Author: Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
Biography
Kurt Vonnegut Jr. was born in Indianapolis, in 1922. While attending Cornell University for biochemistry, and after hearing of the bombing of Pearl Harbour, he enlisted with the U.S. Army. During the Battle of the Bulge, on December 19th 1944, Vonnegut was captured and taken as a prisoner of war. He was held in Dresden, and while he was there, he witnessed the “fire-bombing of Dresden.” Many of his works recall these moments from his experiences as a prisoner of war and his witnessing of the bombing of the German city he was held captive in. In 1945, thanks to the Red Army, Vonnegut was released and free to return to the United States. Back in his home country, he studied at the University of Chicago in anthropology. His thesis was denied by the University, and he left Chicago for work in New York. It wasn’t until 1971 that the University of Chicago finally accepted his Novel “Cat’s Cradle” as his thesis, and he received his Master’s Degree. Kurt Vonnegut was also known for his very strong humanist beliefs. In his later years he took over presidency of the American Humanist Association from the late, fellow science-fiction writer, Isaac Asimov. Kurt Vonnegut held this position until his own death, in 2007.
Symbol
One of the differences between humans and an amoeba is humans have evolved to no longer reproduce by cloning. The result that we have a more advanced civilization does not seem a coincidence. The amoeba symbolizes the goal of the Handicapper General, to make everyone equal.
Response
1.a) What is the purpose of handicapping in sports?
The purpose of handicapping in sports is to make the sport more enjoyable for all by handicapping the better players so everyone is at a similar level.
b) What sports use handicapping?
Golf, croquet, polo, basketball, track and field events, chess, and bowling all use forms of handicapping. However, I believe handicapping is usually only used at more amateur levels.
c) Why has handicapping become law in Bergeron's community?
Handicapping has become a law in Bergeron’s community because the goal of the society is to make everyone equal. They believe that natural physical and mental abilities, which are higher than another’s, are unfair, so they handicap one’s higher abilities to ensure everyone stays equal.
d) Is the society improved as a result? Comment.
The society is not improved as a result. The people who have handicaps now suffer more than people without them; this means there is still inequality between people. The fairest you can make a society is by offering equal education opportunities for everyone, if people decide not to seize their opportunities then it only their own fault if they have a lesser intelligence or lesser capabilities than another.
2. What parts of the story are most exaggerated? What do you think was the author's purpose in using exaggeration so extensively?
One of the most exaggerated parts of the story was when Harrison and his newly found “Empress” dance together and they jump thirty feet in the air. I think the author was trying to show that, with no restrictions and no set boundaries, when humans work together we can do extraordinary things. Also, just before this part of the story, the author exaggerates the actions of Harrison by describing his steps to be like earthquakes. I think the author is trying to do a similar thing as to when Harrison and the ballerina dance; he is trying to show that when humans put their minds to something, they can do things hardly imaginable.
3. What do George's and Hazel's reactions at the end of the story reveal about the quality of life in their society?
George’s and Hazel’s reactions at the end of the story reveal that they are physically living comfortably, George gets a beer from their kitchen, however mentally they are living in ruins. They are not able to think for themselves, George is plagued by the handicap noises, and they both have slowly been brain washed by the Handicapper General. Without being able to think for themselves, they have fallen prey to leading suppressed lives, but not knowing of it, so they will not escape from these lives. Since everyone is “equal” in their society, it is safe to assume that mostly everyone lives as they do. This means the mental quality of life is very poor, however nobody knows of it, and if you don’t know something is wrong, how can you fix it?
4. a) What is the situational irony in this story? What would you expect a society to be like in which everyone is equal?
The situational irony in this story is that the goal of the society is to make all humans equal, however in doing this, and applying handicaps to those who are better at certain things, they create inequality. Inequality is created because those who are handicapped, are now in more pain or hardship than those who are not in need of being handicapped. I would expect a society that strives for equality to give every person equal educational opportunities, allowing people to decide for themselves if they want to grow to their full potential or stay at the intellectual or physical ability they are at, and risk being a person of "below average" capabilities.
b) What point do you think the author is making through the irony?
The point the author is trying to make through the irony is that there is a reason we have evolved so we no longer reproduce into clones of one another, the different strengths of people is what makes our society strong. If we embrace our differences and put them together and work together, the human race is possible of doing extraordinary things.
Critical Thinking
i) Why do you think the author wrote the text?
The author wrote this text to display his concern that, when thinking of how to better ourselves, society is focusing too much on what we don’t have, and not enough on what we already do. We do not have equality among all people, and though we strive for it, we never will. What we do have is a world full of individuals who all have the same potential to use their different strengths, in extraordinary ways. If we give each individual an equal opportunity to unleash their potential, we will not have created equality, but given everyone a chance to take or leave, and will have used what we have already to create a much better place. The author displays that people and society can achieve much greater things when the full potential of individuals is allowed to bloom, when Harrison Bergeron and his new-found Empress, dance to the music of the unrestricted musicians, and are able to jump thirty feet in the air.
ii) What does the author want you to think?
The author wants us to think that the most successful of societies would be the one that realizes everyone has different strengths and encourages the growth and maturation of everybody’s various strengths. He would then want us to think of how we could help make our society to be more like this, and he would want us to carry execute the plan we had thought of.
iii) Do you belong to any of the groups in the text?
I do not believe I belong directly to any of the groups, because I don’t think that anything that is happening in my life would be comparable to what the characters of the story go through. However, I do feel that I can imagine myself in any one of the character’s places, and greatly sympathize for them. One of these characters is the Handicapper General. I can sympathize for her especially because, sometimes when I think of what is necessary to reverse climate change, put an end to poverty, and to give everybody equal opportunities, the easiest solution seems to be dictatorship and complete governmental control. With a dictatorship, the people in power do not have to pass bills or run a proposition by the senate or the House of Commons if they wanted to put a plan underway to stop global warming, they just do it. However, obviously this is not ethical or fair and is an absolute last resort, but for all we as the readers know, the Handicapper General could have good intentions and just not see any other way to make the necessary changes to society she feels she must make.
iv) Does the story remind you of a real-life event (your own or others)?
The story reminds me of what I have read and heard about the dictatorship/totalitarianism which is happening, and has been happening for quite a long time, in North Korea. Although I do not have much knowledge of the everyday life of people in North Korea, I gather everything is very controlled there, with high security, and if you speak out against the government you and your family are killed. This is similar to the story “Harrison Bergeron,” because in the story their media is very controlled, if you do not follow the rules you will be caught very quickly, and if you speak out against the government, as Harrison did, you will likely be shot.
v) Does the story remind you of another book or movie on a similar topic?
The story reminds me of many other books and movies, where the society is completely controlled by the government. However, the one book that has this theme and that I remember the most vividly, is A Wrinkle in Time. In a Wrinkle in Time, a giant computer/ brain controls a whole planet and everyone on it. It can speak through whom it desires and can move whom it desires. The main characters must rebel against the computer, and resist being brainwashed by it. This book most likely stuck with me more so than the others because I read it a younger age and I was quite terrified at the idea of one being controlling a whole helpless population. This book, as well as “Harrison Bergeron,” helps keep my paranoia of the corruption of higher authorities alive and will keep me questioning, whether this always be good or not, what people tell me.
vi) How does the story help you think about social issues and social justice?
This story helps the reader think about the social issue of inequality because it shows one very extreme side of what an attempt at total equality would look like, and allows the reader to apply its lessons to our world. The story shows a government attempting to make everyone equal by taking away people’s strengths so nobody is better than anyone else. The story presents this in such a ridiculous way that you realize how silly an idea it is to try force everyone to be equal. We are shown that since everyone is different, a forced equality is as impossible as fitting different shapes and different sized shapes into one common sized box in an equal way; some shapes would have to be cut and diced while others would be allowed to stay the same. At the end of the story when Harrison Bergeron dances with his newly found Empress, the author hints at what he believes is the most logical solution to the problem of inequality. When Harrison Bergeron and his Empress are dancing, they have no handicaps on and are able to reveal their true potential. The author shows this by telling us that they were able to leap 30 feet in the air. I think that the author is hinting that he believes that the best and most equal way of running our society would be to allow and encourage everyone to unleash the full potential of their strengths, and this would lead to extraordinary things.
vii) What action might you take from what you have learned?
I will try and support more charities that fund programs for education because I believe that the simplest way to give everyone an equal opportunity, to unleash their full potential, is through an equal education. I will also try and respect the fact that everyone has been raised differently and therefore has different strengths. Often I find myself snickering at people unable to do things which I find simple, but I will try to remind myself more often that those people will always have some strength that they could snicker at me for not having.
viii) What big question has this text left you with?
Will our world ever find the generousity and unselfishness to give everybody an equal opportunity to further improve their strengths through education and other means?
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