Memorial to Kurt Vonnegut by Quinn Dombrowski on Flickr
In case anyone was wondering, I’m kind’ve a Kurt Vonnegut junkie. And that’s not to sound pretentious or anything. I really am. He’s one of my favorite authors, and his work inspires my own writing. He’s playful and hilarious, and he expertly intertwines literary writing with science-fiction. I’m quite a lover of dystopian fiction, as we’re all aware from my gushing post on McCarthy’s The Road. I may do a post later on (way later on; I think I may have overdone it a bit just today alone) about one of my favorite Vonnegut novels, Player Piano.
But for now, we need to talk short stories. To be more specific, Vonnegut’s short story “Harrison Bergeron.” In my head, this story is locked in a constant battle with Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper.” They duke it out for the title of Caitlin’s Favorite Short Story of All Time. A winner has not yet been proclaimed, but I’ll keep you posted. The story is about George and Hazel Bergeron and their harrowing night of TV watching. Doesn’t that sound exciting? 😀 Seriously, though. “Harrison Bergeron” is set in the future during a time when everyone in the world is finally “equal.” Those who are genetically or intellectually superior to others are fitted with handicaps. For instance, if someone is exceptionally beautiful, they must wear a grotesque mask. If someone is exceptionally intelligent, a deafening siren sound will go off in their head when they have superior thoughts or when they silently acknowledge someone else’s mental deficiency. Two such handicapped citizens, Hazel and George, are watching a ballet performance on TV one night. Of course, the more graceful ballerinas are weighed down with bags of birdshot, the more beautiful ones hidden behind masks. The couple, however, is disturbed when their son Harrison appears on screen. After just having escaped from jail, 14-year old Harrison Bergeron interrupts the ballet to declare himself emperor, refusing to wear the extreme handicaps that the government makes him wear in order to impede his genius-level intellect and supreme athletic skill.
If you know anything about dystopian fiction, this scenario clearly won’t fly with the government. But you’ll have to read the story in order to find out what happens. Trust me; it’s definitely worth a read. And that’s not just my Vonnegut favoritism bleeding through. It’s a short, compelling piece of fiction that will hopefully get you hooked on Kurt Vonnegut’s work. What’s most compelling about this story, for me, is that it’s an embellishment on a small section of the novel The Sirens of Titan, another book by Vonnegut. The society of “Harrison Bergeron” is mentioned, but very little depth and insight is given into the community’s inner-workings. This insight is found in “Harrison Bergeron.”
If I’ve compelled you enough to give the story a try, it’s available several places online. I’ll go ahead and do the work for you, though! The story can be found here.
Happy reading!
LitScape 