| "Harrison Bergeron" | |
|---|---|
| Author | Kurt Vonnegut |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Dystopia, science fiction, political fiction, short story |
| Published in | The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (first release) |
| Publication type | Periodical |
| Media type | Print (magazine) |
| Publication date | 1961 |
"Harrison Bergeron" is a satirical and dystopian science-fiction short story written by Kurt Vonnegut and first published in October 1961. Originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, the story was republished in the author's Welcome to the Monkey House collection in 1968.
Plot
In
the year 2081, the 211th, 212th, and 213th amendments to the
Constitution dictate that all Americans are fully equal and not allowed
to be smarter, better-looking, or more physically able than anyone else.
The Handicapper General's agents enforce the equality laws, forcing
citizens to wear "handicaps": masks for those who are too beautiful,
loud radios that disrupt thoughts inside the ears of intelligent people,
and heavy weights for the strong or athletic.
One April, 14-year-old Harrison Bergeron, an intelligent,
athletic, and good-looking teenager, is taken away from his parents,
George and Hazel Bergeron, by the government. They are barely aware of
the tragedy, as Hazel has "average" intelligence (a euphemism for
stupidity), and George has a handicap radio installed by the government
to regulate his above-average intelligence.
Hazel and George watch ballet on television. They comment on the
dancers, who are weighed down to counteract their gracefulness and
masked to hide their attractiveness. George's thoughts are continually
interrupted by the different noises emitted by his handicap radio, which
piques Hazel's curiosity and imagination regarding handicaps. Noticing
his exhaustion, Hazel urges George to lie down and rest his "handicap
bag", 47 pounds (21 kg) of weights locked around George's neck. She
suggests taking a few of the weights out of the bag, but George resists,
aware of the illegality of such an action.
On television, a news reporter struggles to read the bulletin and
hands it to the ballerina wearing the most grotesque mask and heaviest
weights. She begins reading in her unacceptably natural, beautiful
voice, then apologizes before switching to a more unpleasant voice.
Harrison's escape from prison is announced, and a full-body photograph
of Harrison is shown, indicating that he is seven feet (2.1 m) tall and
burdened by three hundred pounds (140 kg) of handicaps.
George recognizes his son for a moment, before having the thought
eliminated by his radio. Harrison himself then storms the television
studio in an attempt to overthrow the government. He calls himself the
Emperor and rips off all of his handicaps, along with the handicaps of a
ballerina, whom he proclaims his "Empress". He orders the musicians to
play, promising them nobility if they do their best. Unhappy with their
initial attempt, Harrison takes control for a short while, and the music
improves. After listening and being moved by the music, Harrison and
his Empress dance while flying to the ceiling, then pause in mid-air to
kiss.
Diana Moon Glampers, the Handicapper General, enters the studio
and kills Harrison and the Empress with a ten-gauge double-barreled
shotgun. She forces the musicians to put on their handicaps, and the
television goes dark. George, unaware of the televised incident, returns
from the kitchen and asks Hazel why she was crying, to which she
replies that something sad happened on television that she cannot
remember. He comforts her and they return to their average lives.
Characters
- Harrison Bergeron is the fourteen-year-old son, who is 7 feet (2.1 m) tall, a genius, and an extraordinarily handsome, athletic, strong, and brave person. He wants to live as an unimpeded human being and does not want to obey the laws of the government, which has taken on the responsibility of creating equality for the whole American society. He has been jailed by the Handicapper General's office for planning to overthrow the government. To eliminate any "unfair advantages", the Handicapper General forces him to wear the most extreme handicaps reflecting his extraordinary attributes: huge earphones and spectacles intended to make him half blind and give him tremendous headaches, disfiguring makeup in the form of blackened teeth and a red rubber nose to mask his extraordinary looks, and so many weights to compensate his prodigious strength that they make him look more like a junk yard than a man. 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. When Harrison enters the television studio, he is convinced that he can overthrow the government and declares "I am the Emperor! ... Do you hear? I am the Emperor! Everybody must do what I say at once!". In addition to this talent and egotism, he also possesses artistic and romantic characteristics. He sings and dances with his Empress, defying gravity while doing so. Despite Harrison's superior physical prowess and intellectual faculties, he is stopped when the Handicapper General, Diana Moon Glampers, shoots him and his Empress down with a shotgun.
- George Bergeron is Harrison's father and Hazel's husband. A very smart and sensitive character, he is handicapped artificially by the government. Like his son, he has to wear mental handicap earphones in his ears to keep him from thinking intensely and analytically. Because he is stronger than average, he has to wear weights around his neck. When his wife Hazel suggests that he could take these weights off for a while to relax, he rejects the idea. He wants to obey the laws and is unwilling to risk punishment for a little comfort. He believes that the situation in 2081 is better than it had been back in the days when fierce competition reigned in society. He has much respect for the rules and represents the common passive citizen who does not critique a government that manipulates individuals. Obeying the rules, he is even incapable of recognizing the tragic situation when his son has been shot to death - a harsh critique of passiveness towards authority.
- Hazel Bergeron is Harrison's mother and George's wife. Hazel has what is described as perfectly average intelligence, which means that she cannot think deeply about anything. However, she is a well-intentioned character, a loving wife and mother, who tries to comfort her husband by suggesting he removes his handicap weights. She cries when she sees what happens to her son but due to her impaired faculties quickly forgets the subject of her sorrow. In the end all her kindness counts for nothing as her stupidity outruns her good intentions. Hazel has much in common with the Handicapper General, Diana Moon Glampers.
- Ballerina, a beautiful dancer who 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, most beautiful and most graceful of the dancers. She reads an announcement card after the stammering announcer is unable to. It is likely, but not stated, that she is the same dancer who Harrison Bergeron takes as his Empress, who is later shot by Diana Moon Glampers for not wearing her handicaps, and dancing with Harrison Bergeron.
- Diana Moon Glampers, despite appearing in person for only four sentences, represents the oppressive government and enforces the handicapping policies of the government. It is mentioned early on that Hazel resembles Diana, and Hazel mentions improvements she would make to Diana's handicap regulations. She appears ruthless when she kills Harrison and his Empress without warning, and threatens the musicians with a similar fate before the broadcast is interrupted, leaving their future ambiguous. Diana's first and middle names are possibly a reference to Diana, the Roman huntress, virgin goddess of the moon.
Style
Here,
Vonnegut is influenced by his early work as a journalist. His sentences
are short and easily understood so as to be largely accessible.
A dystopian setting enhances his social and political critique by
imagining a future world founded on absolute equality through handicaps
assigned to various above-average people to counter their natural
advantages. A similar subject can be found in L. P. Hartley's dystopian novel Facial Justice from the previous year of 1960.
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 has to hand it to a
nearby ballerina because of his speech impediment, and the ballerina
then alters her voice to a "grackle squawk" because it would be "unfair"
to use her natural voice, described as a "warm, luminous, timeless
melody". This absurdity highlights the madness of the world of "Harrison
Bergeron".
Parallels with The Sirens of Titan
A similar dystopian society to that of "Harrison Bergeron" appears in Vonnegut's 1959 novel The Sirens of Titan.
When the Space Wanderer returns to Earth he finds a society in which
handicaps are used to make all people equal, eradicating the supposedly
ruinous effects of blind luck on human society. The narrator claims that
now "the weakest and the meekest were bound to admit, at last, that the
race of life was fair".
The strong are burdened with "handicaps" (consisting of "bags of
lead shot" hung from various parts of the body) and the beautiful hide
their advantageous appearance through "frumpish clothes, bad posture,
chewing gum and a ghoulish use of cosmetics". Unlike in "Harrison
Bergeron", the citizens in The Sirens of Titan choose to wear these handicaps voluntarily as an act of faith towards the Church of God the Utterly Indifferent,
although it is suggested that not to do so would invite social
condemnation. There are no handicaps for above-average intelligence
mentioned in The Sirens of Titan. The society of Harrison Bergeron addresses differences in intellectual and cognitive ability and their entailing advantages.
Adaptations
The story has been adapted for the screen at least four times.
- PBS adapted several stories, including "Harrison Bergeron", in Between Time and Timbuktu (1972), with Avind Haerum in the title role.
- In 1995 Showtime produced a full-length made-for-television adaptation entitled Harrison Bergeron, starring Sean Astin as the title character and Christopher Plummer as John Klaxon. The adaptation diverged 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 the brain-handicapping "bands" on their heads.
- In 2006, a short film also entitled Harrison Bergeron was released.
- In 2009, another short film called 2081 was based on the original story and starred Armie Hammer as the title character. Joe Crowe, managing editor of the online magazine Revolution Science Fiction, described the movie as "stirring and dramatic" and said it "gets right to the point, and nails the adaptation in about 25 minutes."
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 did not mind the story
being used in the suit, he disagreed with the lawyers' interpretation of
it. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia quoted the story in PGA Tour, Inc. v. Martin.
