important to mark that Hazel has a lot in common with the Handicapper General Diana Moon Glampers. This seems to symbolize that America is ruled by persons of average intelligence as Hazel’s, as a possible satire of the competency of those running the government.

Diana Moon Glampers

Despite appearing in person for only four sentences, Handicapper General Diana Moon Glampers represents the oppressive government. It is mentioned early on that Hazel resembles Diana, and Hazel mentions improvements she would make to Diana's handicap regulations. She shows a bitter ruthlessness, in that she kills Harrison and his Empress without warning, and threatens the musicians with a similar fate before the Bergeron's television tube burns out (leaving their fate ambiguous). Diana's first and middle names could possibly be a reference to Diana, the Roman huntress goddess of the moon. [1]

The Ballerina

A beautiful dancer that was burdened with an especially ugly mask and excessive weights ('as big as those worn by two hundred pound men'), as she is the fairest and most graceful of the dancers. She stammers when presented with an announcement card. It is possible, but not stated, that she is the same dancer who Harrison Bergeron takes as his Empress, who is later shot by Dianna Moon Glompers for not wearing her handicaps.

Motifs and critique

Vonnegut's story is politically satirical. The demand of absolute equality is the elimination of natural differences. Citizens lose their freedom and their rights as individuals. The result is a nation of dumb and slow human beings who follow their leaders without question. “Harrison Bergeron” can therefore be read as a harsh critique of communism,[2] which champions equality. It is a satire of America's misunderstanding of what a socialist society would entail, as well as a communist one.[3] More broadly, Pinternagel also notes that Vonnegut’s short-stories are based on topics like techno-fascism and anti-intellectualism.[4]

Style

Vonnegut is influenced by his early work as a journalist. His sentences are short and easily understood so as to be largely accessible.[5] A dystopian setting enhances his social and political critique by imagining a future world founded on absolute equality. Yet Vonnegut also punctuates his dystopia with humor. Even the most horrifying scenes are underlined by jokes or absurdity. When the news announcer is supposed to read a news bulletin he must hand it to a nearby ballerina because he has a speech impediment. The ballerina then has to alter her voice because it would be "unfair" to use her natural voice. This absurdity highlights the madness of the world of "Bergeron," while also giving voice to Vonnegut's consistent pessimism.

Adaptations

The story has been adapted to the screen at least four times.

PBS adapted several stories, including "Harrison Bergeron," in Between Time and Timbuktu (1972), with Avind Haerum as the title character.

Showtime produced a full-length made for television adaptation titled Harrison Bergeron in 1995, starring Sean Astin as the title character. The adaptation varied from the plot considerably, featuring Harrison being recruited by the National Administration Center, a secret cabal of geniuses within the government who ensure that the handicapped America functions. Working for the television division, Harrison becomes dissatisfied with the status quo and attempts to start another American revolution by taking over the nation's television broadcasting. He broadcasts old unhandicapped movies and music, while encouraging people to remove their brain handicapping "bands" on their heads.

In 2006, a short film also titled Harrison Bergeron was released. This film received direct praise from Vonnegut himself, who said, "I am glad to see the appropriate measures taken with my story."

In 2009, another short film titled 2081 was released, based on the original story.

In the real world

  • In 2005 the story was quoted by attorneys in a brief before the Kansas Supreme Court. Vonnegut was quoted as saying that while he didn't mind the story being used in the suit, he disagreed with the lawyers' interpretation of it.[6]
  • U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia quoted the story in PGA Tour, Inc. v. Martin.
  • Libertarian commentator John Stossel frequently quotes the story and references the title of the U.S. Handicapper General.
  • The story is printed in full in the Politics textbook 'Political Concepts: A reader and guide' by Iain Mckenzie, in the chapter on equality.
  • The story is published in full in the Compact Eighth edition of the textbook 'The Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction' by Ann Charters.

See also

References

  1. ^ <Khawaja, Zainab. (2011): Socialism, Communism, & Harrison Bergeron>
  2. ^ [Reed, Peter J. (1997): The Short Fiction of Kurt Vonnegut. Westport, London: Greenwood Press.p.81]
  3. ^ [Hattenhauer, Daryl. (1998): The politics of Kurt Vonnegut's "Harrison Bergeron" - Critical Essay. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2455/is_4_35/ai_91040892/>
  4. ^ [Pinternagel, Stefan T. (2005): Kurt Vonnegut jr. und die Science Fiction. Kilgore Trout, Trafaldamore and Bokononismus. Berlin: Shayol.p.7]
  5. ^ [Allen, William Rodney (1991): Understanding Kurt Vonnegut. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press.p.3]
  6. ^ Rothschild, Scott (2005-05-05). "Vonnegut: Lawyers could use literary lesson". LJWorld.com. Retrieved 2009-08-06.

Further reading

Klinkowitz, Jerome (1998): Vonnegut in fact. The public spokesman of personal fiction. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press

Leeds, Marc (1995): The Vonnegut Encyclopedia. An Authorized Compendium. Westport, London: Greenwood Press

Leeds, Marc; Reed, Peter J. (1996): The Vonnegut Chronicles. Interviews and Essays. Westport, London: Greenwood Press

Petterson, Bo (1994): The World according to Kurt Vonnegut. Moral Paradox and Narrative Form. Åbo: Åbo University

External links