Avatar. The Avengers. Iron Man 3. Transformers: Dark of the Moon. The Dark Knight Rises.
These are five of the top ten all-time highest grossing movies. Their (arguable) inclusion in the Science Fiction canon begs a question of the genre: is it just the spectacle that we shell out to witness, or is there some more primitive itch that these kinds of events scratch?
This blog is dedicated to figuring out how it is that Science Fiction addresses the problem of defining "human."
This was depressing when we read it in class in seventh grade and it's still just as depressing now. It came rushing back and sparked a memory once I started reading it.
What's interesting is the questions it poses. Like why handicap instead of improve? Maybe by keeping people down it maintains the necessity to keep working and laboring since they have not attained perfection, but also eliminates the drive and ambition that comes with the possibility of unlimited success.
I also noticed though that some of the handicaps actually do the opposite of handicapping leading back to the idea that equality is the ultimate goal. No one can be too happy, but no one can be too sad either. While the handicaps hinder people's capabilities all through the short story, at the end it actually helps them.
The parents, because of the handicaps on their cognition and memory cannot remember their sons death. They aren't kept down by their depression, grief, or mourning. They are numb to the ultimate handicap of death of a loved one.
This I think validates my original point that the handicaps aren't used to destroy people, but just keep them at bay. To use a Pink Floyd reference, they keep them comfortably numb. It destroys their physical capabilities, but saves them from mental illness as well - or at least from the depression that may come with it. The power - whoever they may be in this story - strikes the perfect balance between tempering drive while still maintaining motivation.
This part I don't understand though. Why keep going? Apparently love does still exist in this society as we choose our partners and have children that affect our emotional stability before it is regulated again, but if you can't remember what happened why keep going. Why does anyone have the will to live? There is no hope for a better future just a more contained and regulated one.
I have so many mixed feelings about this reading. At each point, I had something else going on in my head. My very first thoughts were about the science behind this earpiece – I really would like to know more about how it works. I know that it is not necessarily the objective here, but as a science person, I wonder. Following that, the idea of a handicap being something that in fact makes you more able rather than disabled was blowing my mind. I spend a lot of time with the disabled and am studying to be a clinical geneticist (all of my patients will be disabled). Trying to change my mind and perspective about something I spend a lot of time thinking about was difficult. It was of course also very sad, that the things that actually do make us capable (physical capabilities, intelligence, talent) were squandered here and in fact punished. We normally spend so much time trying to make the disabled more able, yet here we are doing the opposite. It is sad to think of a world that functions this way. I imagine that such a society, under such control, would be a lifestyle most anyone today would fear. Perhaps the scariest part though, is that those living in it are blind to it. This reminds me of what we talked about in class, that things of this nature are much scarier than any made up monster. These are the things that sort of shake your conscience and make you question your confidence in the human race. This also reminded me about a discussion we had in my medical parasitology class. My professor gave a speech addressing the Ebola virus, feeling that we needed an educated response to all the chatter going on about it. She said that the scary thing is not the Ebola virus itself; it’s the idea of an epidemic and what that might do to people. People will begin to fend for themselves, starting to look at each other as merely a means of infection, rather than fellow human beings. Even medical professionals may refuse care out of fear. The aftermath of tremendous hate for one another and disunity following such an epidemic is what is truly scary. That we are capable of becoming this way is horrifying. The end of this story is particularly scarring, imagining a world in which those trying to simply be their own unique and liberated selves are immediately murdered without a single outcry from anyone. It is especially scary that Hazel cannot even remember a moment later.
One thought that kept coming to me while I was reading this was; what's the point? I understand the purpose of the handicaps was to make everyone equal, as horrible as that is. My question is: what's the point of having things in society like a ballet if all the ballerinas are handicapped to be no better at ballet than anybody else? Isn't the whole point of going to the ballet, a debate, or a sporting event to watch people who are experts and professionals doing what they do best? How could anyone enjoy watching ballerinas who can't dance any better than the average person? At one point in the story George is contemplating whether or not the dancers should be handicapped at all, but his thoughts are quickly scattered by the noise coming from his earpiece.
The second interesting aspect of this story I noted was that all these handicaps that people were forced to wear and the entire handicap system relies solely on people's passive and indifferent attitudes towards them. If every person who was forced to wear the handicaps all decided to cast them off could they really be stopped? Surely the handicapper general couldn't shoot them all. The problem seems to be that the handicaps have made people so utterly normal that they've lost all motivation to be anything more than what society wants them to be. Hazel suggests to George that he takes of his weights just while he's at home where no one will know and he still refuses. George says that if one person takes their weights off then everyone else will follow suit and then the world will be, "right back in the dark ages" as George puts it. It kind of reminds me of 1984, in the sense that big brother's, or in this case the handicapper general's, real victory comes not from keeping the spirit of resistance down, but eliminating that spirit entirely, so that people no longer have any desire to break the status quo.
Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut Jr was a very interesting short story to read. This short story goes very well with the science fiction topic as it talks about how the future will be and that society will change drastically. I remember watching a movie that had the same idea as this short story but I can't remember what the movie was called. It was not the first time seeing/reading about a society where everyone is equal and those who are better than the normal are going to be handicapped. It was very interesting on the way they made the above average people to be like the average. Kind of a weird way to handicap those individuals by putting weights, wearing earmuffs, shaving eyebrows and etc. I could see that some people want everyone to be the same but I think that a society would be boring. It is a good thing for there to be different types of people in a society because that is what makes each individual unique and be happy. For example, a sports game where professional athletes go against their opponents. If these athletes had the same skills as an average person then whats the point of watching the games. I mean everyone is going to have the same skills and watching the game wouldn't be fun to the viewers who can have the same skills as the players. I can tell that people in the story were unhappy with their lives, but most were to afraid to say something because they knew they were going to get fined/jailed or even worse, get killed. I think that most of the people in this society had seen what happens to the law breakers and the consequences so they don't want to do anything a normal person wouldn't do. For example Harrison and the ballerina were both shot by the handicapper general for not following the handicap laws. I guess something bad happend before 2081 because George says something about going back to the dark ages if they were to not follow the handicap laws. Overall this short story was a good science fiction piece.
As entertaining and hilarious as this story is, it is very unnerving at certain parts. George and Hazel are so content with their government that they are completely okay with witnessing the death of their son on television. Their handicaps are mostly are mostly the reason why it happens but aside from their initial surprise, they do not think much about it. Hazel crying at the end of it for seemingly no reason hints at some sort of sadness towards Harrison’s death. The use of handicaps reminds me of the proverb, “The nail that sticks out gets hammered down.” Ironically enough, the people who have handicaps on are the ones who actually stand out. Most of the characters wear bags of birdshot and ugly masks but, Harrison differs from everyone else by being a walking scrapheap with a red rubber nose. This could be a way of showing how strong and handsome he really is to the reader. This story is very grim underneath all the humor and ridiculous looking characters. Is everyone okay with the restrictions placed on them or is it just Harrison and that one ballerina? What about the health problems that will result from wearing weights all the time? Do people in the government have handicaps as well? This forced equality could limit humanity’s progress. Things can’t be invented if one has a buzzer going on in their head every certain amount of seconds. New ideas could never be expressed because people would forget them easily. It looks very bleak for the future past 2081.
Indeed, the future looks very bleak for 2081 if we're headed for this kind of dystopian society. However, it is a true Vonnegut piece, and I loved it for the terribly painful irony and utter apathy the world of the story had for Harrison's death at the end of the story.
Harrison did seem extra odd to me, as Elijah pointed out. He's got way more in terms of handicaps than anyone else, and everything about him, all the way down to his teeth, are deemed to be worthy of handicapping. That guy had to be underwear-model, astrophysicist quality, which surprises me only because his parents didn't have those same looks, and only his father seemed to have intelligence.
His going into the studio and trying to do something about his situation is a blip on the radar. No matter how strong a man is in anything close to our reality, he still has at least one true weakness: firearms. The shotgun coming in and utterly obliterating Harrison and the dancer reflects back on the society they all live in-- the government, too strong a force in this reality, is almost holding guns to people's heads all the time. The messages? "Conform or die" and "If I'm not special, you can't either."
This story was very interesting. Right now it is only 67 years into our future. To think that something like that could happen in that short of time from now is really interesting. The world changes a lot over time, but I do not think I could ever see this happening. Honestly, if I had to live in a world like that I would be okay with it, as long as I did not have one of those ear pieces in my ear or have to wear a mask…which I know I would have to wear… Everyone is equal and there is no competition. I would also be okay with forgetting everything that is sad and not having to feel it. If I had my son die in front of me on television I would definitely not want to feel that or remember it. Life just seems so much easier without pain and suffering.
As soon as I started to read the short story I remembered reading this in high school. I always thought it was ridiculous how most people so easily succumbed to the handicaps but Harrison was able to overcome his. Even though he was supposedly so smart to overcome these handicaps he still acted really stupidly and got himself killed in the process of trying to prove something to the world in which no one would remember 30 seconds later. Though the one thing I found most interesting was that the mother Hazel was crying for her son even though she couldn’t remember why. I find this interesting because no matter how much you handicap our physical being are subconscious will always remember. -Sebrina Thompson
This piece made me both upset and intrigued. The first thing I noticed was that there are almost 10X the amendments to the Constitution in this reading than we have now in real life. The government enforcing handicaps that bring everyone down to the same level, I see a parallel to real life; participation and worthless trophies for kids. While it is a large exaggeration, it conditions kids that being better at something is bad, or at least that there are rewards for just showing up, removing the motivation to try and be better than just present.
Also, I noticed that as the story progresses, the noises in Georges head get progressively more violent and disturbing. The TV is omnipresent in the story; it seems to be a pacifying tool for the masses. With the ballerinas on TV dancing, and the low baseline intelligence, most any desire to even have free thought is eliminated. Even Harrison’s death on TV is representative and literally the death of defiance.
Government has become such a leviathan that it replaces religion. Even Hazel, with her suggestion that they play chimes on Sunday in his head, The Handicapper-General has taken the place of god.
George and Hazel, in my mind, are no longer human. They are almost robotic in how they are unable to feel any pain or real sadness at watching the killing of their own son on TV. Without any real depth or breadth of emotion, the human experience is in tatters, void of any meaning. With out emotions, we would simply occupy our shell for however long we are cursed with the burden, die and be none the wiser for it.
The whole point is for everyone to be equal in this story, but clearly the government is not. Like Brendan said it's like 1984 where everyone should be kept in the dark and passive.... except the almighty government. We see Diana Moon Glampers at the end come out with a shotgun and we know she's clearly not handicapped. Even her name is above average unlike the name George or something. Seems all these stories speak on how the overall population is kept submissive while the government rules supreme.
I enjoy stories like this. Where equality of character is shunned. I'm curious as to think on how a society could get a long with the handicaps that people were given. Who would be able to make decisions? Was it the handicapper generals? How would any improvements go about in society? this story can be related to Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand, the weak, the mediochre, are the ones that are attended to. The government finds the most helpless, needing person and forces others to adjust to their lives in order not to hurt their ego. sort of like asimovs Liar! forcing everyone to be the same and literally incapable to hurt someone elses feelings. Stories like this bring an important awareness to values that I hold close to me. I enjoy the idea of inequality of human ability. Those that are genetically better than others ought to remain that way, hook up with great genes of the opposite sex and create strong ass kids. Those kids are what the world will rely on to push the world to greater lengths. I dig humanity, I think that the cultures that we have phased through and the one that we are in, well they are accumulations of people playing to their strengths and 'making shit happen'. If people were pushed into the dirt and punished for being better than others? well then we aren't going to make it too far as a society, we might as well immolate ourselves.
This was one of the most weird and awesome short stories I have ever read. By the end I was wide eyed and taken aback. I loved it.
At first I was confused by what was happening between the main characters, I didn't quite understand why George and Hazel had these handicaps or why their son, Harrison, was imprisoned. But I soon began to understand the purpose of these handicaps, to eliminate any form of originality or competition among the human population. When George refers to the Dark Ages I immediately related that to the time period we live in now. Where society is driven by competition, and where people are able to get ahead sometimes due to innate abilities -such George's extreme intelligence. George places such a negative connotation on the completion that we experience today, making me think that there is most definitely a level of brainwashing occurring here. Which by the end of the story is evident in Hazel's reaction. This almost reminded me of communism, but instead of economic, mental and physical. Disturbing as all hell. And as Brendan points out, what's the point? Well in this particular story, there doesn't seem to be one within the society these characters live in. Except for of course, the Handicapper General. Who in the end shocked me with her dramatic shotgun rampage.
After that ordeal I became unbelievably frustrated with Hazel and her inability to process what she had just seen. Her son was killed, brutally! And right after he had just broken away the chains that bound their mental communist society. How could she not react to that? But then again, the handicaps that are placed on the people of this society not only handicapped a specific person and aspect of who they are, but collectively handicapped the population and their ability to think and feel.
I see Kurt Vonnegut's “Harrison Bergeron” frequently referenced by neo-liberal, Randian types when it comes time to make specious arguments about communism. I think they're fools who are missing the underpinnings of this deceptively simple text. At first blush it's an anti-egalitarian story which expresses the tragedy of quashed individuality, similar to Ayn Rand's Anthem. However, I think a cursory examination of the text reveals that “Harrison Bergeron” is a modern “Modest Proposal” more than an examination of the tragic fates of Objectivist ubermenschen in communist dystopia. The excess of the piece is one signal, such as the sentence, “Not only were the laws of the land abandoned, but the law of gravity and the laws of motion as well.” It's hard to take imagine Vonnegut wrote that in earnest and it's hard to take Harrison seriously when he stomps his foot on the ground like a petulant child. However, I think the biggest tip off is how utterly anti-democratic Harrison's attitude is. Objectivism, Libertarianism and other neo-liberal dogmas tend to proclaim that selfishness and capitalism are necessary for democracy, and lionize liberal democracy as much as they lionize the free market. However, we see in “Harrison” how these ideologies betray their elitist core. Harrison shouts, “I am the Emperor! Everybody must do what I say at once!” which is an absolutist statement par excellence. He is also described as being so handsome he would awe the Norse god Thor. The text ironically deifies Harrison so as to display how far away he is from beginning to consider “lesser men.” It seems clear to me that Vonnegut is ruthlessly skewering the Objectivist mind set by painting Harrison as a melodramatic, myopic narcissist whose register is ultimately more fascist or monarchical than democratic.
This was depressing when we read it in class in seventh grade and it's still just as depressing now. It came rushing back and sparked a memory once I started reading it.
ReplyDeleteWhat's interesting is the questions it poses. Like why handicap instead of improve? Maybe by keeping people down it maintains the necessity to keep working and laboring since they have not attained perfection, but also eliminates the drive and ambition that comes with the possibility of unlimited success.
I also noticed though that some of the handicaps actually do the opposite of handicapping leading back to the idea that equality is the ultimate goal. No one can be too happy, but no one can be too sad either. While the handicaps hinder people's capabilities all through the short story, at the end it actually helps them.
The parents, because of the handicaps on their cognition and memory cannot remember their sons death. They aren't kept down by their depression, grief, or mourning. They are numb to the ultimate handicap of death of a loved one.
This I think validates my original point that the handicaps aren't used to destroy people, but just keep them at bay. To use a Pink Floyd reference, they keep them comfortably numb. It destroys their physical capabilities, but saves them from mental illness as well - or at least from the depression that may come with it. The power - whoever they may be in this story - strikes the perfect balance between tempering drive while still maintaining motivation.
This part I don't understand though. Why keep going? Apparently love does still exist in this society as we choose our partners and have children that affect our emotional stability before it is regulated again, but if you can't remember what happened why keep going. Why does anyone have the will to live? There is no hope for a better future just a more contained and regulated one.
I have so many mixed feelings about this reading. At each point, I had something else going on in my head. My very first thoughts were about the science behind this earpiece – I really would like to know more about how it works. I know that it is not necessarily the objective here, but as a science person, I wonder.
ReplyDeleteFollowing that, the idea of a handicap being something that in fact makes you more able rather than disabled was blowing my mind. I spend a lot of time with the disabled and am studying to be a clinical geneticist (all of my patients will be disabled). Trying to change my mind and perspective about something I spend a lot of time thinking about was difficult.
It was of course also very sad, that the things that actually do make us capable (physical capabilities, intelligence, talent) were squandered here and in fact punished. We normally spend so much time trying to make the disabled more able, yet here we are doing the opposite. It is sad to think of a world that functions this way. I imagine that such a society, under such control, would be a lifestyle most anyone today would fear.
Perhaps the scariest part though, is that those living in it are blind to it. This reminds me of what we talked about in class, that things of this nature are much scarier than any made up monster. These are the things that sort of shake your conscience and make you question your confidence in the human race.
This also reminded me about a discussion we had in my medical parasitology class. My professor gave a speech addressing the Ebola virus, feeling that we needed an educated response to all the chatter going on about it. She said that the scary thing is not the Ebola virus itself; it’s the idea of an epidemic and what that might do to people. People will begin to fend for themselves, starting to look at each other as merely a means of infection, rather than fellow human beings. Even medical professionals may refuse care out of fear. The aftermath of tremendous hate for one another and disunity following such an epidemic is what is truly scary. That we are capable of becoming this way is horrifying.
The end of this story is particularly scarring, imagining a world in which those trying to simply be their own unique and liberated selves are immediately murdered without a single outcry from anyone. It is especially scary that Hazel cannot even remember a moment later.
One thought that kept coming to me while I was reading this was; what's the point? I understand the purpose of the handicaps was to make everyone equal, as horrible as that is. My question is: what's the point of having things in society like a ballet if all the ballerinas are handicapped to be no better at ballet than anybody else? Isn't the whole point of going to the ballet, a debate, or a sporting event to watch people who are experts and professionals doing what they do best? How could anyone enjoy watching ballerinas who can't dance any better than the average person? At one point in the story George is contemplating whether or not the dancers should be handicapped at all, but his thoughts are quickly scattered by the noise coming from his earpiece.
ReplyDeleteThe second interesting aspect of this story I noted was that all these handicaps that people were forced to wear and the entire handicap system relies solely on people's passive and indifferent attitudes towards them. If every person who was forced to wear the handicaps all decided to cast them off could they really be stopped? Surely the handicapper general couldn't shoot them all. The problem seems to be that the handicaps have made people so utterly normal that they've lost all motivation to be anything more than what society wants them to be. Hazel suggests to George that he takes of his weights just while he's at home where no one will know and he still refuses. George says that if one person takes their weights off then everyone else will follow suit and then the world will be, "right back in the dark ages" as George puts it. It kind of reminds me of 1984, in the sense that big brother's, or in this case the handicapper general's, real victory comes not from keeping the spirit of resistance down, but eliminating that spirit entirely, so that people no longer have any desire to break the status quo.
Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut Jr was a very interesting short story to read. This short story goes very well with the science fiction topic as it talks about how the future will be and that society will change drastically. I remember watching a movie that had the same idea as this short story but I can't remember what the movie was called. It was not the first time seeing/reading about a society where everyone is equal and those who are better than the normal are going to be handicapped. It was very interesting on the way they made the above average people to be like the average. Kind of a weird way to handicap those individuals by putting weights, wearing earmuffs, shaving eyebrows and etc. I could see that some people want everyone to be the same but I think that a society would be boring. It is a good thing for there to be different types of people in a society because that is what makes each individual unique and be happy. For example, a sports game where professional athletes go against their opponents. If these athletes had the same skills as an average person then whats the point of watching the games. I mean everyone is going to have the same skills and watching the game wouldn't be fun to the viewers who can have the same skills as the players. I can tell that people in the story were unhappy with their lives, but most were to afraid to say something because they knew they were going to get fined/jailed or even worse, get killed. I think that most of the people in this society had seen what happens to the law breakers and the consequences so they don't want to do anything a normal person wouldn't do. For example Harrison and the ballerina were both shot by the handicapper general for not following the handicap laws. I guess something bad happend before 2081 because George says something about going back to the dark ages if they were to not follow the handicap laws. Overall this short story was a good science fiction piece.
ReplyDeleteAs entertaining and hilarious as this story is, it is very unnerving at certain parts. George and Hazel are so content with their government that they are completely okay with witnessing the death of their son on television. Their handicaps are mostly are mostly the reason why it happens but aside from their initial surprise, they do not think much about it. Hazel crying at the end of it for seemingly no reason hints at some sort of sadness towards Harrison’s death.
ReplyDeleteThe use of handicaps reminds me of the proverb, “The nail that sticks out gets hammered down.” Ironically enough, the people who have handicaps on are the ones who actually stand out. Most of the characters wear bags of birdshot and ugly masks but, Harrison differs from everyone else by being a walking scrapheap with a red rubber nose. This could be a way of showing how strong and handsome he really is to the reader.
This story is very grim underneath all the humor and ridiculous looking characters. Is everyone okay with the restrictions placed on them or is it just Harrison and that one ballerina? What about the health problems that will result from wearing weights all the time? Do people in the government have handicaps as well?
This forced equality could limit humanity’s progress. Things can’t be invented if one has a buzzer going on in their head every certain amount of seconds. New ideas could never be expressed because people would forget them easily. It looks very bleak for the future past 2081.
Indeed, the future looks very bleak for 2081 if we're headed for this kind of dystopian society. However, it is a true Vonnegut piece, and I loved it for the terribly painful irony and utter apathy the world of the story had for Harrison's death at the end of the story.
ReplyDeleteHarrison did seem extra odd to me, as Elijah pointed out. He's got way more in terms of handicaps than anyone else, and everything about him, all the way down to his teeth, are deemed to be worthy of handicapping. That guy had to be underwear-model, astrophysicist quality, which surprises me only because his parents didn't have those same looks, and only his father seemed to have intelligence.
His going into the studio and trying to do something about his situation is a blip on the radar. No matter how strong a man is in anything close to our reality, he still has at least one true weakness: firearms. The shotgun coming in and utterly obliterating Harrison and the dancer reflects back on the society they all live in-- the government, too strong a force in this reality, is almost holding guns to people's heads all the time. The messages? "Conform or die" and "If I'm not special, you can't either."
you can't be* special either. That was bothering me, sorry.
DeleteThis story was very interesting. Right now it is only 67 years into our future. To think that something like that could happen in that short of time from now is really interesting. The world changes a lot over time, but I do not think I could ever see this happening. Honestly, if I had to live in a world like that I would be okay with it, as long as I did not have one of those ear pieces in my ear or have to wear a mask…which I know I would have to wear… Everyone is equal and there is no competition. I would also be okay with forgetting everything that is sad and not having to feel it. If I had my son die in front of me on television I would definitely not want to feel that or remember it. Life just seems so much easier without pain and suffering.
ReplyDeleteAs soon as I started to read the short story I remembered reading this in high school. I always thought it was ridiculous how most people so easily succumbed to the handicaps but Harrison was able to overcome his. Even though he was supposedly so smart to overcome these handicaps he still acted really stupidly and got himself killed in the process of trying to prove something to the world in which no one would remember 30 seconds later. Though the one thing I found most interesting was that the mother Hazel was crying for her son even though she couldn’t remember why. I find this interesting because no matter how much you handicap our physical being are subconscious will always remember.
ReplyDelete-Sebrina Thompson
This piece made me both upset and intrigued. The first thing I noticed was that there are almost 10X the amendments to the Constitution in this reading than we have now in real life. The government enforcing handicaps that bring everyone down to the same level, I see a parallel to real life; participation and worthless trophies for kids. While it is a large exaggeration, it conditions kids that being better at something is bad, or at least that there are rewards for just showing up, removing the motivation to try and be better than just present.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I noticed that as the story progresses, the noises in Georges head get progressively more violent and disturbing. The TV is omnipresent in the story; it seems to be a pacifying tool for the masses. With the ballerinas on TV dancing, and the low baseline intelligence, most any desire to even have free thought is eliminated. Even Harrison’s death on TV is representative and literally the death of defiance.
Government has become such a leviathan that it replaces religion. Even Hazel, with her suggestion that they play chimes on Sunday in his head, The Handicapper-General has taken the place of god.
George and Hazel, in my mind, are no longer human. They are almost robotic in how they are unable to feel any pain or real sadness at watching the killing of their own son on TV. Without any real depth or breadth of emotion, the human experience is in tatters, void of any meaning. With out emotions, we would simply occupy our shell for however long we are cursed with the burden, die and be none the wiser for it.
The whole point is for everyone to be equal in this story, but clearly the government is not. Like Brendan said it's like 1984 where everyone should be kept in the dark and passive.... except the almighty government. We see Diana Moon Glampers at the end come out with a shotgun and we know she's clearly not handicapped. Even her name is above average unlike the name George or something. Seems all these stories speak on how the overall population is kept submissive while the government rules supreme.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy stories like this. Where equality of character is shunned. I'm curious as to think on how a society could get a long with the handicaps that people were given. Who would be able to make decisions? Was it the handicapper generals? How would any improvements go about in society? this story can be related to Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand, the weak, the mediochre, are the ones that are attended to. The government finds the most helpless, needing person and forces others to adjust to their lives in order not to hurt their ego. sort of like asimovs Liar! forcing everyone to be the same and literally incapable to hurt someone elses feelings.
ReplyDeleteStories like this bring an important awareness to values that I hold close to me. I enjoy the idea of inequality of human ability. Those that are genetically better than others ought to remain that way, hook up with great genes of the opposite sex and create strong ass kids. Those kids are what the world will rely on to push the world to greater lengths. I dig humanity, I think that the cultures that we have phased through and the one that we are in, well they are accumulations of people playing to their strengths and 'making shit happen'. If people were pushed into the dirt and punished for being better than others? well then we aren't going to make it too far as a society, we might as well immolate ourselves.
From Katrina:
ReplyDeleteThis was one of the most weird and awesome short stories I have ever read. By the end I was wide eyed and taken aback. I loved it.
At first I was confused by what was happening between the main characters, I didn't quite understand why George and Hazel had these handicaps or why their son, Harrison, was imprisoned. But I soon began to understand the purpose of these handicaps, to eliminate any form of originality or competition among the human population. When George refers to the Dark Ages I immediately related that to the time period we live in now. Where society is driven by competition, and where people are able to get ahead sometimes due to innate abilities -such George's extreme intelligence. George places such a negative connotation on the completion that we experience today, making me think that there is most definitely a level of brainwashing occurring here. Which by the end of the story is evident in Hazel's reaction.
This almost reminded me of communism, but instead of economic, mental and physical. Disturbing as all hell. And as Brendan points out, what's the point? Well in this particular story, there doesn't seem to be one within the society these characters live in. Except for of course, the Handicapper General. Who in the end shocked me with her dramatic shotgun rampage.
After that ordeal I became unbelievably frustrated with Hazel and her inability to process what she had just seen. Her son was killed, brutally! And right after he had just broken away the chains that bound their mental communist society. How could she not react to that? But then again, the handicaps that are placed on the people of this society not only handicapped a specific person and aspect of who they are, but collectively handicapped the population and their ability to think and feel.
I see Kurt Vonnegut's “Harrison Bergeron” frequently referenced by neo-liberal, Randian types when it comes time to make specious arguments about communism. I think they're fools who are missing the underpinnings of this deceptively simple text. At first blush it's an anti-egalitarian story which expresses the tragedy of quashed individuality, similar to Ayn Rand's Anthem. However, I think a cursory examination of the text reveals that “Harrison Bergeron” is a modern “Modest Proposal” more than an examination of the tragic fates of Objectivist ubermenschen in communist dystopia. The excess of the piece is one signal, such as the sentence, “Not only were the laws of the land abandoned, but the law of gravity and the laws of motion as well.” It's hard to take imagine Vonnegut wrote that in earnest and it's hard to take Harrison seriously when he stomps his foot on the ground like a petulant child. However, I think the biggest tip off is how utterly anti-democratic Harrison's attitude is. Objectivism, Libertarianism and other neo-liberal dogmas tend to proclaim that selfishness and capitalism are necessary for democracy, and lionize liberal democracy as much as they lionize the free market. However, we see in “Harrison” how these ideologies betray their elitist core. Harrison shouts, “I am the Emperor! Everybody must do what I say at once!” which is an absolutist statement par excellence. He is also described as being so handsome he would awe the Norse god Thor. The text ironically deifies Harrison so as to display how far away he is from beginning to consider “lesser men.” It seems clear to me that Vonnegut is ruthlessly skewering the Objectivist mind set by painting Harrison as a melodramatic, myopic narcissist whose register is ultimately more fascist or monarchical than democratic.
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