In Harrison Bergeron, the year is 2081 and due to Constitutional Amendments, everyone must now act as if they are exact equals. No one can be smarter, stronger, or prettier than the next person. Those who are born with special skills must bear handicaps, such as wearing weights to sap one's strength or wearing a mask to hide beauty. A fourteen-year-old athlete and genius young man, a type of societal ôsuperhero,ö seeks to overthrow governmental authority by throwing off his handicapping devices and declaring himself ôEmperor.ö For a brief moment he succeeds in elevating those around him to their highest achievement, but he is soon gunned down by authorities. The sad picture of healthy people being artificially handicapped in the name of fostering egalitarianism underscores the tragedy of hiding unique individual talents. and ôprotective bubbleö talents. When this superfamily is challenged with a task for which they must use their powers, they thrive |
