Welcome to the Monkey House Reading Questions Write down three parts that surprised you and explain why… Three parts that surprised me in Welcome to the Monkey House were found in the short stories “Harrison Bergeron”, “The Foster Portfolio”, and “Deer in Works”. First, the short story, “Harrison Bergeron”, surprised me for many reasons; one being the fact that every American is fully equal because of Amendments 211, 212, and 213. The surprising part was the moment the law was broken and an American became smarter, uglier, stronger, or faster than anyone else, society would become reckless and in rage. This was surprising because we as individuals living in America right know, can see that we are from achieving this kind of level of equality. The second part of this short story that surprised me was how George, who has left the room to get a beer, returns and asks Hazel, his wife, why she has been crying. Although Hazel’s son, Harrison Bergeron, has just passed away for breaking the law, Hazel can’t remember why she was crying or the incident that appeared on TV. Next, “The Foster Portfolio”, had a very …show more content…
Vonnegut uses a convenient narrator and character who is able to comment objectively on a variety of social situations. The main character’s position makes it possible for him to observe a story that is happening outside himself, in this case, the narrator’s position as director allows him to tell the story of Helene and Harry, two actors who are directed to fall in love on stage and simultaneously fall in love in reality. This short story was definitely a page turner, especially because I enjoyed Helen’s determinative attitude to bring Harry to love her despite the difficulties. Even the last line of the story: “She gave me a big smile and said, “Who are we this time?”, left me smiling to the ending of this thoughtful, loving short story (Vonnegut