“Ignorance is bliss” is a common adage that most definitely applies to the short story “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. The characters of this story are certainly ignorant about the world around them. Whether they are naturally ignorant, as in the case of Hazel Bergeron, or they are ignorant due to a handicap, as in the case of George Bergeron, these characters have extremely limited knowledge of the world. The reader is supposed to feel sorry for these characters due to their ignorance and due to the oppressive government that keeps them ignorant. However, the ignorance of these characters does not make them unhappy. In fact, the characters, other than Harrison, are in bliss about their ignorance, proving the old adage. Due to this state of bliss of the characters, as a reader I am unable to feel sympathy for them and in fact I think their situation is not so unfortunate because of their personalities.
Vonnegut greatly exaggerated the oppressiveness of American society in order to prove his point that the desire to be equal creates an obstruction of freedom and an oppressive society. In doing so, he attempts to portray a world that would be unbearable to live in and that the inhabitants would despise. The reader is meant to feel pity for the characters due to their unfortunate state of oppressiveness. The reader is also meant to feel that he or she would despise living in such a terrible place. However, when reading the novel, I do not feel this pity for the characters. Although they live in extremely unfortunate circumstance and ones that I myself would greatly dislike, they appear to be happy because they are used to the handicaps and oppressiveness. I would despise this situation because I have lived in a world of freedom and that is what I am used to. George and Hazel have never experienced freedom and therefore do not know the benefits it brings. For this reason, they do not yearn for a less oppressive government or less handicaps and are happy with the situation they are in. It is the only situation they have known and therefore the only situation they desire. Due to their ignorance of what a terrible society they live in, George and Hazel are in bliss with their oppressive society.
George and Hazel display their bliss in their meaningless, shallow conversations when they watch the television. When Hazel suggests that George remove some of the weights from his handicap satchel George responds by pointing out that “[I]f I tried to get away with it, then other people’d get away with it—and pretty soon we’d be right back in dark ages again with everybody competing against everybody else. You wouldn’t like that would you?” Hazel replies to George’s question by agreeing, “[I] would hate it” (30). This instance shows that both George and Hazel are happy with the society in which they live. Neither of them would rather have a society with less handicaps and less equality. They are ignorant about the benefits about a society with fewer handicaps and therefore are blissful with a society with an overkill of handicaps. Due to the blissful nature shown in this quotation, as I reader, I feel no pity for George and Hazel. Their situation may not be right for the reader, but it appears perfect for them.
Another advantage to the handicapped society is that George and Hazel feel extremely limited sadness. Hazel watches her son murdered on the television. This situation would be a horrendous occurrence for anybody living in our society. The pain and sadness of this instance would last a lifetime. However, for Hazel, it lasts a mere few seconds. She forgets what has happened within seconds of watching it, removing all sorrow of the instance from her memory. When George reminds her to forget all sad incidents, she replies “I always do” (89). As displayed by this incident, George and Hazel never experience true sadness. Their memory is so short that they are ignorant of sad situations and therefore soon blissful due to this lack of memory. The reader is meant to pity them for this lack of sadness. However, as a reader, I do not pity this trait. By not remembering anything sad, the Bergerons are always happy. This situation seems quite favorable. As a reader, I find myself unable to feel remorse for characters who feel no sadness and are always in a relatively happy state of mind.
In this story, Vonnegut attempts to portray a terribly unfavorable society that would not be appropriate for any kind of people. However, what seems terribly unfavorable to some may be favorable to others. As displayed by their bliss, this society is favorable to George and Hazel. Their personalities and lack perspective make them happy in such a society. George and Hazel do not need freedom or knowledge to be happy. They are simply blissful in living their handicapped, ignorant, albeit meaningless, lives. (831)
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I think I agree with you although I may go in a slightly different direction. Vonnegut's lack of sympathy for the characters is, I think, part of the satire, making us think that for most of the people, they've gotten just about the kind of world they deserve--an America which is in truth about as Un-American a place as can possibly be imagined. It's as though they're not even aware of what they might be missing (except for Harrison, of course, but his rebellion is doomed anyway).
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