Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut Analysis Essay

In the story ”Harrison Bergeron”  by Kurt Vonnegut you are introduced to a world where everyone is “equal”. Everyone in this world has the same intelligence level, level of attractiveness, and other things along the lines of that. Even though everyone is equal physically and mentally, does this mean that everyone is actually equal. The way that Kurt Vonnegut portrays the drawbacks of an equal society is by showing that even though everyone is equal, some are still put through pain and inhumane things just to remain equal. 

One of the drawbacks of a completely equal society would be that not everyone would be happy. Some of the characters in this story have mental/physical handicaps because other people are not as smart or strong as them. In the story it states, 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. Hazel had perfectly average intelligence, which meant she couldn't think about anything except in short bursts. And George, while his intelligence was way above normal, had a little mental handicap radio in his ear.” This shows that to make everyone equal, instead of helping people, the government gives people handicaps. The flaw in this is that while some people are absolutely normal, some are in extreme pain, or under large weights(literally). This shows the difference between equity and equality. While everyone is the same with equality, everyone is cared for properly with equity.

One of the drawbacks of this equal society is that everyone may be equal; but to do so some are put through great pain to make them equal. Some have loud noises ringing in their ears every twenty seconds, and some may have a bag over their heads. These are very inhumane ways to make someone “equal” to one another. In conclusion, the way the government in this story handles equality is inhumane and unfair to the people affected by it.