Whitney Layne Mr. Neuburger Eng. Comp.

102-102 21 September 2011 Harrison Bergeron The story Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. shows a prediction of the role of government in the future and demonstrates how the government has taken complete control over society and the way people live. Harrisons handicap makes him strong enough to try and change what was so familiar to everyone else. Harrison was imprisoned because the government was trying to make everyone equal, and because he was so smart he had a bigger handicap than anyone else. Vonnegut writes He is a genius and an athlete, is under-handicapped, and should be regarded as extremely dangerous(206), which shows even at 14 he was uncontrollable. Therefore when it says nobody had ever borne heavier handicap (206), shows that the government knew he was smarter than anyone else, and he was very strong. Harrison had to overcome more than anyone else, but because he was very intelligent the only thing holding him back was the weight of his handicap. The longer he had the handicap on the stronger he became, and eventually was able to break free. Therefore because the handicap that he was forced to wear allowed him to gain the strength he needed to free himself, even if it was only for a short time before his death.

Work Cited Vonnegut Jr., Kurt Harrison Bergeron. Power of Language: Language of Power. New York Person Learning Solutions, 2009 203-09. Print