In Vonnegut's futuristic United States, the Constitution has been extensively amended to create a completely uniform society where every citizen is equal in all areas of life. In order to assure complete uniformity, agents of the Handicapper General incarcerate, threaten, fine, and kill talented people with advanced abilities who dare to remove their handicaps.

Civilians with above-average intelligence, beauty, or strength are required to wear various handicaps that limit their abilities to make them equal with others. Physically talented individuals must wear heavy bags of birdshot, while intelligent people are required to wear radios that emit loud noises every twenty seconds to interrupt their thoughts. Physically attractive individuals must wear ugly masks to hide their beauty.

In the story, George and Hazel Bergeron are watching television when the announcer receives a special news bulletin regarding the escape of their son, Harrison Bergeron, from jail. Since the announcer has a serious speech impediment, he struggles to make the announcement and eventually hands the bulletin over to a ballerina to read.

Before reading the bulletin, the ballerina apologizes for her voice because it is particularly "warm" and "luminous." Her beautiful voice is considered "unfair" to others, and she is forced to make it "absolutely uncompetitive." The ballerina thus alters her naturally lovely voice to sound like a "grackle squawk" in an attempt to align with society's strict policy of absolute quality. She does not want to be labeled a threat or come across as competitive, which is why she apologizes for her voice and alters her tone.