Harrison Bergeron

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Harrison Bergeron is a dystopian sci-fi short story by Kurt Vonnegut, first published in October 1961. It is usually seen as a darkly satirical critique of forced egalitarianism, but it can also be interpreted as a Stealth Parody of the above, since both the forced egalitarianism and the Ubermensch who fights against it are depicted as completely over-the-top.

"The year was 2081, and everyone was finally equal. They weren't only equal before God and the law. They were equal every which way. Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else." The U.S. Constitution has been amended to allow the Handicapper General to physically handicap anyone with an advantage. The story centers on George and Hazel Bergeron and their fourteen-year-old son Harrison, who has been imprisoned because he constantly outgrows his handicaps. It begins with George and Hazel watching television when breaking news announces that Harrison has escaped from prison, followed by Harrison bursting into the TV studio. He is revealed as being not just above-average, but outright superhuman. Among other things, he can fly.

In many ways the book is an expansion of scenes from Vonnegut's earlier work The Sirens of Titan, where the theme of enforced equality was introduced; however, Harrison Bergeron takes a far more dystopian view of the concept.

There is also a 1995 made-for-TV movie based on the story, starring Sean Astin as Harrison. The movie follows his childhood and the consequences of a love affair with an illegally handicap-free woman.

A 25-minute long film based on the story, 2081, premiered at the Seattle International Film Festival in May 2009. The film was released on DVD on January 25, 2010.


Tropes used in Harrison Bergeron include: