Harrison Bergeron Summary

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Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut

Lesson Plans by Kristy Littlehale

”Harrison Bergeron”, the short story penned by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. in 1961, imagines the world in 120 years, where the government has taken complete control over free thought and complete equality has finally been achieved – at a price, of course.

Harrison Bergeron

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Elements of Dystiopia

Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut - Dystopian Elements in "Harrison Bergeron"

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Harrison Bergeron Summary activity will have students illustrate the plot of the story with a plot diagram!

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EXPOSITION
In the year 2081, true equality has finally been achieved: no one is more intelligent, better looking, or stronger than anyone else. This equality is imposed and maintained by use of handicaps, or items that citizens wear to create physical obstacles to make them equal to others, and enforced by the United States Handicapper General.
CLIMAX
CONFLICT
In April 2081, agents for the Handicapper General took Hazel and George Bergeron’s son Harrison away to jail, suspecting him of trying to overthrow the government. The Bergerons are sporadically sad because they can’t think about it for very long. George’s thoughts are routinely interrupted by a transmitter in his ear that emits loud noises every 20 seconds; Hazel’s intelligence limits her to short bursts of thought.
FALLING ACTION
.....
RISING ACTION
Hazel and George watch ballet on television. The ballerinas are handicapped by weights and wear masks to equalize their looks. George wears a 47-pound bag of birdshot around his neck. A bulletin announces that Harrison Bergeron escaped from prison. At 14, he is 7 feet tall and outgrew most of the handicaps assigned to him. He is incredibly strong, good looking, and poses a threat to the government’s equality ideal.
RESOLUTION
In the middle of the bulletin, Harrison bursts into the TV studio, ripping the door off of its hinges. He begins screaming, “I am the Emperor!” and tears off his handicaps. He calls for an Empress and a beautiful ballerina rises and joins him. Harrison removes her handicaps and those of the musicians and commands them to play music. He and the ballerina begin to dance, leap, and twirl around the set.
STAGE
In the middle of the dance, Diana Moon Glampers, the Handicapper General, arrives with a shotgun and shoots the ballerina and Harrison, killing them both. At that moment, the television goes out at the Bergerons’.
George goes to the kitchen for a beer and seems to have missed his son’s murder. Hazel is concerned about the television blackout. George notices that she’s been crying, but she just remembers that there was something sad on TV. She can't unscramble the thoughts in her mind, and George can't make sense of anything because the audio transmitter blasts the sound of a riveting gun into his head.

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Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut

Harrison Bergeron

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