What are the themes of the short story "Harrison Bergeron," by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.?

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is a satirical look into the potential dangers of our society's desire for equality. Ultimately,
Vonnegut is posing that, at a certain point, egalitarianism risks turning into a cult of
mediocrity, with any expressions of personal excellence dragged down by force to the common
level. In this story, equality is ensured by the use of handicaps. What results from this
practice is an absurd mockery of a society.

The character of Harrison
Bergeron himself reflects Vonnegut's satirical edge. He is painted as an almost ludicrous
figure: only fourteen years old, super-intelligent, super-athletic, and super-strong. This is a
story where all qualities are pushed toward the point of absurdity, both in individual
excellence (as exemplified by the dancers) as well as in the collective pressure to conform
(which is exemplified by the society that surrounds them). Yet the dance ends abruptly through a
chilling display of force, with the dancers gunned down and the orchestra forced to re-handicap
themselves. This act of violence is all the more chilling when contrasted against the dreamlike
distortion of the scene which preceded it.

"Harrison Bergeron" is a
story that relies on exaggeration, but there are very real warnings and concerns at its core.
This is a story about the dangers of conformity, posing a warning about what nightmares we might
create should we overreach ourselves in our desire for equality, especially when that equality
is backed up by the use of coercion and force.