“Harrison Bergeron”, written
by Kurt Vonnegut, is a short story that tells of the ironic shortcomings of a
seemingly perfect man who dies in the hands of his suppressive government. Harrison
Bergeron, born in a nation that makes equality the highest priorety, defies his
suppresive government by tearing off his handicaps on live television; but the
government fights back by making his perfect body equal to everyone else’s by
shooting him. Vonnegut toys with our expectations of the story’s end by adding
irony in Harrison Bergeron’s actions and changes the outcomes so the story
still makes sense but nevertheless puzzles and intrigues his audience. Vonnegut
uses Harrison Bergeron to show his audience how irony can change one’s
perception of the future, and how irony can be used to deceive one’s emotions.
Outline:
I. “Harrison
Bergeron” written by vonnegut has shortcomings but dies to his suppressive
government
a.
Individual who
wants to show his true self
b.
Doesn’t want to
be suppressed and ends up dead from the government
II. Bergeron born in
a country that has equality as its number one priority
a.
Wants to be free
b.
Pays the cost of
himself
III. Vonnegut uses
irony to play with our expectations
a.
Uses irony to
make a story in which the outcome is unknown
b.
Makes the story
stick out in our minds
IV. Vonnegut uses
Bergeron to show the audience irony can be used to deceive and amplify the
ideas in the story
a.
Irony projects
ideas to the readers
b.
Bergeron has an end
which reveals the authors main tool of irony
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