Harrison Bergeron Theme

Harrison Bergeron Analysis

This clear inequality teen them is unfair and creates competition, so the government decides to place a noise machine in George’s ear which will go off every so often to keep him from thinking too hard. Hazel, on the other hand, doesn’t have to wear any such devise. As it turns out, this couple has a son named Harrison, however when he was younger he was so overly talented that they couldn’t restrain him with normal ways, so the Handicapper General (the organization in charge of making all “equal”) decided to imprison him, as they believed he was planning a government overthrow at the age f 14.

What Is The Theme Of Harrison Bergeron

At the present day George and Hazel are relaxing watching some restrained ballerinas perform poorly when a government announcement interrupts the show. Harrison has escaped prison, and surprise surprise, he’s at the ballerina show. He rips of the hundreds of pounds of restraints, his mask, and all of the other restraints, and he declares himself emperor.

He then claims one of the ballerinas as him empress and they dance together in an unbelievably beautiful fashion, culminating with an extended kiss in which they ignore gravity.

Finally they’re shot with a shotgun by the Handicapper General and they die. George and Hazel shortly afterwards forget what was sad on the television. There are many themes which this short story brings up in order to make the reader question how far he or she wishes government control to go.

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These themes include equality, competition, and censorship. However they can all be summed up into one theme statement.

To restrict the freedom and hide the talents of the gifted in order to stop “unfair competition” ends up benefiting body, as it creates a society in which nobody works to improve the world, the untalented get even more untalented, and rights which equality should protect end up being destroyed by censorship. As demonstrated by George Burgeon perfectly, all those with an “unfair” talent are handicapped and prevented from showcasing their talent properly. While this does end up keeping the smart from beating out the dumb, it also prevents society from improving.

When George has a thought about maybe not handicapping ballerinas so the show improves, it is immediately pushed way by his ear handicap. Hence, a potentially beneficial idea is shut down before it can even be discuss. In addition to harming society by not allowing potentially beneficial ideas to be discussed, these handicaps Just make the dumb dumber. Although many people aren’t mentally talented, they can improve their capabilities through hard work and education from people such as teachers and parents.

Despite never being able to match those naturally more gifted then them, people would be able to become educated and capable of critical thinking. As is evidenced by Hazel, none of this improvement happens in 2081. She in no way would be considered average today, as she constantly forgets things and never thinks for herself, resulting in a below average thinker never improving, and therefore being less capable of deep thoughts then today’s “below average” IQ person, who can improve his or her abilities. By creating equality many believe this would be the ultimate fulfillment of natural rights, not say in this scenario.

Rights which are treasured in modern day society are rumpled upon, most notably free speech. The way in which people are made average in this world requires those who think not to do so, and when something happens to initiate a thought, a television station is temporarily shut down or a noise is sent through the brain. Freedom of expression is not allowed, as anyone who questions the system is thrown in Jail, such as Harrison. This story is all about how far one is willing to go to achieve equality, and the slippery slope scenario which it poses it quite frightening.