In Kurt Vonnegut’s short story, “Harrison Bergeron,” George is Harrison’s father. Vonnegut mentions that George has two handicaps, a radio that dulls George’s intelligence by emitting a loud noise every twenty seconds, and a “forty-seven pound of birdshot in a canvas bag, which was padlocked around George’s neck,” to dull his strength.
To George, his handicaps are not something to endure, but a proud symbol of the society in which he lives. “If I tried...
In Kurt Vonnegut’s short story, “Harrison Bergeron,” George is Harrison’s father. Vonnegut mentions that George has two handicaps, a radio that dulls George’s intelligence by emitting a loud noise every twenty seconds, and a “forty-seven pound of birdshot in a canvas bag, which was padlocked around George’s neck,” to dull his strength.
To George, his handicaps are not something to endure, but a proud symbol of the society in which he lives. “If I tried to get away with it,” George says to his wife about the possibility of removing the weights, “then other people’d get away with it-and pretty soon we’d be right back to the dark ages again.” Despite the pain and discomfort, George views the handicaps as a necessary pillar of America’s egalitarian society.
Whether Vonnegut intended it or not, it is difficult to understand why George would have such deep convictions when his mental handicap doesn’t allow for deep thought. One can argue that George’s comments reflect an opinion held by many Americans when Vonnegut wrote the story: social order is more important than justice.
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