Lizzi Davis

English 1 Pre AP

Mrs. Lee

Period 5

Satire in Harrison Bergeron

In the story Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut there are many themes which are displayed such as freedom, in which the characters have none due to their oppressive government, and equality, which is an abused value the futuristic “...agents of the United States Handicapper General”(113) enforces. Vonnegut uses extreme exaggeration of characters and story to portray a universe in which equality is stretched to the point where everyone is impaired. In Vonnegut's short story Harrison Bergeron, the author uses great amounts of satire to bring up the issue that too much of a so called 'good thing' like equality can sometimes lead to corrupt things like oppression and loss of personal freedom.

One of the many ways Vonnegut gets a point across is through exaggeration. He shows a main way of exaggeration by the description of his main character Harrison who is described as “...a genius and an athlete, [who] is under-handicapped, and [someone who] should be regarded as extremely dangerous” (136). By creating a perfect, young and strong character like Harrison, Vonnegut shows that there will always be an opposing force in any world, no matter how much the government tries to conform its citizens to its radical rules, and that there will always be someone to impose and execute those rules such as “...the Handicapper General, a woman named Diana Moon Glampers”(135).

Another strong main theme in the story that Vonnegut portrays is satire. By showing how the “...211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments to the Constitution...” (113) passed, Vonnegut painted a picture of how easily the laws the people of America have struggled to protect and uphold can be changed. He uses his sharp and witty writing to point out to readers that if things like equality are taken too far it can lead to oppression, and the minimization of overall happiness for citizens. In the original Constitution there are only ten Amendments, but in Vonnegut's futuristic story there are an extreme amount, which proves how much change has been made to the Democratic American system.

In conclusion the world that Vonnegut has built, he uses exaggeration to pull many main points across in such a short story, and to also strike up deep thoughts about the topic to discuss. Vonnegut uses satire to represent a great many things, but mainly to represent the value of equality which is a main theme in the story. It is always easy to compare a student to a fellow classmate and deem them as equal in life, but one cannot easily compare a student to an adult and say they are both equally experienced in life. In the story of Harrison Bergeron, the government goes to major extremes to make it to where no matter how talented or knowledgeable a person is, one is no more better, or greater than the person next to them. By showing how easily a democratic government can be changed Vonnegut uses his writing technique to show what can happen if values like equality are taken to the extreme and what can happen when people lose all original thought.