Harrison Bergeron Theme Analysis
Short Story Analysis 6
By: Michael Hurley
Harrison Bergeron: This novel centers around the Bergeron’s, the average 2081 family in this stories dystopian America. According to this story, every single person is equal, not just under the law or equal with opportunity, but equal. While this sounds nice the way in which true equality is achieved is one which will annoy most modern Americans. George Bergeron, the father figure in this story, is apparently considered “above average” in mental capacity while his wife Hazel is not. This clear inequality between them is unfair and creates competition, so the government decides to place a noise machine in George’s ear which will go off every so often to keep him from thinking too hard. Hazel, on the other hand, doesn’t have to wear any such devise. As it turns out, this couple has a son named Harrison, however when he was younger he was so overly talented that they couldn’t restrain him with normal ways, so the Handicapper General (the organization in charge of making all “equal”) decided to imprison him, as they believed he was planning a government overthrow at the age of 14. At the present day George and Hazel are relaxing watching some restrained ballerinas perform poorly when a government announcement interrupts the show. Harrison has escaped prison, and surprise surprise, he’s at the ballerina show. He rips of the hundreds of pounds of restraints, his mask, and all of the other restraints, and he declares himself emperor. He then claims one of the ballerinas as him empress and they dance together in an unbelievably beautiful fashion, culminating with an extended kiss in which they ignore gravity. Finally they’re shot with a shotgun by the Handicapper General and they die. George and Hazel shortly afterwards forget what was sad on the television. There are many themes which this short story brings up in order to make the reader question how far he or she wishes government control to go. These themes include equality,
By: Michael Hurley
Harrison Bergeron: This novel centers around the Bergeron’s, the average 2081 family in this stories dystopian America. According to this story, every single person is equal, not just under the law or equal with opportunity, but equal. While this sounds nice the way in which true equality is achieved is one which will annoy most modern Americans. George Bergeron, the father figure in this story, is apparently considered “above average” in mental capacity while his wife Hazel is not. This clear inequality between them is unfair and creates competition, so the government decides to place a noise machine in George’s ear which will go off every so often to keep him from thinking too hard. Hazel, on the other hand, doesn’t have to wear any such devise. As it turns out, this couple has a son named Harrison, however when he was younger he was so overly talented that they couldn’t restrain him with normal ways, so the Handicapper General (the organization in charge of making all “equal”) decided to imprison him, as they believed he was planning a government overthrow at the age of 14. At the present day George and Hazel are relaxing watching some restrained ballerinas perform poorly when a government announcement interrupts the show. Harrison has escaped prison, and surprise surprise, he’s at the ballerina show. He rips of the hundreds of pounds of restraints, his mask, and all of the other restraints, and he declares himself emperor. He then claims one of the ballerinas as him empress and they dance together in an unbelievably beautiful fashion, culminating with an extended kiss in which they ignore gravity. Finally they’re shot with a shotgun by the Handicapper General and they die. George and Hazel shortly afterwards forget what was sad on the television. There are many themes which this short story brings up in order to make the reader question how far he or she wishes government control to go. These themes include equality,