The Ideal Society In Harrison Bergeron

Imagine a society where everyone was the equal. Nobody was smarter, better looking, stronger, or quicker than anyone else. In the year 2081, this is what society was like for Harrison Bergeron, a strong, charming, and intelligent teenager. To insure no one was unique, anyone who was stronger, smarter, or more attractive than an “average” person were required by law to wear handicaps, which are instruments that prevents people from using their talents. When the citizens were too strong to be held back by handicaps, they were taken from their homes and into custody, which is where Harrison was held. Vonnegut’s message to the audience of Harrison Bergeron is “Life is not fair”, which was also supported by a passage written by Ovid named Daedalus and Icarus. To begin with, while every citizen who was above average

While the author was giving background about the society in Harrison Bergeron, it was mentioned that “Every twenty seconds or so, the transmitter would send out some sharp noise to keep people like George from taking unfair advantage of their brains” (Line 24-27, page 18). This supported the claim by telling the audience that in order to be equal, people with unique abilities were brought down to an “average” level. In addition to that, the audience can also infer that the society did not try to improve one’s intelligence, and because of that fact, people that the government considered average were the dumbest people in the society. Looking at modern society, it can be assumed that the majority of people were smarter (, stronger, and more attractive) than what the society in 2081 considered average. This means that the majority of the citizens was forced to give up their unique abilities in order to make a tiny percent of the population feel welcomed, which is another reason that supports the fact that Harrison’s society very unfair and