Craft Move In Harrison Bergeron

Craft Moves for “Harrison Bergeron” Human beings all have different talents and skill sets. They have different levels of intelligence, attractiveness, and activities in which they excel. In “Harrison Bergeron”, by Kurt Vonnegut, the government attempts to make everyone totally and irrevocably ‘equal’ by using handicaps. These handicaps are an attempt at making it so no one is inferior to anyone and there is no competition. In “Harrison Bergeron”, Vonnegut uses description and multiple plot lines to show that true equality is impossible to obtain, and in an effort to make everyone equal, people aren’t able to utilize the talents that they have. Vonnegut uses description in order to set up the problem for his reader. By using description,

Bradbury not only describes the handicaps, but also uses multiple plot lines to show the different ways handicaps affect people in this society, like George, who wears his handicaps, and Harrison, who refuses to. An example of this is shown on page 1, when George, who has above average intelligence, has his thoughts interrupted by his handicap, “George was toying with the vague notion that maybe dancers shouldn’t be handicapped. But he didn’t get very far with it before another noise in his ear radio scattered his thoughts.” George wore his handicaps and followed the rules of the government. Even though George had thoughts on how to change society for the better, like taking the handicaps off the dancers, these ideas were quickly demolished by the handicaps. Meanwhile, George’s son, Harrison, is also above average in many ways. However, unlike his father, Harrison refuses to wear his handicaps and rebels. After doing so, he is able to accomplish things that should be impossible by making use of his talents. An example of this is on page 5, “Not only were the laws of the land abandoned, but the law of gravity and the laws of motion as well...It became their [Harrison’s] obvious intention to kiss the ceiling. They kissed it.” This evidence shows that without his handicaps, Harrison was able to use his strength to accomplish

The use of description and multiple plot lines demonstrates how true equality can actually be a detriment to society. Vonnegut makes it clear to the reader that if society continues in this pursuit of ultimate equality, people will lose the ability to compete and be unique, making them less individual. Society progresses today because of the skilled people who utilize their distinct talents to benefit society. If everyone has the same skills as everyone else, people are not able to cultivate their talents and in turn use them to better