“Harrison Bergeron” is a satire of contemporary society. This means he uses irony on a large scale to make a statement, or commentary, about our world today. What commentary is Vonnegut making about today’s world?
Judging by Vonnegut's strong emphasis on dystopia, and the fact that everybody strives for equality, and how Harrison Bergeron challenges the society, I can say that Vonnegut is trying to tell us that nobody is equal, and the human race is meant to be unique, and each individual must strive to their own limits and be who they can be. It is stated that "The year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal. They weren’t only equal before God and the law. They were equal every which way. Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else". In a way, the government had created dystopia, handicapping everybody, and restraining them from what they can be. The dancers can only dance as good as anybody else, the musicians can only play as good as anybody else. When Harrison came barging in, and pronounced himself as emperor of the world, and took all his handicaps off, and did the same to his empress, one of the ballerinas, and tried, if only for a little while, to live to his full potential, until Diana Moon Glampers came and shot Harrison and the ballerina. Humans can't be restrained from their capabilities, and must strive to be what they can be.
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