Mind Versus Heart or Vice Versa: Semiotic Reading of Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut

This article proposes a comprehensive process approach to the reading of literary works to display a scheme on how a reader can develop literary competence by moving from the sense to the value, and consequently to the critique of the work concerned. Semiotic reading as a process approach to the reading of literary works is based on these three consecutive steps mentioned above: (1) reading for the sense, (2) reading for the value, and (3) reading for the critique. Harrison Bergeron is the literary work selected for the sole purpose of presenting the steps of semiotic approach, and the reader will be guided all the way through this systematic analytical reading process to acquire the dimension of depth necessary for deeper understanding of human nature by means of symbolic expressions of fixed thought patterns. Literature offers immense source of study on human nature; literary works simply hold up a mirror to reflect on the dark corners of human mind and heart. Through the objective in-depth study of the story the reader as the learner finds ample opportunity to develop a deep perception of life and a sharp awareness of social problems in a cruel, wicked world without dealing with fictional pseudo-facts of much communicative methodology.