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The Power of the Arts
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Harrison Bergeron Quotes
George was toying with the vague notion that maybe dancers shouldn't be handicapped. But he didn't get very far with it before another noise in his ear radio scattered his thoughts.
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As George watches the ballet, he can’t help but notice how the dancers’ handicaps inhibit their performance and his thoughts begin wandering towards a critique of absolute equality as it exists under the HG’s rule. However, this critique is interrupted before it begins when George’s mental handicap device interrupts his thoughts. The noise coming through George’s radio exemplifies the powerful interrelation between governmental authority, national media, and ideology which ultimately prevent citizens from being able to form dissenting opinions or even having minor criticisms of the status quo. In this quote, while George has a flicker of recognition that equality Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur molli
“The minute people start cheating on laws, what do you think happens to society?” If Hazel hadn't been able to come up with an answer to this question, George couldn't have supplied one. A siren was going off in his head. “Reckon it'd fall all apart,” said Hazel.
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This exchange of dialogue occurs just after Hazel suggests that George rest his physical handicaps while they’re home alone. Rather than take Hazel up on her offer, George instead chides her for suggesting that he break the law, reminding her, in this quote, how the order of society depends on the law of forced equality. Still, given the absurd, over-the-top laws that require citizens to hamper their minds and bodies for the sake of “equality,” George’s response to Hazel’s suggestion reveals the extent to which citizens in “Harrison Bergeron” become diligent subjects of the Handicapper General’s authority. As George reminds Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut
The music began again and was much improved. Harrison and his Empress merely listened to the music for a while-listened gravely, as though synchronizing their heartbeats with it. They shifted their weights to their toes. Harrison placed his big hands on the girl’s tiny waist, letting her sense the weightlessness that would soon be hers. And then, in an explosion of joy and grace, into the air they sprang! Not only were the laws of the land abandoned, but the law of gravity and the laws of motion as well.
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This moment illustrates the power of the arts to disrupt the power of the state (at least temporarily). Harrison’s treasonous act is a beautiful artistic performance, the nature of which is so moving and other-worldly that it renders all other laws or modes of power irrelevant—even physical laws, which suggests that the arts have a supernatural and sublime power that exists above all else. The beauty of this artistic performance is linked indelibly to politics because it is Harrison’s mode of dissent. In a society in which equality is enforced, showing off individual talent and embracing artistic expression is akin Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempo
Diana Moon Glampers, the Handicapper General, came into the studio with a double-barreled ten-gauge shotgun. She fired twice, and the Emperor and the Empress were dead before they hit the floor.
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Diana Moon Glampers shooting Harrison Bergeron is the climax of the story, a moment which also distills the ongoing conflicts between dissent and authority, as well as individualism and equality. The H-G’s gun symbolizes the power of the authoritarian state, and her use of the gun to kill Harrison and the ballerina marks the reinstatement of authority through the suppression of dissent. Similarly, as the gunshot puts an end to Harrison and the ballerina’s extraordinary dance performance, this moment restores order insofar as special individuals are violently removed from an otherwise equal society. This moment attests to the notion that Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Expli
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