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+--- Thread: How does Kurt Vonnegut Jr. use propaganda to get his point across in the short story Harrison Bergeron? (/thread-63691.html)
How does Kurt Vonnegut Jr. use propaganda to get his point across in the short story Harrison Bergeron? - LeeAnna - 02-27-2013 11:17 PM
- Scooter - 02-27-2013 11:26 PM
One of my favorite Vonnegut stories. The thing is, after reading it half a dozen times, I'm not altogether sure what Vonnegut's "point" is, in the ordinary sense. This is one of those cases when you KNOW something terribly profound has been said, and you are deeply moved, but whatever it was, the message is hardly unambiguous and monolithic ...like, "Totalitarianism is bad," or whatever. That's OK. Vonnegut was never about unambiguous sermonizing. The closest thing to a comprehensive theme I could suggest is, "Humanity is absurd," and it runs through everything Vonnegut ever wrote.
Nevertheless, Propaganda is certainly central to the story. Vonnegut has created a dystopian future wherein the State "equalizes" the abilities of individuals' by giving unduly talented (attractive, intelligent, whatever) citizens specific "handicaps"- ostensibly, to limit envy from those less-endowed, but of course this really serves to minimize any unique influences that a gifted individual might exert. If you are too strong or graceful, you must lug around a bag of weights. If you are too clever (as with the protagonist George), you must wear a sort of headset that confuses you periodically with brain-addling racket. The State reinforces this system via programs broadcast on social media , especially television- which is the primary "propaganda" element of your question. Remember that "H. Bergeron" was written in the early 1960s, when commercial television was not much more than a decade old. At the time, Vonnegut was hardly the only author critiquing the role of television in manipulating the masses, but oh Man, he just did it SO well, and clearly anticipated TV's overwhelming dominance of social media.