Harrison Bergeron
By Kurt Vonnegut
Key Facts & Background Knowledge: ANSWER KEY
Genre: Short story; dystopia
Title: Harrison Bergeron
Point of View: 3rd person limited
Protagonist: Harrison Bergeron
What type of character is the Protagonist?
Round, and Dynamic
Antagonist: H-G People
Describe the setting
The setting of this story was in 2081, in middle-America.
Type of Conflict: Man vs. Society
Describe the main conflict.
The conflict of this story is Man vs. Society because Harrison Bergeron has great intelligence, height,
strength, and beauty so he has to wear big handicaps because the H-G people made everyone equal. Because
society has to be equal, this makes the exceptional people having to cover their greatness with objects such as
masks, and handicaps.
Describe the Climax of the Story.
The climax of the story was when Harrison was choosing someone to marry, and took off all his equipment,
and she took off her mask that hid her beauty, and Diana shooting them because of it.
How does the Protagonist change over the course of the story?
The protagonist started following the rules about equality, but then in the climax of the story, he took it all
off, not scared of the dangers of it, and acting all mighty by forcing the musicians to play music and take off
their handicaps.
Describe the relationship between the title and the theme.
The relationship between the title, "Harrison Bergeron", and the theme, "Freedom is costly" is related
because Harrison Bergeron has no freedom of anything, and is forced to wear big handicaps, and other tools
to make him looks equal with everyone else.
How does the main conflict help to illustrate the theme?
The main conflict of Man vs. Society helps illustrate the theme of "Freedom is costly" because society was
the thing that caused the Man to lose his freedom from being better than others in certain things.
How does the climax help to illustrate the theme?
The climax of when Harrison was choosing someone to marry helped illustrate the theme of "Freedom is
costly" because Harrison at that time was free from his handicaps, and the ballerina free from the mask that
hid her beauty, ignoring the risk of being shot dead, and loving the moment.
Give examples of each of the following literary terms in the story (use direct quotes from the story).
Simile: "They leaped like deer on the moon"
Metaphor: “There was a riveting gun in his head."
Personification: “…the transmitter would send out some sharp noise to keep people like George from taking
unfair advantage of their brains.”
Onomatopoeia: “A buzzer in George’s head.”; “They reeled, whirled, swiveled, flounced, capered, gamboled
and spun.”; “’Harrison Bergeron, age fourteen’ she said in a grackle squawk.”
Symbol: Handicaps are a symbol of being locked away, the opposite of being free, trapped.
Foreshadowing (give both elements):
There were many examples of foreshadowing in this story. One example of foreshadowing was when
Harrison took off his handicap. We as the readers know that something is going to happen because of this...
a consequence for Harrison.
Irony: When Harrison got killed, his mother was really sad, and crying but when George asks her why, she
forgets.
Imagery: “Harrison tore the straps of his handicap harness like wet tissue paper, tore straps guaranteed to
support five thousand pounds.”