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109 Harrison Bergeron Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

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Harrison Bergeron is a classic dystopian short story written by Kurt Vonnegut. The story is set in a future society where everyone is forced to be equal in every way, with the government enforcing handicaps on those who are too intelligent, beautiful, or physically gifted. The story explores themes of individuality, freedom, and the dangers of excessive equality.

If you're tasked with writing an essay on Harrison Bergeron, you may be looking for some inspiration to help you get started. To help you out, we've compiled a list of 109 essay topic ideas and examples related to the story. Whether you're looking to analyze the characters, explore the themes, or discuss the symbolism, there's sure to be a topic on this list that interests you.

Character Analysis:

• Analyze the character of Harrison Bergeron and his rebellion against the government.
• Discuss the role of Hazel Bergeron in the story and her reaction to her son's rebellion.
• Explore the character of Diana Moon Glampers and her role as the enforcer of equality.
• Compare and contrast the characters of Harrison Bergeron and George Bergeron.
• Analyze the character of the ballerina and her role in the story.

Theme Analysis: 6. Discuss the theme of individuality in Harrison Bergeron. 7. Analyze the theme of freedom and oppression in the story. 8. Explore the theme of equality and its consequences in the society depicted in the story. 9. Discuss the theme of rebellion and resistance in Harrison Bergeron. 10. Analyze the theme of technology and its role in enforcing equality in the story.

Symbolism: 11. Analyze the symbolism of the handicaps in the story and what they represent. 12. Discuss the symbolism of the television broadcasts in Harrison Bergeron. 13. Explore the symbolism of Harrison's dance and its significance in the story. 14. Analyze the symbolism of the bird in the cage in the story. 15. Discuss the symbolism of the masks worn by the characters in the story.

Literary Devices: 16. Analyze the use of irony in Harrison Bergeron and its effect on the story. 17. Discuss the use of satire in the story and its impact on the reader. 18. Explore the use of foreshadowing in Harrison Bergeron. 19. Analyze the use of imagery in the story and its role in creating a dystopian atmosphere. 20. Discuss the use of dialogue in Harrison Bergeron and how it contributes to the story.

Social Commentary: 21. Discuss the social commentary on equality in Harrison Bergeron. 22. Analyze the critique of government control in the story. 23. Explore the commentary on individuality and conformity in the society depicted in the story. 24. Discuss the commentary on the dangers of technology in Harrison Bergeron. 25. Analyze the commentary on the role of art and creativity in a society that values equality above all else.

Historical Context: 26. Discuss the historical context of Harrison Bergeron and how it reflects the time in which it was written. 27. Analyze the influence of World War II on the story and its themes. 28. Explore the parallels between the society in Harrison Bergeron and real-world totalitarian regimes. 29. Discuss the impact of the Cold War on the story and its depiction of government control. 30. Analyze the influence of the Civil Rights Movement on Harrison Bergeron and its themes of equality and individuality.

Gender and Identity: 31. Analyze the portrayal of gender roles in Harrison Bergeron. 32. Discuss the representation of masculinity and femininity in the story. 33. Explore the theme of identity and how it is affected by the society depicted in the story. 34. Analyze the role of gender in the characters' experiences of equality and oppression. 35. Discuss the representation of LGBTQ+ identities in Harrison Bergeron.

Race and Ethnicity: 36. Analyze the portrayal of race and ethnicity in Harrison Bergeron. 37. Discuss the impact of race on the characters' experiences of equality and oppression. 38. Explore the theme of racial discrimination in the society depicted in the story. 39. Analyze the representation of different racial and ethnic groups in the story. 40. Discuss the parallels between the society in Harrison Bergeron and real-world issues of race and ethnicity.

Politics and Government: 41. Analyze the portrayal of government control in Harrison Bergeron. 42. Discuss the impact of political ideology on the society depicted in the story. 43. Explore the role of propaganda in maintaining control in the society of Harrison Bergeron. 44. Analyze the representation of democracy and totalitarianism in the story. 45. Discuss the commentary on the dangers of an overly powerful government in Harrison Bergeron.

Education and Intelligence: 46. Analyze the portrayal of intelligence and education in Harrison Bergeron. 47. Discuss the impact of intellectualism on the characters' experiences

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Harrison Bergeron Theme Essay

Central idea of harrison bergeron, works cited.

Harrison Bergeron, a short story by Kurt Vonnegut, highlights the perils of governmental control, coupled with people’s ignorance. Vonnegut goes ahead to predict the results of such a move. The most prominent theme of Harrison Bergeron is the lack of freedom in American society. Vonnegut also explains how the loss of civil rights is catching with Americans. What is the result of all these? There is a high probability that America will end up in a dystopia. In summary, the loss of freedom and civil rights would lead to America’s dystopia are the main messages of Harrison Bergeron. The essay briefly discusses the topics of the story and the questions raised by the author. Some of them are illustrated by the quotes from the text to demonstrate its tone and the literary devices used in the story.

As aforementioned, Americans love freedom, and Harrison’s actions evidence this; he escapes from prison, goes ahead to remove his handicaps, and finally tries to influence those around him. “Why don’t you stretch out on the sofa, so that you can rest your handicap bag…?” (Vonnegut Page 216).

The government chained this handicap bag around George’s neck; however, Harrison is telling George to ‘rest’ it, as a sign of rebellion and push for freedom. Nevertheless, in Harrison’s world, this freedom is no more, and people cannot make choices because they are above average in everything, and as a result, they are disabled. For instance, the dancers are cloaked to ensure that “nobody would feel like something the cat drug in” (Vonnegut Page 216).

The fact that all people are above average in everything takes away the freedom of choice and hampers everyone in the new dystopia America. The plot unfolds around the main theme of Harrison Bergeron. The main idea of neglect of freedom of choice is also expressed in the article of Clark. The author argues that “Uninformed citizens are left vulnerable to the political exploitation of special-interests” (Clark, 1). That proves that, though Americans love freedom, their freedom of choice is restricted by lack of information.

The loss of civil rights is another contributing factor to this dystopia in America. Everyone is equal “due to the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments to the Constitution…the unceasing vigilance of agents of the United States Handicapper General” (Vonnegut Page 218). In this state, the ‘Handicapper General’ ensures everyone is equal, and he or she has no right, including the right to life. No one in the nowadays society is truly free, as it will be shown in the next paragraphs of the essay. Harrison Bergeron’s character George says, “Two years in prison and two thousand dollars fine for every ball I took out” (Vonnegut Page 216).

George here talks of the consequences of removing the ‘handicap’ that the government has placed around his neck, evidence of loss of civil rights. George even watches her daughter die on television, and he cannot complain leave alone filling a suit. All these events resonate well with what is happening in America today. Manson discusses the issue of loss of civil rights by American citizens in one of his articles, which is devoted to mind control.

There is multiple “evidence for government involvement in attempts to control people’s behavior” (Manson, 1). The mind-control conspiracy theory proves the intrusion of the government to people’s personal lives and even to their consciousness. The violation of fundamental civil rights defined by the Constitution is apparent.

Vonnegut insinuates that if what is happening in contemporary America is not countered, then a dystopia in America is inevitable. That is the central idea of Harrison Bergeron. Even though Vonnegut wrote this story many years ago, he had seen what was lurking; for instance, after the 9/11 events, congress passed the US Patriot Act that allowed security agencies to probe personal issues.

That resonates well with “the unceasing vigilance of agents of the United States Handicapper General” (Vonnegut Page 216). Even though the loss of freedom in contemporary America is not as bad as in Harrison’s society, American authorities are slowly taking away freedom.

For instance, smoking regulations placed public places is a move of its kind. To this, Vonnegut would say, “Some things about living still aren’t quite right. The ‘rightness’ of living is disappearing as people lose freedom and head to the new dystopia America. Indeed, the freedom of Americans is gradually lost.

According to Manson, even the right to individual opinions is violated. As a result of the government, activity is such that “a person simply becomes a pair of eyes designed to observe and transmit data.” This serves as evidence of American citizens being deprived of their rights for freedom.

This analysis essay outlined the central idea and the main theme of Harrison Bergeron. In summary, Vonnegut tries to highlight how government control would slowly convert America into a dystopian nation. Despite the love that Americans have for freedom, Vonnegut is afraid that this is being taken away, and people will have “a little mental handicap radio in their ears tuned to a government transmitter” (Vonnegut Page 218). That would take away freedom, and civil rights would suffer the same fate for those who rebel against the set ordinances will have, “ten seconds to get their handicaps back on” (Vonnegut Page 219).

The overall effect in this situation would be a nation where all people are equal according to government standards hence dystopia. The take-home point in Vonnegut’s short story is, people should come out of their ignorance, take action, and correct government errors; otherwise, America will be a place of parity without dreams and competition hence dystopia America.

Clark, J. “Regulating Government” The Encyclopedia of Public Choice . Dordrecht: Springer Science+Business Media, 2004. Credo Reference. Web.

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A Summary and Analysis of Kurt Vonnegut’s ‘Harrison Bergeron’

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

‘Harrison Bergeron’ is a 1961 short story by the American writer Kurt Vonnegut (1922-2007). The story can be categorised as ‘dystopian satire’ or a ‘satirical dystopian story’, but we’ll say more about these labels in a moment. The action of the story takes place in the future America of 2081, where everyone has been made truly equal, physically, mentally, and aesthetically.

Plot summary

The story is set in the United States in 2081. True equality has finally been achieved: nobody is allowed to be stronger, more beautiful, or more intelligent than anyone else, so people who are deemed to have an unfair advantage are forced by law to use ‘handicaps’ which limit their powers or talents. A Handicapper General, named Diana Moon Glampers, is in charge of ensuring everyone obeys the law and wears their assigned handicaps at all times.

The story focuses on a couple, George and Hazel Bergeron, whose fourteen-year-old son Harrison is taken away so that he can be ‘handicapped’ because he is abnormally strong and intelligent. George is of above-average intelligence so is forced to wear earpieces which transmit distracting noises every twenty seconds, so that he cannot concentrate or, or think about things, for too long and thus use his intellect to his advantage.

George also carries forty-seven pounds of birdshot in a canvas bag, hung around his neck, to reduce his natural athleticism. When his wife suggests opening a hole in the bottom of the bag and removing some of the lead balls, because she can see how worn-out he is, he reminds her that such a crime carries a prison sentence and a fine.

George and Hazel watch ballerinas dancing on television, but George is unimpressed by them, since they aren’t very good: no more than average, at least, because they are not allowed to be supremely gifted at ballet. The naturally attractive dancers, like other beautiful people in society, are forced to wear masks which make them look less attractive.

The ballet show is interrupted by a live news broadcast, which reveals that their son, Harrison Bergeron, has escaped from jail, where he had been held on suspicion of plotting to overthrow the government. Harrison enters the studios where the ballerinas are dancing, and tears off the handicaps he has been made to wear, which include a red rubber ball for a nose (like a clown) to make him look less handsome, and a large pair of headphones rather than the small radio his father is made to wear.

Harrison then announces that he will become emperor of the world, and asks for a woman to claim her prize as his empress. One of the beautiful ballerinas steps forward, and he removes her mask and frees her of her handicaps. He does the same to the other dancers and the musicians, and orders them to play good music.

Harrison and the dancer then ascend to the ceiling, floating above the ground, and exchange a long kiss. At that moment, Diana Moon Glampers, the Handicapper General, arrives and shoots them both dead, before ordering the dancers and musicians to put their handicaps back on.

George, who was in the kitchen getting himself a beer, misses the killing of his own son live on television, while Hazel, owing to her low intelligence, almost immediately forgets what she has seen.

This story is satirical, but what precisely is Vonnegut satirising in ‘Harrison Bergeron’? Is he taking aim at the idea of state-mandated equity, which forces everyone to be mediocre, in order to show the absurdity of such a notion? Or is he, in fact, satirising those who would oppose attempts to level the playing field for everyone?

This latter interpretation is not as unlikely as it may first appear. The first thing to establish is that Kurt Vonnegut was aware of the dangers of government overreach, and the future society depicted in ‘Harrison Bergeron’ is clearly one in which the state has too much power over the individual. They can force people to carry bags of bullets around their necks to disadvantage them physically, and even prevent them from thinking too much. People are fed a diet of mediocre television to keep them docile and compliant.

This aspect of ‘Harrison Bergeron’ reads almost like a more extreme version of Ray Bradbury’s dystopias of the 1950s: not just Fahrenheit 451 , in which books are banned because the government wants to keep everyone stupid and passive, but Bradbury’s short story ‘ The Pedestrian ’, in which the police threaten to arrest a lone man walking the streets of an evening because he isn’t sitting in front of the television, consuming a diet of cultural dross, like everyone else.

But the other key theme in Vonnegut’s story, besides government overreach and the state’s attempts to keep everyone intellectually lazy, is the one for which it is perhaps best known: egalitarianism, or the struggle for equality between all people. And on this issue, ‘Harrison Bergeron’ strikes a more ambivalent note.

On the one hand, the idea of state-mandated weights, radios, and masks to render supremely strong, clever, or beautiful people as weak, stupid, and ugly as the rest of the population strikes us as preposterously evil. Rather than pushing for a race to the bottom, a responsible and progressive government would seek to encourage weak citizens to pick up weights and build up their muscles, educate less intelligent members of society, and devise surgical techniques (such as plastic surgery) to make ugly people more attractive.

In one respect, then, Vonnegut’s story reads as a bedfellow of those satires which view communism or socialism as a way of making everyone equally miserable and poor, rather than trying to make everyone equally successful and financially comfortable.

Such an analysis is certainly defensible when we turn to the story and witness the ways in which, for instance, George Bergeron is effectively punished for his natural intellect by being bombarded with state-sanctioned noises on a regular basis: a peculiar kind of torture. The idea that one’s fourteen-year-old son could be taken away simply for being unusually strong and intelligent is abominable.

And yet Vonnegut doesn’t actually tell us why Harrison is taken away initially. We are just told that he has been taken away: nothing more. The news broadcast announces that he has been imprisoned for trying to overthrow the government.

Given George and Hazel’s short memories, and the fact that the story is focalised through them, we don’t learn, despite the story having a supposedly ‘omniscient’ third-person narrator, whether Harrison was simply taken away for being different or arrested because he had already presented a threat to the state by plotting a coup.

After all, George and Hazel have been allowed, following the application of their handicaps, to live ‘freely’ (at least relatively so) in their own home. Why was Harrison taken away? Because he was not just a little bit more intelligent than the average person, but vastly more ingenious than everyone else, so that all existing handicaps were useless on him? Or because he is already plotting something? The story refuses to tell us this.

Similarly, although the shooting of Harrison and his new girlfriend at the end of the story is shocking, Harrison’s lust for power – seeking to use his natural height, strength, and intellect to become ruler of the whole world – also strikes us as a nightmare prospect, so that the shock of his death is likely to be tempered with some degree of relief.

‘Harrison Bergeron’, in the last analysis, is a story which invites us to consider the lengths we are prepared to go to as a society in order to achieve equality. Clearly there are some things, like dancing or athletics or even thinking, which some people are more naturally gifted at than others. Do we want to punish them for their natural talent, or appreciate the things their gifts allow them to do? Just because we will never be an Olympic athlete, do we think it unfair that others get the chance to win a gold medal?

Most reasonable people would answer ‘no’ to this question. People are different, with different talents and skills. An ugly person might be extremely clever. A clever person might be a physical weakling. A body-builder might be thicker than a whale omelette. And Vonnegut’s point in ‘Harrison Bergeron’ appears to be twofold: first, that failing to accept that people are different from us is bad, and second, that government overreach is also bad.

And it is worth remembering that in 1961, when the story was first published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction , America was still struggling towards the legislation which would recognise that all citizens were in fact equal before the law. The Civil Rights movement would, throughout the 1960s, see African-Americans asserting their equality as racial segregation was gradually written out of state laws.

What this means is that ‘Harrison Bergeron’ is both a satire on the absurd attempts to make everyone the same and to disregard the important differences between us, and a story which rejects the human impulse to use one’s innate sense of superiority (whether real or merely assumed) in order to gain power over other people.

In this regard, Diane Moon Glampers is the villain of the story for seeking to impose equity on everyone using totalitarian force, but Harrison Bergeron himself is also a warning about what may happen if individuals are allowed to use their innate privileges for evil or depraved ends.

At the same time as it is a warning against enforced equity (i.e., everyone will be as mediocre as everyone else), the story also carries the seeds of an opposing message, namely that those who seek to enforce difference and to use their innate differences from others to attain power and privilege are also to be rejected and opposed.

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Literary Theory and Criticism

Home › Literature › Analysis of Kurt Vonnegut’s Harrison Bergeron

Analysis of Kurt Vonnegut’s Harrison Bergeron

By NASRULLAH MAMBROL on May 25, 2021

Kurt Vonnegut is celebrated more for his longer fiction than for his short stories. Nonetheless, Vonnegut’s “Harrison Bergeron,” originally published in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science in October 1961, and currently available in the author’s collection, Welcome to the Monkey House , is a very popular short story and is often cited as an example of dystopian science fiction with an emphasis on egalitarianism. One segment of the 1972 teleplay Between Time and Timbuktu was based on the story, and it was later adapted into a TV movie, Harrison Bergeron (1995), with Sean Astin in the title role.

Set in 2081, the story depicts society’s vain search for absolute equality. Specifically, this new world does not attempt to raise standards for the disabled or handicapped but rather chooses to implement a more onerous solution: to impede those who have superior intellect, beauty, or strength. This solution deprives individuals of their talents by employing masks, loud noises, and weights in an attempt to level the playing field for the less talented. Actually the government is attempting to place all members of society at the level of the lowest common denominator, a process that is overseen by the United States Handicapper General, the shotgun-toting Diana Moon Glampers, whose primary goal is to rid society of anyone who might threaten mediocrity and inadequacy. A similar (though less developed) version of this character and idea appeared in Vonnegut’s earlier novel, The Sirens of Titan.

In this brave new world, the exceptional are consistently repressed, arrested, thrown into mental institutions, and ultimately killed for failing to be average. The central and title character, Harrison Bergeron, is, of course, a threat to this community since he is physically fit, handsome, intellectual, and, what is worse, rebellious. As a result, he is forced to bear enormous handicaps. These include distracting noises, 300- pounds of excess weight, eyeglasses to give him headaches, and cosmetic changes to make him ugly. Despite these handicaps, however, he is able to invade a TV station and declare himself the new emperor. He then strips himself of his handicaps and begins to dance with a ballerina whose amazing beauty and skills have also been distorted by the authoritarian government in an attempt to restrict her advancement and recognition as a superior individual. As the couple dance in defiance of the “rules,” the two defy gravity as they “kiss” the ceiling and assert their artistic independence as well as their refusal to be controlled by an outside authority. The story ends abruptly with two shotgun blasts, suggesting to the reader that there is no forgiveness for those who defy society’s demand for conformity to the ordinary. Added poignancy is created by the framing story, in which Bergeron’s parents are watching TV and observe their son’s demise but cannot concentrate enough to remember the incident or assess its importance. Vonnegut’s point seems to be that without the nonconformists, the dreamers, and the different, society is doomed. The good intention of equality is marred by the way society decides to maintain it. To be fair to one group, it must necessarily be unfair to another. Yet if the brilliant and talented are hindered, society will be unable to improve, and the status quo will be all it can hope for.

Kurt Vonnegut/The New York Times

Vonnegut’s more pessimistic view of life may be termed absurdist. In this future society, growth and experimentation are no longer fostered, and science and technologies are devised to hurt rather than to help humankind. The complacency of Harrison’s parents who witness his murder and yet cannot remember why they are so sad indicates they both have submitted to a world where rebellion is not tolerated and where sameness is fostered and encouraged.

While many critics have considered Vonnegut’s story as an attack on the attempt to level all individuals, what Vonnegut is really assailing is the public’s understanding of what that leveling entails. Critics like Roy Townsend and Stanley Shatt seem to have missed the underlying irony of “Bergeron,” as well as its unreliable narrator, preferring to stress the obvious and ignore the fact that the story line offers an assessment of the foolishness that is “common sense.” Common sense is shown to be ridiculous in its assumptions about equality and in its belief that a sense of morality and ethics is intuitive. Moreover, since Vonnegut’s politics were Leftist in nature, it is unlikely that he would attack the concepts of communism and socialism.

In fact, it is Harrison himself who embodies the past oppression of a dominant culture, and readers should remember his desire is to be emperor, to reassert his superiority and the power it entitles him to wield. Instead Vonnegut seems to satirize society’s limited view of egalitarianism as only intelligence, looks, and athleticism. He never addresses income distribution (the separation between rich and poor) or class prejudice (the difference between the powerful and the powerless) even though both are signifcant issues for America. The mediocrity Vonnegut decries is not a result of the future but a continuation of past practices, an antiintellectualism that is depicted in Harrison’s parents, Hazel and George, whose ideas seem to be shaped by what they see on TV and little else. Controlled by a corrupt value system that says to ignore sad things and be satisfied with normality, it is their world that is condemned more than the world of Diana Moon Glampers. They have facilitated her rise to power with all the coldness and sterility that one might associate with the lunar goddess. Freedom is not the greatest good for the smallest number; nor does it hold that a classruled society will promulgate economic success. Though the story’s message appears quite simple, its moral is rather complex, forcing individual readers to think twice before they reduce its meaning to a sentence or two. Vonnegut was clearly not just trying to side with the radical Right’s objections to big government, and “Harrison Bergeron” is definite evidence of how his convoluted texts beg for more contemplation than they have been previously given

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Harrison Bergeron

Kurt vonnegut, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

Equality vs. Individualism

In the futuristic world of “Harrison Bergeron,” the government applies physical and mental handicaps to individuals with above-average strength and intelligence in order to guarantee that all people in society are equal. While equality is often regarded as a positive condition of democratic society, Vonnegut’s dystopian portrayal of an absolutely equal society reveals how equality must be balanced with freedom and individualism in order for society to thrive.

Although in the story all people are…

Media and Ideology

In “Harrison Bergeron,” the totalitarian state regulates the minds and bodies of its citizens to ensure statewide equality. In addition to distributing handicap devices to lower the physical and/or mental strength of above-average citizens, the government maintains equality among citizens through ideologically-charged media that encourages citizens to consent to the invasive practices of the US Handicapper General . By showing propaganda as an equally powerful and invasive force as grotesque physical devices, Vonnegut suggests that…

Dissent vs. Authority

For the brief moments when Harrison proclaims himself Emperor, destroys his state-issued handicaps , and dances beautifully on state TV, the government’s power is lost. Although the moment is short-lived (a government agent shoots Harrison dead while he’s dancing), his dissent nonetheless shows that individuals might still have power under totalitarianism. Harrison’s exceptional existence proves that equality isn’t absolute (or else he wouldn’t have been able to achieve such an extraordinary feat), and therefore that…

The Power of the Arts

Though state media insists that Harrison has plans to overthrow the government, his act of rebellion is not a traditional coup: he dances beautifully on national TV with a ballerina whom he has liberated from her handicaps , to music from an orchestra he has also un-handicapped. In other words, Harrison’s dissent is an artistic performance unencumbered by forced equality, which suggests that artists can disrupt state authority through the power of performance.

Before Harrison…

Harrison Bergeron

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State Control

The narrator notes that “equality was due to the [...] unceasing vigilance of the agents of the United States Handicapper General” (18), who derive their power from the Constitution. The first instance in which the Handicapper General exercises this power is when the H-G men take Harrison Bergeron away. Later it is revealed that Harrison was imprisoned for “plotting to overthrow the government” (22). After his escape, he declares himself Emperor and exercises control with violence. Soon afterward, Glampers shoots Harrison and the ballet dancer.

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Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Harrison Bergeron — Analysis of the Equality Theme in “Harrison Bergeron”

Analysis of The Equality Theme in "Harrison Bergeron"

• Categories: Harrison Bergeron

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Words: 688 |

Published: Jan 29, 2024

Words: 688 | Pages: 2 | 4 min read

Table of contents

Extreme societal leveling and its dangers, loss of individuality, need for a balanced approach to achieve true equality, references:.

• Vonnegut, Kurt. "Harrison Bergeron."
• Plank, David N. "Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron : A study of revolution and conformity." Journal of Reading, vol. 31, no.7, 1988, pp. 620-2.
• Parkinson, Thomas. "The Dangers of Forced Equality in Harrison Bergeron." Medium, 1 May 2019, https://erisarion.medium.com/the-dangers-of-forced-equality-in-harrison-bergeron-365e6ec7e485.

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While the short film, 2081, has many common similarities with its adapted version of the short story, Harrison Bergeron, they differ from each other to the point where it can change our whole view on who Harrison Bergeron [...]

Ancient German Philosopher, Georg Christoph once said, “Equality which we demand is the most tolerant degree of inequality.” For centuries, humankind has diligently worked towards an equal society, but what happens when such [...]

In “Harrison Bergeron” Kurt Vonnegut criticized the way government took advantage of the power they had over civilians and demolished people's strongest capabilities. A few years later, Joseph Alvarez wrote “An Overview of [...]

In Kurt Vonnegut's dystopian short story, "Harrison Bergeron," the year is 2081, and an eerie sense of equality pervades the nation. However, this equality comes at a steep price, one that questions the very essence of [...]

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Harrison Bergeron Lesson Plans, Activities, Summary, Analysis, and More

Teaching guide for “harrison bergeron” by kurt vonnegut, ela common core standards covered.

Teaching “Harrison Bergeron” covers the following ELA common core standards for reading and writing.

• RL.9-10.1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
• RL.9-10.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.

After you check out these awesome lessons for “Harrison Bergeron,” be sure to check out the complete short story lesson plans catalog .

“Harrison Bergeron” Summary

The year is 2081, and everybody was finally equal…in every which way, thanks to the 211th, 212th, and 213th amendments to the U.S. Constitution. George and Hazel are watching TV, unable to think about their son Harrison being taken away, Hazel because she’s stupid and George because he has a transmitter in his ear that plays loud noises to disrupt his thinking.

Masked ballerinas stumble on stage, weights strapped around their neck, and announcers with speech impediments broadcast the news. A picture of Harrison Bergeron appears on the screen. He has escaped from prison. Moments later Harrison breaks into the studio, claims himself emperor and anoints the first ballerina to step forward queen. The two perform a graceful dance, followed by the entrance of Diana Moon Glampers, Handicapper General of the United States government, who shoots and kills Harrison and his queen.

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• all the great stuff you see here
• assignments with answer keys
• graphic organizers
• grading rubric
• “Harrison Bergeron” multiple choice quiz

Teaching “Harrison Bergeron” has never been easier with these interactive activities. I’ve also included a “Harrison Bergeron” summary and analysis for your convenience.

Just download and print this pdf . Stick the lesson plans in your lesson plan binder to impress your administrators. Copy the student friendly handouts and watch your students rise above societal handicaps.

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“Harrison Bergeron” Analysis

A “Harrison Bergeron” analysis produces the following topics of discussion.

• “Equal is not always fair in ‘Harrison Bergeron'” : The Declaration of Independence states “all men are created equal.” Some, including the government in “Harrison Bergeron,” misunderstand the meaning of equality, thinking it guarantees equal results as opposed to equal opportunity under the law and in the eyes of God.
• The Dangers of Big Government : “Harrison Bergeron” explore the dangers of giving government too much authority.
• Irony : The irony is obvious–dancers who can’t dance, announcers who can’t speak, smart people who can’t think. Everyone has an articificial handicap, except for the Handicapper General who enforces the laws.
• Satire : Vonnegut pokes fun at government policies that punish the gifted and successful, redistribute resources, and encroach upon civil liberties. The tone is satirical; the theme is serious.
• The United States Constitution – Even the U.S. Constitution, a document created to limit government, has been turned into an instrument of oppression by Diana Moon Glampers and her ilk by adding 186 amendments to it.

“Harrison Bergeron” Lesson Ideas

• Kurt Vonnegut is one of America’s great humorists. Use this analyzing humor lesson plan to help students recognize his talents.
• Read the Declaration of Independence. Discuss the phrase “all men are created equal and that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” What did Thomas Jefferson and other founding fathers mean? Why does Martin Luther King allude to it so often in his “I Have a Dream” speech?  How have modern politicians warped the expression? Can an equality of results be obtained? Has equality under the law been obtained?
• Read the United States Constitution Bill of Rights. Discuss which rights have been abused in “Harrison Bergeron.” Feel free to partner up with the U.S. History or government teacher and try this Bill of Rights lesson plan .
• “Harrison Bergeron” makes a great companion piece of literature to Brave New World, 1984, or Fahrenheit 451 .
• 2081 .  This is an outstanding movie.  It’s about 1/2 hour long.  Rent it from Amazon and stream it.

Here’s the movie trailer.

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Last Updated on January 17, 2022 by Trenton Lorcher

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