Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut Book Review

What if everyone was average, what if these completely average people had people that would be born above average, what would happen to them; life to them would be different instead of being able to express themselves and their uniqueness they have to be given implements to make sure they now are equally average with the rest. Additionally in the story “Harrison Bergeron.” Kurt Vonnegut uses the literary device symbolism to reveal the theme in the story that everything must be average and no one person may go above that or below it. Kurt does this by using 4 symbols to help the reader understand the theme very clearly and his symbols are the handicaps, the handicapper general, the birdshot, and Harrison Bergeron himself.

Moreover, Kurt Vonnegut supports his theme using the symbols of the handicaps and the birdshot. It's said in his story that “[H]e wore a tremendous pair of earphones, and spectacles with thick wavy lenses. The spectacles were intended to make him not only half blind but to give him whanging headaches besides. Scrap metal was hung all over him.” ( Vonnegut) The quotation explains how the handicaps on Harrison were outrageous and it explains how the government will try their hardest to make sure that everything is being controlled and everyone is average. It also explains that Harrison is very unique and that he’s very strong and intelligent to have these huge handicaps. Furthermore ““Go on and rest the bag for a little while,” she said. “I don’t care if you’re not equal to me for a while.” George weighed the bag with his hands. “I don’t mind it,” he said. I don’t notice it anymore. It’s just a part of me. “You’ve been so tired lately - kind of wore out,” said Hazel. “If there was just some way we could make a little hole in the bottom of the bag, and just take out a few of them lead balls. Just a few.” “Two years in prison and two thousand dollars fine for every ball I took out,” said George.” ( Vonnegut)It explains how the birdshot in the bags also allowed the government to grasp more on society and show how it ties back into the theme while proving that the government wants everyone to be average. As well as it symbolizes how this authoritarian society uses the gun to enforce its laws and to keep down its rebellious citizens. Consequently, in the story, Harrison Bergeron uses the symbols of the handicaps and the birdshot to symbolize the theme of the whole story.

On the other hand, Kurt Vonnegut used other symbols to symbolize the theme of the story with the use of the handicapper and Harrison himself. “Only, if I was Handicapper General, a woman named Diana Moon Glampers. “If I was Diana Moon Glampers,” said Hazel, “I’d have chimes on Sunday - just chimes. Kind of in honor of religion.” “I could think [of] it [just chimed] was just chimes,” said George. “Well - maybe make’em real loud,” said Hazel. “I think I’d make a good Handicapper General.” “Good as anybody else,” said George.“Who knows better’n I do what normal is?” said Hazel.”(Vonnegut)  This quotation supports the theme because it explains how everyone saw the handicapper general who was no more than average so considerably everyone could do her job another way of symbolizing how desperate they were to make their society average or to us below average. Including another reason the handicapper is a symbol is because she is the representative of the laws and what is average, people tend to believe in her because of how mediocre she is, so when she shoots Harrison it furthers the conception of the averageness in the society. In addition,  “Clanking, clownish, and huge, Harrison stood in the center of the studio. She fired twice, and the Emperor and the Empress were dead before they hit the floor.” (Vonnegut) It's when we first see Harrison he is considered the symbol because he is the spark of deviance that remains amongst the others in the society. Moreover, Harrison also demonstrates the individualism that some Americans still have. He lacks the weakness and passivity that define so much of the rest of the story. He's more of an overblown alpha male, a towering, bold, and breathtakingly strong man who craves authority. Harrison and handicapper general were two other symbols that help explain the theme.

Overall Kurt Vonnegut uses 4 symbols to tie into his theme of averageness and no one is above one and no one is below. In this essay, I focused primarily on the symbolism used in the story of Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut. It's important in stories because literature uses symbolism to make a point by adding additional meaning to an action, an object, or a name. Symbolism, on the other hand, allows a writer to communicate something to their audience in a poetic manner rather than saying it directly. Conclusively symbolism is one of the most important literary devices used in literature.