Harrison Bergeron

Title and author: Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

Biography:   Kurt Vonnegut was born in Indianapolis, Indiana on November 11, 1922. He was born to Kurt Vonnegut Sr. and Edith Lieber, both second generation German-American.  He eventually joined the army in world war two, where he was captured during the battle of the bulge.He also witnessed the fire bombing of Dresden, where he was named leader of the POW's because he spoke German. Until he told them what he was going to do to them when the Russians arrived. When the war was over he recieved the purple heart award for what he called a ludicrously negligible wound. Some of his works include Harrison Bergeron, Breakfast of Champions and Timequake.
 Kurt Vonnegut died in New York City on April 11, 2007.

Symbol:   This picture represents the state of the world in this story. Everyone is completely equal. But they are trapped.  Those who have more skills, are smarter or better looking are punished with masks, chains and things to cage peoples talents. Nobody can truly be who they could be. If you try to break free of these things, you are punished again, by death or by being put in jail. No matter what you do in this world, you are trapped.

Response: 2. What parts of the story are exaggerated? What do you think was the author's purpose in using exaggeration so extensively? 
 I believe that the most exaggerated parts of this story are the handicaps. Such as the handicaps for Harrison himself. Earmuffs made to give him headaches along with glasses that make him half blind, helping with the headaches. Not only is there that, but he also has enough weight on him to stop any normal man in his tracks. And nearly everyone has a handicap! The weight some of these people are forced to wear would seem impossible for the average human being to be able to take now.
        3. What do George's and Hazel's reactions at the end of the story reveal about the quality of life in their society?
 The end of this story reveals that these people have a very low quality of life. Even the emotions of people must seemingly be equal. No one may be sad while someone else is happy. They are made to forget the whole ordeal. As if it had never happened. Or maybe it's just that people have grown so accustomed to seeing these terrible things happen on t.v that humans have developed a way to simply block out the bad memories.
      4. a) What is the situational irony in the story? What would you suspect a society to be like where everyone is equal?
  I would expect a society where everyone is equal to be almost a paradise. There would be no need for war, crime or anything terrible. There would never be any greed, or famine or hate. There would be no reason to hate because everyone is equal. There wouldn't be any world hunger because everyone would have the same amount of money, food, light and heat. Instead, it's forcing people into depression. Punishing those who have anything better, making them suffer.
          b) What point do you think the author is making through the irony?
  Not everything in the idea of equality is great.  And even though we think it may be great now, what will we think when it actually happens? We will simply accept it and move on? Or will we fight to keep things the way they are. People are competitive by nature, and if everyone is the same,  nobody can win in the competition.
   5.  What are some other books/ movies you know of about planned utopias that turned out to be the opposite? If you could create a utopia, what would it be like?
  The island is seemingly a paradise for many people, or so they think. They then discover that the people in the island are just clones, made for organs, children and blood for their real human counterparts.  In my ideal utopia, not everyone would be completely equal in the sense of the story Harrison Bergeron.  Everyone would be equal as a person, but people who have advantages on other would be able to keep those. They wouldn't suffer for being better.   Competitions would still be held, people would be able to train for things as much as they want, and get as good as they want. There wouldn't be any hunger or homelessness because everyone would have a home, and food!

i) Why do you think the author wrote the text?
 I think the author wrote the text to make us think about what the world might be if everyone were equal. There are many different views of a world of equality. And this just represents one of them.

ii) What does the author want you to think about?
 The author wants us to think about what a future utopia may be like. Some people may see it as a terrible thing, where people live depressed and suffering because of their advantages over other people. Then again, some people see it as the perfect place. The latter would be better.

iii) Do you belong to any of the groups in the text?
I would probably belong with the handicapped people. I wouldn't want to be handicapped, I'd hate it and would want to fight it. But would I really fight? I'd probably to scared of what might happen to me if I joined Harrison. But not only to me, but also the people I know.

iv) Does the story remind you of a real-life event (your own or others)?  
It does not remind me of anything.

v) Does the story remind you of another book or movie on a similar topic?
Again, this reminds me of the island. A seemingly perfect utopia, until people get called to the island, and are killed for the benefit of others.

vi) How does the story help you think about social issues and social justice?
    It helps me think about social issues because in society we need people to have different talents to make society function! If we didn't have some genius's, we'd never have gotten to where we are today with technology. We shouldn't handicap someone who has talents to make them the same as others.

vii) What action might you take from what you have learned?
       I can't really think of how this would apply to the things happening today but, if we were to come to earth being a world like this one, I would be on Harrison Bergeron's side. Fighting against the injustice. 

viii) What big question has this text left you with?
 Is this really what the world could end up being like? Are we all going to end up being controlled like this?