Question

What message does Kurt Vonnegut convey through the satire “Harrison Bergeron,” and how does the title character develop this message?

Answer 1

When Kurt Vonnegut writes his short story "Harrison Bergeron", the hidden message concerns the dangers of total equality.

In Vonnegut's America, the Government decided to amend the Constitution, so that all citizens are entirely equal in all aspects of life.

Citizens are forced to wear mechanisms that prevent physically and intellectually talented people from reaching their full potentials.

In Vonnegut's description of America, citizens who are either gifted or attractive, suffer consequences because of their condition. Individuality has been completely suppressed.

Harrison Bergeron is forced to wear weights, an ugly mask, and huge headphones just to make him equal to other citizens. When he escapes from prison, he tries to overthrow the Government; this makes the reader excited and hopeful. However, when Diana Moon Glampers ends Harrison's life, the reader gets a pessimistic feeling towards the concept of equality.

Answer 2

Answer :

Through the satire "Harrison Bergeron", Kurt Vonnegut stresses that we should not strive for total equality based on intelligence, strength and appearance among all members of the population as such a goal would lead to a negative outcome. It also focuses on the weakening effect that television can have on its viewers.

The title character "Harrison Bergeron" develops this message as he is arrested in the beginning of the play following his plans of overthrowing the government. He escapes from prison after taking off all the handicap devices that bring him down to the normalcy level and declaring that he is the emperor of the world. Trough his actions he inspires other people to rebel against the government of the Handicapper General. He does this in front of a television studio so that the viewers are also motivated to rebel against these impractical laws of the government.