In the text "Harrison Bergeron" written by Kurt Vonnegut, one of the main themes portrayed is staying true to who you are. In the story, the writer criticizes total equality. In doing this, there is a loss of individual identity and sense of achievement. In the story, citizens were forced to disfigure their appearance, carry weights, and wear mental handicaps if it exceeded what had been decided as average. In doing so, the United States Handicapper General completely controls the individual. We can see this mainly from George Bergeron and his family. His wife, Hazel Bergeron, is of “perfectly average intelligence, which meant that she couldn’t think about anything except in short bursts. And George, while his intelligence was way above normal, had to wear a little mental handicap radio in this ear”. While the couple was watching the television, George started thinking about how the ballerinas he was watching shouldn’t have to be handicapped, and a loud noise stooped him from continuing to think. We see how much this has affected his personality when Hazel makes a comment that if she was Handicapper General she would make a good Handicapper General which with George tells her that she would be as good as anyone else. The lyrics from ' Superchick- Cross the Line' relate to the text's theme.. The main line that made me chose the lyrics are:
Everybody freeze - don't step over the line
Don't stand up, they'll shoot down the first one who tries
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