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 in response to certain thoughts forming within the individual or to distract the individual from experiences or interpretations that the government would view as unfair. The thought-disrupting radio is illustrated when George is watching the ballerinas. A buzzer sounded in his head, making his “thoughts flee in panic, like bandits from a burglar alarm.” After the buzzer stopped, he couldn’t even remember what the event or thought was that caused all of the commotion. Again and again throughout the story, we see occurrences where “the realization was blasted from his mind instantly” loud, violent noises (1).
It seems as though the device doesn’t even give the individual a chance to process or formulate a thought outside of the present occurrences, it just zaps the thought process from existence and the individual is left bewildered. Opinions or thoughts that could be considered “equal or unequal” can even begin to develop the individual into an individual. We are able to see the full extent the mental handicap goes to limit one’s advantage in the descriptions of Harrison and his parents’ response to his dire outcome. He is an individual whose character is viewed as one of the highest of intelligence. He was required to wear a gigantic pair of earphones, as opposed to an ear piece, along with spectacles with thick wavy lenses. The spectacles were intended, “to make him not only half-blind, but to give him whanging headaches besides” (1). Lastly, after Harrison is shot on television in front of their eyes, George and Hazel show no emotion towards the matter and do not even remember it a moment later.
Another handicap used in the story is actual weights an individual must wear in the form of bags of birdshot or armor of strap metal. Each extra pound correlates to an additional physical advantage an individual bears such as strength or gracefulness. George is forced to wear a forty-seven pound bag of birdshot throughout his entire life, which remains padlocked to his neck. The idea of equality is interpreted too literally, to the point that it’s oppressive. It goes to the extent of punishing the individual and may even lead to being put in jail. Despite the fact the bags hurt him physically and wear his body down, George doesn’t remove the handicap because he would face two years in prison and two thousand dollar fine for every ball of birdshot taken out. The story also points out the ballerina and all of the weights she had to wear. She must have been the strongest and most graceful of all the dancers and for that matter all women, because, “her handicap bags were as big as those worn by two-hundred pound men” (1). Harrison was also put through many disadvantages because of his physical prowess. His is appearance was described as Halloween and hardware, like a walking junkyard because of the amount of scrap metal hung all over him. Nobody had ever born heavier handicaps and in the race of his life, Harrison carried three hundred pounds.
One of the final handicap’s Vonnegut uses to emphasize his theme are masks, which the more attractive or beautiful must wear to hide their advantage. Vonnegut describes a ballerina that must have been so beautiful because the mask was so hideous. The costume-like handicaps are humiliating. Because Harrison is extraordinarily handsome, he is forced to wear a rubber red ball on his nose, shave off his eye brows, and cover his teeth with black caps and a snaggle- tooth. The citizens live in a society where disadvantages are rewarded and highlighted, and advantages are hidden and apologized for. The story tells of all the television announcers having serious speech impediments. Hazel commented “that’s the big thing. He tried to do the best he could with what God gave him. He should get a nice raise for trying so hard.” However, when the ballerina spoke, she instantly apologized for her warm and pleasant voice, and had to quickly make her voice seem “uncompetitive.” Also, the musicians in the story are forced to suppress their brilliance and creativity by playing unskillfully for their audiences. All of Vonnegut’s various handicaps used throughout the story raises the question of whether it is acceptable to pursue egalitarianism by means of enforcing a lowest common denominator of aptitude. If this is the case, equality has really become mediocrity.
Vonnegut’s descriptions are so powerful that the reader eventually feels that” normal” in society means one who is inept, dense, and unaware and begins to question the legitimacy and fairness of absolute equality. Even the people in society question the legitimacy of the handicaps and appear to not truly want total equality. This is demonstrated in Hazel’s conversation with George when she says, “Go on and rest the bag for a little while… I don’t care if you’re not equal to me for a while.” George, even with the handicaps he bores, questions the handicaps of another category where has no advantages. When watching the ballerinas, he was” toying with the vague notion that maybe dancers shouldn’t be handicapped. But he didn’t get very fair with it before another noise in his ear radio scattered his thoughts” (1).
I believe Vonnegut wants to point out that the story’s idea of equality has become misunderstood and drifted far away from its origins. Is it truly fair to prevent the talented and capable from using their given advantages to get ahead, or even use them at all? In “Harrison,” absolute equality inhibits individualism in terms of creativity, passion, intelligence and uniqueness. It seems as though the government is taking away the components that make up an individual, and takes away make individuals human by making everyone the exact same. Vonnegut implies that individuality and individual liberties should never be sacrificed, not even for the supposed common good. The reader fears this level of government control and questions their motives in suppressing their knowledge and intelligence. After Harrison strips himself of his handicaps in the climax of the story, we see what true freedom looks like . Without the burdens of his handicaps and government control, “not only were the laws of the land abandoned, but the law of gravity and motion as well.”
In conclusion, “Harrison” uses handicaps as powerful symbols to express its theme of the dangers of egalitarianism and government control. The reader is left wondering if absolute equality is the best for the individuals in society or whether it has made a difference in the well-being of individuals. The beginning of the story even points out that despite the changes made in society, “some things about living weren’t quite right, though. April for instance, still drove people crazy by not being springtime. This could be interpreted as even with all the equality among society, people will never be truly satisfied or happy. Vonnegut purposely leaves the reader with this internal battle, which contributes to the overall effectiveness of the story.