The Ironic Truth of Equality

COLLIN COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE

The Ironic Truth of Equality

English 1302

Bijan Guivehchi

2/27/2010

Dr. Billy Hill

Bijan Guivehchi

Professor Billy Hill

English 1302

27 February 2010

The Ironic Truth of Equality

Kurt Vonnegut's "Harrison Bergeron" depicts a future world where all humans have finally been made equal, but—through the story's many instances of irony—the concept of a completely "equal" society not only seems unfavorable, ironically, it ceases to ever exist.

Irony screams constantly throughout the story, beginning with the fact that every measure the government takes to create a more equal people results in the exact opposite. This is due in large part to the method the government uses—handicapping those deemed above average or better than the normal person. By implementing a system where extra handicaps accompany the more gifted on a proportionate scale, society begins to associate those with additional handicaps as the stronger or exceedingly powerful individuals. One clear example illustrated in the text describes a ballerina, "it was easy to see that she was the strongest and most graceful of all the dancers, for her handicap bags were as big as those worn by two-hundred-pound men" (Vonnegut 1515). This excerpt clearly shows the irony by using the ballerina's handicap bags as a measuring stick for her strength and grace. When describing Harrison, the story further outlines this point by describing him as both "a genius and an athlete", yet, "nobody had ever borne heavier handicaps" (Vonnegut 1515). This represents an ironic moment in the text because although the handicaps were distributed by the government to erase these ‘excellent' qualities, the handicaps in fact transformed them into becoming more predominant and obvious than ever before.

Among the most vivid ironies of the story, the fact that the equality of the people is ultimately guaranteed by the government's use of oppression demonstrates a tragically ironic notion. Our society continues searching and pushing for a more equal system, whether by implementing legislation such as the Bill of Rights, affirmative action, or the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (equal schools etc.), so the idea that this aspiration for equality could ultimately end with the repression of our people truly exhibits an ironic reality. The story describes a system where people "were equal every