Harrison Bergeron Group

Question:

ester71
ester71
Student
College - Freshman

Why does Vonnegut use an objective narrator who offers no interpretation of judgements about the story he tells?

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Posted by ester71 on Monday October 8, 2007 at 1:27 AM and tagged with harrison bergeron, narrator.

Answers:


  1. sagetrieb Teacher
    Doctorate

    The narrative point of view is a splendid example of form contributing to meaning.  By withholding judgment, the narrator participates in the plot of the story concerning people programmed not to think for themselves.  In this way, the author behind that narrative device, Vonnegut, encourages us the readers to make judgments, to participate in shaping the meaning of the story.

    Sources:
    http://www.enots.com/harrison

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    Posted by sagetrieb on Monday October 8, 2007 at 4:10 AM

  2. shauger
    shauger Teacher
    High School - 12th Grade

    eNotes Editor

    By being a non-judgemental observer, the narrator in the short story Harrison Bergeron allows us to make our own call on the action of the story.  The fact that the narrator accepts what to the reader seems to be ludricrous as perfectly normal, increases our uneasiness with the situation and increases our feeling that something is definitely wrong in a society that requires the graceful to be weighted down and the intelligent to be rendered "normal"

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/harrison-bergeron

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    Posted by shauger on Monday October 8, 2007 at 10:27 AM


  3. mickey2bailey Teacher
    High School - 9th Grade

    eNotes Editor

    Kurt Vonnegut's use of an objective reader leaves the door open for the reader to make his own interpretation of a so-called "Perfect World."  It lets the reader make his/her own inferences about what will happen and formulate their own opinion about the science fiction world and the normal world.  Vonnegut seems to want us to look at a world where people are stopped from being unique and expressing their individuality. The reader  is able to make their own decision whether they would be happier in the real world or the science fiction world that Kurt Vonnegut has created.  It also allows the reader to wonder about society and government controls.  When government has too much control and takes over society the world Vonnegut has created could become a reality or at least he seems to want us to think about the future of our world?

    Source:  The Language of Literature Book by McDougal Littell

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    Posted by mickey2bailey on Friday October 26, 2007 at 7:55 PM