Two sympathetic critics of Vonnegut’s work, Karen and Charles Wood,have said of his stories: “Vonnegut proves repeatedly . . . that men and women remain fundamentally the same, no matter what technology surrounds them.” Try applying this comment to “Harrison Bergeron.” Do you agree?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

For this frequently assigned question for student papers, it may be helpful to share the larger context of the quote, which asserts that Vonnegut's works:

concern themselves repeatedly with technological problems only as those problems express and explicate character—the character of the human race. Vonnegut proves repeatedly, in brief and pointed form, that men and women remain fundamentally the same, no matter what technology surrounds them. The perfect example of this might be found in ‘‘Unready to Wear,’’ in which the shucking off of the physical bodies of men has not changed their basic identities, but only freed them to become more, not less, human. (“The Vonnegut Effect: Science Fiction and Beyond,” The Vonnegut Statement, ed. Jerome Klinkowitz, John L. Somer [New York: Dell, 1973] 143.)
Karen and Charles Woods suggest that the nature of mankind is immutable, and when interpreting this idea, you may have to explicitly ask your students to consider the theme of human identity (i.e., the nature of mankind).
But if you want to stir up a longer classroom debate, you could ask your students if the quote also implies that Vonnegut thinks men and women are exactly the same, or that men and women remain the same without regard to technology around them (i.e., technology does not truly change a human, or if it does, it changes men and women in the same ways). Then ask them to apply this to “Harrison Bergeron.” In what sense has the technology in the story especially impacted Hazel Bergeron? Is this any different than the way it has shaped her husband, George, or her son, Harrison? Whatever your students conclude, encourage them to support their ideas with textual evidence from “Harrison Bergeron.”
There is little criticism on Vonnegut’s short stories. What exists can mostly be found in Gale Research’s Short Story Criticism, vol. 8 (Detroit: Gale, 1991). There are many excellent books and articles on Vonnegut’s novels. The Vonnegut Statement, edited by Jerome Klinkowitz and John Somer (New York: Dell, 1973), is a lively anthology of criticism of Vonnegut’s work by various hands. Vonnegut’s most interesting commentator, however, may be the author himself. A thick book of interviews, Conversations with Kurt Vonnegut, edited by William Rodney Allen (Jackson: UP of Mississippi, 1988), contains a great deal of interesting biographical and literary material.
Harrison Bergeron was filmed in 1995. Directed by Bruce Pittman and starring Sean Astin, Andrea Martin, and Christopher Plummer, the film is available on DVD.