Harrison Bergeron

Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

For a lot of you readers out there, whoever, and wherever you are. In your lifetime, once in a while, you have probably been assigned some required reading. Throughout my life, I have found, that reading is supposed to be fun. Why read a book that doesn't interest you? You're just boring yourself. And often, that's what required reading does to us. It bores us! However, throughout my schooling years I have come across some pretty fascinating titles, such as; The Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Black Book of Secrets by F.E. Higgins, The Giver by Lois Lowry, etc. And all of these were required reading! This year, in the past week, I have come across another interesting title, Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

Harrison Bergeron is basically about a dystopian society. Dystopia; an imaginary place where people lead dehumanized and often fearful lives. Basically, a place where everything has gone wrong, the society is at a very low point. The story is set in 2081, where the Amendments of the Constitution declare that everyone is to be equal. And by equal, they mean equal. If you are of average intelligence, looks, height, speed, etc. you are good to go. However, if you are above average in anything you are in for a bad time. People in this society are basically tortured for being above average, by forcing them to handicap themselves to give the appearance that they are average. Sounds terrifying doesn't it? Imagine, having to live with irritating sound waves repeating every twenty seconds in your ear, just because you were the smartest in your class. Or imagine having to carry possibly hundreds of pounds of bird shot around your neck, just because you were the fastest sprinted on the team. Anything you would take pride in doing, was something that you should be ashamed of...

So, how do I rate Harrison Bergeron? Well... it did change my perspective about a few things, actually. 
Harrison Bergeron: 7.5/10