Kurt Vonnegut Jr. wrote this short story to show how if everyone was perfectly equal and average, everything in the country would be far worse than a country with discrimination and envy toward others that are better at certain things. Although in the story Vonnegut describes everything as being better and safer, he is meaning it to be a satire. Kurt Vonnegut Jr. might have also been influenced by the scare of the spread of communism around the 1960's, and the civil rights movement while he was writing.
Purposely handicapping people, like adding weight to those who are fast and putting masks on people who are more attractive, hinders the progress of civilization. It might not be apparent that handicapping a runner could stop the movement of civilization, but handicapping people who are smart or who are naturally talented stops the growth of knowledge and creativity of the country that is enforcing this appalling law. Imagine what it would be like to have no scientists or engineers accomplishing new feats and bringing the future closer to the present. It's possible someone might feel envious toward the people who are successful, but in the end isn't it worth it.
The best way to describe civil equality is to say the world stops spinning, not literally of course, but the country would appear to be in a time warp. There would never again be bands like The Beatles, or The Rolling Stones. There would never be any great art like The Mona Lisa, or Starry Night. George and Hazel Bergeron watched a performance of Ballerinas on TV. The most graceful of dancers, could not even move about the stage without appearing sluggish due to their handicaps. Anyone in the country could have walked onto the stage and performed just as well. What should have been a example of grace and beauty, was awkward and average.
Without individuality there would be no such thing as a soul mate. If everyone was equal, then you couldn't love someone more than another. They say opposites attract and relationships are built on individual personalities. Usually these personalities have no similarities.
There are people of every size, shape, and ethnicity. There is good and there is bad, there is honest and there is dishonest. The world would not be a better place if everyone was identical. Harrison Bergeron doesn't want to be average because he's not average in any way shape or form. Harrison Bergeron is tall, good looking, fast, strong and intelligent. Harrison Bergeron announces over the TV, “I am the Emperor”, “Do you hear? I am the Emperor! Everybody must do what I say at once”, because he wants to excel beyond equal and become an individual.
