Short Story Literary Element: Theme in Harrison Beregeron

       I have noticed that most of the short stories we have read so far have ended in death.  Some slow and painful, others abrupt.  The second description of death is what happens in "Harrison Bergeron".  The Handicapper General cannot seem to make Harrison keep his handicaps on, those which are supposed to make him "equal".  But Harrison takes control of the room, taking off the handicaps of the ballernina, lifting her into the air, and of the musicians, forcing them to play music.  Harisson, the "emperor," and the ballerina, his "emperess," are almost touching the ceiling kissing.  After hagling from the Handicapper General, Harrison refuses to come down, and is then shot with a double-barreled ten-guage shot gun.  It seems that the only way the general can make harrison equal is to kill him, because the handicaps just don't work on him.
       But let's rewind a bit.  While reading this story, many questions are raised whose answers help to proclaim the theme of this short story.  Why must everything be equal in the first place?  This story is set in the future in a distopia society.  Society seems to think that everybody must be equal and fair.  The story begins with the words, "The year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal.  But are they really equal?  To the reader, things certainly do not seem equal.  If you are smart, you have to wear a device that makes loud sounds that disrupt your thoughts, and if you're strong and athletic, you are required by law to wear a canvas handicap bag with birdshot in it.  The average people don't have anything to help them be smarter or more athletic, only the exceptional are punnished. 
       When George considers taking his handicaps off, he says to Hazel, "If I tried to get away with it, then other people'd get awy 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?"  She replies, "I'd hate it."  This society thinks that by having the handicaps, everyone is equal.  But they're really not.  The bags are only making the strong stronger, and the government transmitters are making the smart even dumber than the average.  In reality, nothing can ever be perfectly equal.  And by trying to make things equal, we are taking away the joy in life.  People with gifts and talents should be able to share those with others without jealousy, and also use their gifts and talents to help those that struggle.  That is a better way to try to make things "equal".

Reading:

Short Stories- 36 pages, 120 minutes
The Girl With a Pearl Earring- 21 pages, 30 minutes