of physical and mental perfection and is considered a threat to the government. After Harrison escapes from prison, he takes over a news station, declares himself Emperor of the United States, and dramatically throws off his cumbersome handicaps. He then says,

"I shall now select my Empress!...Let the first woman who dares rise to her feet claim her mate and her throne!" (Vonnegut, 4).

A ballerina then stands to her feet and approaches Harrison, who strips off her handicaps and the two characters gracefully jump thirty feet into the air, where they kiss the ceiling and each other.

Harrison and the ballerina's graceful dance in mid-air symbolically represents a celebration of independence, talent, and uniqueness. Their act of rebellion depicts the positive aspects of non-conformity and the liberty to express one's talent, beauty, and physical abilities. In a society determined to restrict citizens with talent in order to maintain equality, Harrison and the ballerina challenge the oppressive government policies by publicly displaying their natural talents in a beautiful, artistic manner.

The significance of the dance lies in its inherently subversive nature. This is a rigidly egalitarian society in which absolute equality is ruthlessly enforced by the government. Those deemed too intelligent, talented or good-looking are forced by the authorities to wear what are called "handicaps" in order to keep them down to the general level of mediocrity. Ballet dancers, for example, are forcibly weighed down and must wear masks when performing so that their natural beauty and gracefulness are concealed.

Harrison's dance with the ballerina—or "The Empress" as he calls her—takes place right after they've removed their handicaps. Now, at long last, they feel free, and in a burst of exuberance they fly to the ceiling before pausing in midair to kiss. The dance represents a bold challenge to the norms of this dystopian society. It is an unapologetic celebration of diversity and of humankind's many and varied talents, abilities, and aptitudes.

When Harrison Bergeron escapes from jail, he shows up on the set of the television production currently being aired live. He is wearing all his handicaps, which makes him look like a walking junkyard. In front of the viewers, he sheds all his hardware, removes his glasses and clown nose, and selects a ballerina to be his Empress. He removes her handicaps as well. He then addresses the orchestra, removes their handicaps, and commands them to play better music. When they begin playing "cheap, silly, false" music, he picks a couple of the musicians up and waves them in the air "like batons."

At this point, we can see the action of the story is becoming more unbelievable. For a man to be able to pick up two other men and wave them in the air like batons would require superhuman strength, yet we have been told that Harrison "would have awed Thor." 

As Harrison begins to dance with the ballerina, the hyperbole continues. They defy "the law of gravity and the laws of motion" as they ascend thirty feet high and kiss the ceiling. 

The point of the dance is to show the unbounded potential of human achievement when people are allowed the freedom to be themselves, operate in their strengths, and follow their passions. By making everyone equal, Harrison's society has tethered its citizens to the ground, preventing them to reach the heights of which they are capable. The dance is the contrast to the society; it represents what life could be and should be without draconian governmental interference. It inspires readers to leave behind whatever is holding them back and have the courage to be who they are.

Near the end of Kurt Vonnegut's short story, "Harrison Bergeron," Harrison does the unthinkable in a society where everyone is forced to "be equal in every way." Since he is physically beautiful and strong and also very intelligent, Harrison has been weighed down with all kinds of handicap contraptions, both physical and mental. When he hears the musicians playing mediocre music and sees the ballerinas trying to perform despite their handicaps, he becomes very angry. Harrison rips off his handicaps, orders the musicians to play better and relieves one of the ballerinas of her handicaps, so that they can dance together. They leap higher and higher, becoming freer and freer.

The significance of the dance is that it symbolizes freedom. Not only are they free of their handicaps, but they are free in every way if only for a very short period of time. Harrison shows the world what it is like to be his true self in, perhaps, the hope that others will follow. He would rather die free than live in a society where he is not free.

In “Harrison Bergeron,” the characters live in a society of extreme restrictions. They wear what are termed “handicaps,” objects or accessories meant to restrict them in some way. If beautiful in this society, one must wear an ugly mask. If strong, one must wear weights (sacks of birdshot). If smart, a transmitter is worn in the ear that emits random, loud noises meant to disrupt coherent thought. The titular Harrison must even wear spectacles designed to inhibit his vision and give him headaches. The purpose of these handicaps is to create an equal society, so that no one is smarter, stronger, or more attractive than anyone else.

The titular Harrison Bergeron is tall, strong, beautiful, and possesses a genius intellect. He is jailed at a young age for “plotting to overthrow the government.” When the reader first encounters him, Harrison is hindered by more handicaps than any other character shown. He has escaped from jail and he initiates this dance with a ballerina after stripping himself of his own handicaps—revealing himself in his true athleticism and beauty. His act is done on live television and is an act of rebellion. The dance performed with the ballerina, who proves to be incredibly beautiful and agile once she removes her own handicaps, is itself awe-inspiring. It brings tears to the eyes of a society that is used to everything being “perfectly average.” This dance is significant not only because it is a rejection of the government and the overall society of the story, but also because it is a supreme example of everything they could be as a society. Instead of restricting themselves, they could flourish, prosper, create, and amaze. Instead, with their current government, the people of the story simply exist. This dance gives insight into what their society could be—what their potential is as a people.

The language of the story, previously simple and concise, changes to reflect this potential. It is grand and expressive, rather than banal:

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.

They reeled, whirled, swiveled, flounced, capered, gamboled, and spun.

They leaped like deer on the moon.

The studio ceiling was thirty feet high, but each leap brought the dancers nearer to it.

It became their obvious intention to kiss the ceiling. They kissed it.

The language in this passage is whimsical and over-the-top. It portrays actions that are unbelievable precisely to excite a sense of potential and possibility. With this dance, Harrison rejects the ideals of the government and promotes his own belief in the power of individuality and reaching one’s full potential, if only they would allow it.

Harrison Bergeron's dance with the ballerina is performed without their artificial "handicaps". Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.'s short story "Harrison Bergeron" is set in the year 2081, when everyone was "finally equal". What this means is that everyone is brought down to a level of general incompetence so that no one has to worry about anyone being better than they are at anything. If they are intelligent, they have earpieces that interrupt their thoughts with loud, random noise. If strong, they have heavy weights attached to their bodies. The beautiful must wear masks.  Harrison is the son of the two people watching television. He is fourteen years old, seven feet tall, and "a man that would have awed Thor, the god of thunder". When he manages to get in front of the TV cameras, he tears off all his handicaps and convinces one of the ballerinas to do the same. The amazing dance they then perform on live TV is a rejection of everything the government stands for, and "Handicapper General" Diana Moon Glampers soon appears to shoot and kill them both. The style of the story changes during the dance. Instead of short, clipped, banal sentences spoken by George and Hazel Bergeron, the words themselves change to reflect the amazing dance. For example, "They reeled, whirled, swiveled, flounced, capered, gamboled, and spun. They leaped like deer on the moon." After the two are shot to death, the words spoken by George and Hazel are again used, and those words are trite and very simple, even though they have just watched their son be shot to death on live TV.