What is the meaning of the last lines in "Harrison Bergeron"?
The last lines offer no chance for the redemption of George and Hazel Bergeron's society.
After the Handicapper General shoots the Emperor and Empress, neither George nor his dull wife realizes that their son Harrison has just been killed because their television tube has burned out. Hazel turns to say something about the screen having gone black, but George is out of the room. By the time he returns, his wife, who has become so desensitized from watching television, has lost her thought, although she has been crying. George urges her to forget her sad idea. He, then, experiences the sound of a riveting gun in his head. This noise may signal his loss of the memory of having seen a photograph of his son on the television screen. Hearing the noise, Hazel observes,
"Gee—I could tell that one was a doozy."
"You can say that again," said George.
"Gee—"said...
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Hazel, "I could tell that one was a doozy."
Hazel is so benumbed and intellectually dull that she takes George's words literally, rather than as her husband's expression of strong agreement with what she has just said. And, since Hazel is now the norm of the community and does not need to wear handicaps because she is so dull, she does not remember hearing the sound of the death of intelligence (Harrison) and beauty (the ballerina) in her society. Tragically, her husband is forced to also be without this knowledge.
The last lines of "Harrison Bergeron" are deliberately depressing, showing that there is no hope for the future society. Instead of breaking free of their handicaps and overthrowing the corrupt government structure, the populace is doomed by their own inaction to live their lives in stagnation, without any new ideas, great deeds, or real change. Hazel, who is described as having "perfectly average intelligence," is a perfect citizen, unable to think about things "except in short bursts." Although she and George watch Harrison's extraordinary performance on television, and see him killed without mercy by the Handicapper General, they are prevented from remembering it: she by her own intellect, and he by his handicap.
"That's my girl," said George. He winced. There was the sound of a rivetting gun in his head.
"Gee -- I could tell that one was a doozy," said Hazel.
"You can say that again," said George."Gee--" said Hazel, "I could tell that one was a doozy."
(Vonnegut, "Harrison Bergeron," tnellen.com)
The common phrase "You can say that again" is usually meant in a sarcastic way, to denote that a comment was overly-obvious. When Hazel says that George's mental handicap noise was "a doozy," she is not being sarcastic, but simply making conversation. As she has average intelligence for this future world, she misunderstands George's comment and repeats her own. This shows that, without some major world event, the society will continue to stagnate and eventually collapse as its inhabitants lose all semblance of rational thought.
What quote best summarizes the story of "Harrison Bergeron"?
I think the quote that summarizes the story of "Harrison Bergeron" is from The Declaration of Independence":
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. ...it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."
Harrison Bergeron and his Ballerina were standing up for what the Declaration says and they were exercising their right to change a terrible government that took away the precious rights we have which are guaranteed by the Declaration.
References
"THE YEAR WAS 2081, and everybody was finally equal. They weren't only equal before God and the law. They were equal every which way. Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else. "
The reason this is such a well put quotation is because this is what the society is about, equalizing all of its members. If someone is beautiful he or she is forced to wear an ugly mask. If someone has above average intelligence he is forced to wear some device that makes him mentally handicapped. Harrison was born virtually perfect for this society so he was arrested and made to look like a freak.