47 pages • 1 hour read
Kurt Vonnegut Jr.Harrison Bergeron
Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1960A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Character Analysis
Harrison Bergeron
The inciting incident occurs when the H-G men take Harrison, age 14, away. He is not mentioned again until it is revealed that he escaped prison. A ballet dancer announces that he is above average in attractiveness, intelligence, and strength, and he should not be reasoned with. His picture shows him fully outfitted with restraints, a clown nose, and blackened teeth. Giant headphones emit sounds to stop him from thinking. When he enters the studio, his steps cause a small earthquake. He rips off his restraints to reveal a man who “would have awed Thor, the God of Thunder” (24).
In a society that strives for total equality, Harrison’s existence is a threat to the social order. He exceeds the average in every way. He is aware of his power, declaring himself the “greatest emperor who has ever lived” (24). He shows off his abilities with the ballet dancer. He forces the musicians to play and shows off his musicality by singing to them the way he’d like them to play. While he and the ballet dancer kiss, however, Glampers shoots him, putting his abilities into perspective.
Diana Moon Glampers
Diana Moon Glampers is the Handicapper General. At the start of the story, she is a government bureaucrat who rules by ordering H-G men to place handicaps on people and imprisoning those who do not consent. She is an archetypical despot or tyrant. Society views her as necessary or even as someone to be admired. George discusses her importance, and Hazel enjoys the idea of being Handicapper General.
She only appears at the end of the story, when she shoots Harrison and the ballet dancer, and threatens to shoot the musicians too. In doing so, she oversteps the image of a government bureaucrat or even a typical tyrant. Wielding the shotgun, she becomes a despot taken to a satirical extreme. The sound of her shotgun is broadcasted in George Bergeron’s earpiece, demonstrating how she uses violence to maintain power but also instills it in the everyday lives of citizens.
George Bergeron
According to the narrator, George Bergeron has “above average intelligence” (18). He wears an earpiece to scatter thoughts that could lead him to question the state. However, he has thought through why he supports the state: He fears the consequence of disobeying it and the societal collapse that could result from mass disobedience. In some ways, he seems grateful to live in this society. When he starts thinking that everyone should not wear handicaps all the time, his earpiece emits a sound that stops him from thinking.
He recognizes his son’s entrance on the studio stage when he sees the television picture shake. However, he leaves the room to get a cold beer. When he comes back, he can neither remember nor think about what happened on screen: Glampers shooting his son. He can only make small talk with his wife and watch more television. He is a caricature of a consenting citizen. He is capable of thinking for himself but is too brainwashed to entertain thoughts that contradict the state’s propaganda.
Hazel Bergeron
The narrator reports that Hazel Bergeron is of “average intelligence.” At the beginning of the story, she cries in front of the television and then engages in conversation with George as they continue watching together. She talks about what she would do if she were Glampers, to whom she bears a strong resemblance.
The story ends as it starts: Hazel is crying, but this time the reader is led to believe she is crying because she watched Glampers kill her son. However, when George asks why she is crying, she cannot say. George asks her to forget sad things, and she says she always does. They go back to a mundane conversation. Hazel is a caricature of an average citizen. She does not see the Handicapper General as a threat, she is unconcerned with anything beyond her television screen, and she is even incapable of thinking about what she sees on the screen.
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By Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
