Describing the Dangers of Equality in Kurt Vonneguts Harrison

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 Strickland

Michael Strickland

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The Dangers of Equality in “Harrison”

Kurt Vonnegut’s “Harrison” is one of the most praised and influential short stories of its time. The story describes an alternate reality, where the idea of equality among all is applied to every aspect of the individual. Equality is not just limited to equal access toward opportunities, but is extended to appearance, strength, poise, intellect and aptitude.  It sounds ideal in theory; however, Vonnegut explores the dangers of equality which are taken too far and takes the reader to a world where individual potential has been succumbed to thought-distracting devices for the intelligent, masks for the beautiful, incapacitating weights for the strong. In “Harrison,” Vonnegut uses the government-issued handicap devices and their implied functions for the characters in the story to illustrate his theme of dangers of egalitarianism and government control.

        The story opens and sets the scene in year 2081, the year when absolute equality among all was achieved through the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments to the Constitution and through the “unceasing vigilance of agents of the United States Handicapper General” (Vonnegut 1). The law, United States Handicap General and government workers called H-G men uphold this level of equality by forcing people of above average intelligence, appearance, or grace to wear a handicap. Vonnegut describes the egalitarian society saying, “nobody was smart than anyone else, nobody was better looking than anybody else, nobody was stronger or quicker than anyone else” (1).  Any advantage that an individual has over the considered normal level is offset by a “handicap,” or device or barrier thought up by the H-G men.  Ear radios, physical weights, and masks are three handicaps used in the story as symbols to illustrate “Harrison’s” theme of the dangers of egalitarianism.

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One of first types of handicaps introduced in the story is a government-controlled ear radio worn by the individual, which is tuned into a government transmitter. George is required by law to wear the ear radio, because his intelligence was “way above normal.” (1) However, Hazel is described as one with “perfectly average intelligence, which meant she couldn’t think about anything except in short bursts,” (1) which meant she didn’t have to wear the ear piece. The device’s function is to mentally handicap the individual from “taking unfair advantage of their brains.” (1)  The radio emits sharp and violent noises ...

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