Literary elements take Vonnegut’s masterful writing in “Harrison Bergeron”, and bring it to a new level. Elements such as characterization, irony, symbolism, and allusion, combined with Vonnegut’s personal history – World War II – allows the reader to look at his work and consider the theme far more sincerely. Vonnegut then alludes to common concepts during that time and makes strong connections to them, making people wary, but not fearful, of the day’s ideals. The theme, in this instance that complete equality is still not equality, is what makes Vonnegut’s stories so attractive to readers, and what will make them last for years to come.
Symbolism and allusion are used heavily in “Harrison Bergeron”, and with good reason. While being a dark story in itself, Vonnegut’s symbolism and allusion to Nazism make the story even darker and the writing that much better. Symbolism is known as the practice of representing things with symbols. There are widespread “cliché” symbols in this story, such as the television. In utopian and dystopian writing, and even science-fiction and satire in general, the television is used to represent control and brainwashing. There are also smaller symbols that you need to look for to understand their meaning. One of these smaller symbols is the argument of George Hazel taking out lead weights so he could relax (lines 68 – 69). However, the penalty for doing so is $2000 and 2 years in prison for each lead ball. Once you factor in Vonnegut’s personal history, it can be seen as symbolistic of the punishments Germany had to face after World War I, and their eventual lead into Hitler’s Reich and Nazism. Allusion is also used heavily in Vonnegut’s writing. When Harrison bursts into the TV studio, Vonnegut alludes to the Norse God Thor, and says that Harrison would have awed Thor himself. Another is When Gorge and Hazel are arguing about the lead balls (line 68 – 69), George says “If I tried to get away with it, then other people’d get away with it—and pretty soon we’d be right back to the dark ages again, with everybody competing against everybody else. You wouldn’t like that, would you? . . . There you are. The minute people start cheating on laws, what do you think happens to society?” Although George isn’t necessarily proud of his handicaps, this is an example of extreme conformity seen in Nazism. Vonnegut’s use of allusion and symbolism allows readers with a basic knowledge of history to step into his shoes and see the world as he sees it.
Characterization is an element almost all stories use, but Vonnegut’s is among the best. He makes his characters exuberant so they stand out from the other background characters. His characters have feelings, they have morals. An example of this is when Harrison breaks into the television studio (lines 104 – 105). Vonnegut places him at 7 feet tall, with enormous strength. He was extremely smart, and an athlete. Even his eyesight was exemplary. Vonnegut here creates the literal “perfect person” in a world of people who are stuck at average. Vonnegut then re-enforces the idea of Harrison’s superiority by placing him in the position of emperor, even if only for a short while. Irony is also a literary element that is used in our modern culture today. Because Vonnegut’s writes satire, he has to include some witty remarks that you only catch if you’re paying attention. One example is when the ballerina apologizes for her voice, not because it’s ugly, but because it’s beautiful (lines 100 – 104). Another that is present throughout the entire story is that people will still know if you’re beautiful or ugly because of your handicaps. If you’re strong, you have heavier handicaps. By those handicaps, people will still know that you’re strong. With characterization and irony, Vonnegut weaves his characters and wit through a story and immediately takes a humorous but dark approach to ideals that were pressing issues in his time.
Conclusively, Kurt Vonnegut is a writer who puts passion into his work. He allows you to see the would as he sees it, and from his view, it isn’t pretty. His stories are seen as dark because of his interpretation of the world around him. However, he couldn’t have told these stories without the literary elements we use today. In Harrison Bergeron, the theme really sums up the entire story: complete equality is not equality. Vonnegut knows that some people are better than others, and that the world was meant to be that way. He warns people of oncoming perils with his stories, using literary elements. So, in conclusion, Harrison Bergeron could not have been written without literary elements.
Programming, Ascended 