...The author's name appears in print as "Kurt Vonnegut, Jr." throughout the first half of his published writing career; beginning with the 1976 publication of Slapstick, he dropped the "Jr." and was simply billed as Kurt Vonnegut. His older brother, Bernard Vonnegut, was an atmospheric scientist at the University at Albany, SUNY, who discovered that silver iodide could be used for cloud seeding, the process of artificially stimulating precipitation. After returning from World War II, Kurt Vonnegut married his childhood sweetheart, Jane Marie Cox, writing about their courtship in several of his short stories. In the 1960s they lived in Barnstable, Massachusetts, where for a while Vonnegut worked at a Saab dealership. The couple separated in 1970. He did not divorce Cox until 1979, but from 1970 Vonnegut lived with the woman who would later become his second wife, photographer Jill Krementz.[2] Krementz and Vonnegut were married after the divorce from Cox was finalized. He raised seven children: three from his first marriage; his sister Alice's three children, adopted by Vonnegut after her death from cancer; and a seventh, Lily, adopted with Krementz. His only biological son, Mark Vonnegut, a pediatrician, wrote the book The Eden Express: A Memoir of Insanity (Seven Stories Press, 2010),[22] about his experiences in the late 1960s and his major psychotic breakdown and recovery. Mark was named after Mark Twain, whom Vonnegut considered an American saint.[23] His daughter Edith ("Edie")...
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...Kurt Vonnegut Vonnegut’s readers will often find themselves misled or confused. His style of writing is organized randomness from his cynical point of view. In A Man Without A Country, Vonnegut shows the ugly truth about our government and his views on how it doesn’t work. Vonnegut’s perspective of family is also exceptionally candid. He is able to tie family life and values into politics. As a reader it is very hard to make out Vonnegut’s meaning because of his enormous amount of satire. Vonnegut’s strong beliefs in government and politics leave you wondering his true feelings about our government. In Vonnegut’s words, “George Bush has gathered around him upper-crust C-students who know no history or geography, plus not-so-closeted white supremacists, aka Christians, and plus, most frighteningly, psychopathic personalities, or PPs, the medical term for smart, personable people who have no consciences.” When Vonnegut says this he’s trying to show just how pathetic our government truly is. He sees the government as being such a big joke that it would make a fascinating reality television show. Anyone who watches reality Television shows can see just how impractical they are and how dumb people can become. He also explains within his words that average people who were C-students are running the government. It’s obvious that he feels as if the people given power and supremacy should not be elected to make the decisions for what is right and what is wrong within our country...
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...Kurt Vonnegut, Through Pain an Struggle Comes Triumph Kurt Vonnegut Jr. is known as one of the great science fiction writers during the 1950s through the 70s. He is widely known for his novel Slaughterhouse- Five, in which he took some of his own experiences with the war in Vietnam and wrote a science fiction novel. Vonnegut had written about his experiences a lot. This is why Vonnegut’s experiences with depression and death are themes explained in his work. The following paragraphs will explain the two works that have been read and give background on the man himself. Early Life Vonnegut was born in Indianapolis, Indiana on November 11th, 1922. Vonnegut’s ancestors come from German descent and they brewed beer as a family business and were also architects (Reed). Even in his early life Vonnegut has dealt with diversity. The impact of World War I seriously changed the lives of the family. Because of his German descent his family became a victim to prejudice treatment around the state (Reed). After the war the family had to deal with the prohibition, which took away the income and then the Depression slowed down and almost stopped the production of homes. Out of the 3 children Kurt could be seen as the child who did not get the best. His older sister and brother, Alice and Bernard both went to private schools while Kurt went to public schools. In 1940 Vonnegut attended the prestigious Ivy League school Cornell University. He majored in biochemistry...
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...television and movies. Rather popular and known examples of satire include: infomercials, PSA's, Saturday Night Live’s “Weekend Update, The Daily Show, music videos produced by Weird Al Yankovich, and specifically, the novel Cat's Cradle written by author Kurt Vonnegut. Vonnegut clearly portrays a profound novel drenched in satire by including the satirical techniques of exaggeration, reversal, parody and incongruity. Exaggeration is a...
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...comedians Bob Elliott and Ray Goulding, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. endorses these entertainers as somehow new and different—and relevant—since they draw their humor from the plight of the (American) Common Man. In the process, Vonnegut offers us an insight into his own writing, and the philosophies that inform it. “They aren’t like most other comedians’ jokes these days,” Vonnegut writes, aren’t rooted in show business and the world of celebrities and news of the day. They feature Americans who are almost always fourth-rate or below, engaged in enterprises which, if not contemptible, are at least insane. And while other comedians show us persons tormented by bad luck and enemies and so on, Bob and Ray’s characters threaten to wreck themselves and their surroundings with their own stupidity. There is a refreshing and beautiful innocence in Bob’s and Ray’s humor. Man is not evil, they seem to say. He is simply too hilariously stupid to survive. And this I believe. Jerome Klinkowitz, in the introduction to his essay collection entitled Vonnegut in America, has used this quote—as he certainly should—to support his claim that Vonnegut’s humor has its roots in the comedic response to the Great Depression. But of course there is much more to it than that. The reader is left with a nagging question: Were humanity’s case really as Vonnegut describes it, and were this truly his belief, wouldn’t it seem that the only appropriate response would be for Vonnegut to sit and laugh quietly at the...
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...”Welcome to the monkey house” by Kurt Vonnegut The story takes place in the not-so-distant future in an overpopulated world, with an over dominating government. There are way to few jobs and people are forced to take a special medicine, which make them feel numb from the waist down and not feel attracted to sex nor the other gender. The main character is a criminal mastermind named Billy the Poet, whose quest is to deflower the hostesses. The hostesses are women who help the citizens with committing suicide. The government are advertising suicide because of the world’s overpopulation. Billy the Poet kidnaps one of the hostesses named Nancy McLuhan, and deflowers her without abusing her in any way. At last Billy lets her go with a changed mind and a bottle of regular birth control pills. “Welcome to the monkey house” are from a novel collection by Kurt Vonnegut. The main character is, Billy the Poet. He is described as very dangerous and very wanted by the government, but he’s a good person who only wants the best for other people. Billy the Poet does not take his medication given by the government and he wants to let women off the medication too. Every women whose seen Billy and gotten deflowered by him, lies to the government to protect Billy. He is a rebel who fights against the government and fights for freedom of mankind. The hostesses, taken as prisoner by Billy, name is Nancy McLuhan and works at the Ethical Suicide Service. She’s a strong and wilful woman....
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...A Reflection on Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut Introduction Kurt Vonnegut Jr.’s short story, Harrison Bergeron, is about control. The setting is based in future America, where everyone is forced to be equal. Harrison, the main character, breaks the law as the country watches on TV. The story begins by mentioning Amendments 211 through 213, making the reader aware of limitations that could potentially be placed on their freedom. In this story of perception, government agents are the deciding factor of a person’s fate and they ensure that laws are enforced. Beautiful people must wear hideous masks to make them equal to the ugly, the brilliant wear ear devices that alter their thought process and make recollection near impossible and the strong wear weighted bags to make them equal to those who are weak (Vonnegut, 1961). Forced equality is questioned by the handicapped and the outcome is a controlled society. Harrison is used to represent the people who will protest against such laws and encourage others to support his cause. The central idea is that the government could never make a perfect world by enforcing total equality but they can place limitations on people. Discussion Vonnegut uses a satirical and humorous tone while presenting a serious topic to critique America in the 1960’s, both politically and socially. The political system in the story is egalitarianism; this is the belief that all people should be treated equally in every...
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...Short Works by Kurt Vonnegut. Welcome to the Monkey House: A Collection of Short Works consists of 25 short stories most of which had previously appeared in magazines such as The Atlantic Monthly, Ladies Home Journal, Fantasy and Science Fiction Magazine, Collier’s Magazine, Saturday Evening Post, The New York Times, Esquire, Venture, and Cosmopolitan. The title story appeared in Playboy magazine the same year the collection was released. Eleven of the stories were reprinted from Vonnegut’s 1961 short story collection Canary in a Cat House (Vonnegut). This paper will focus on four futuristic science fiction stories from the collection. These stories, “Welcome to the Monkey House”, “Harrison Bergeron”, “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow”, and “Unready to Wear” all share a dystopian science fiction theme. Science and technology are supposed to make the world a better place, but instead, Vonnegut concludes they only create a new set of problems (Farrell, “Science and Technology in the Works of Kurt Vonnegut”). Television is often a target of satire in much of his fiction from the 1950’s. He describes it as desensitizing and numbing while deceiving the masses (Werlock). Vonnegut uses satire and pessimism throughout these dystopian stories. Satire is a special form of literature that seeks to uncover ridiculous ideas and customs in a society (Mowery). Each story portrays a totalitarian government that proposes an irrational solution to genuine problems. Vonnegut uses dystopian...
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...Paul Mason EN-101 Novemeber 21st, 2012 Destruction of Dresden and Hiroshima In World War II, the American and British allies often used the method of bombing other countries in order to advance; the usage of incendiary bombs, and even atomic bombs, were common occurrences. However, two main bombings that resulted in utter despair and the highest death counts were in Dresden, a city in Germany, and Hiroshima, a city in Japan. While tactics such as bombing counted to most people as acceptable actions within war, the motivation behind these particular attacks may not have been strong enough to account for the deaths of thousands, and it is a controversy still prevalent today. Kurt Vonnegut, an author held prisoner of war in Dresden, discusses his experience and knowledge gained from the Dresden firestorm in his novel Slaughterhouse Five, which alludes to the point that all bombings such as these, are unnecessary. Late at night on February 13, 1945, the city of Dresden experienced a horrific massacre that would result in the death of the inhabitants of almost the entire city, done by the Royal and American air forces. Due to what the Americans and British refer to as, “negative intelligence,” at that time, to them Dresden was known to be “an important industrial area, producing electric motors, precision instruments, chemicals, and munitions,” (Irving, 69). It was supposedly a center for communication and transportation, containing German postal and telegraph systems...
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...Assignment B – ”Happy birthday, 1951” 1. Summary of ”Happy Birthday, 1951” “Happy Birthday, 1951”, is a short story written by Kurt Vonnegut, 2008, which begins in media res. The story is about a young boy and an old man, who is not the father of the boy. The boy was given to him as a baby, by a refugee woman. They have lived in the ruins, for 7 years, after a war and have survived by collecting things they could find or steal. One day soldiers find them and order some documents filled out. For this he needs the boy’s unknown birthdate. The boy selects a day, and becomes entitled to have a birthday and presents. The man makes a present, a cart, for the boy, but also gives him a day away from the war. The boy likes his cart, which he calls a tank. The day away from the war becomes a day to a place the boy never has been before. At the trip he sees some soldiers and a tank witch the man does not like. 2. Characterize the boy and the old man There is not mentioned much about the two characters, we do not know their age, nationality, names or birthdays. What we know is they live by themselves, poor, in the ruins after a war. “… the old man and the boy had lived in the ruins for seven years without documents …” (l. 10-11). They survive on things they steal or dig out of the cellars of the ruins. “But the old man and the boy had found all three for the digging in the catacombs of cellars beneath the shattered city, for the filching at night.” (l. 12-14). The boy is...
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...Thoughts about the future Summaries The Pedestrian: The Pedestrian is a story set in the future, more specifically in 2053. The main character, Leonard Mead is taking a walk in the evening. It’s dark, chilling and silent. The world is boring and lifeless. On his walk in the streets there are absolutely nobody in the streets but him. The only sign of other people are the flickering light from the TVs in the houses. On his way home, a police car stops him. The light from the car blinds him, but he hears the voice of a police officer. The voice asks him to state his business, alone in the streets in the evening. He tries to explain that he’s just walking and has done so every night for years. But the police don’t seem to understand and decides to arrest him. That’s when he realizes that it isn’t an actual policeman; it’s an automated voice. The police car is going to take him to a Psychiatric institution. Harrison Bergeron: In Harrison Bergeron we are introduced to a world where everybody is equal. If it’s necessary, you get applied what’s called handicaps. It means that if you’re fit or strong you get heavy blocks attached to your body and it’s very illegal to remove them. Smart people wear earplugs that make a noise at frequent intervals, which prevent them to do any smart thinking. The story is about George and Hazel Bergeron who is watching television. George is very handicapped with both blocks and earplugs. But Hazel is very average and don’t need any handicaps. They...
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...is a confusing but meaningful story whose nontraditional form explains how meaningful life is. Kurt Vonnegut takes readers back into WWII with Billy’s wild encounters. Billy thinks about how life is meaningless and it never ends, just repeats and repeats. Kurt Vonnegut uses a lot of black humor and a lot of irony throughout this novel. Corresponding of this, readers are able to realize the disgust of the war, but at the same time laugh at some of the absurd situations Billy goes through. Vonnegut beautifully shows that life is simultaneously worthwhile and meaningless. All people react differently when it comes to calamities; some people mourn, some avoid the tragedy all together. In Slaughterhouse-five,...
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...time. No matter what religion someone follows, people live and conform to a set of rules, morals, and standards that has come from religion. Religion has paved a way in mankind on how human beings treat each other. But why do people do it? Why do people choose to believe in religion when there is no significant evidence a supreme being even exist and science can discredit the idea of religion? In the novel Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut, he demonstrates how religion is futile and that it is all lies. In Cat’s Cradle, most of the characters including the main character Jonah follow the fictional religion Bokononism. The concept of Bokononism is that it is all lies or in Bokonist terms a foma, the harmless truth. The purpose of Bokonoism is to “Live by the foma that make you brave and kind and healthy and happy"(Vonnegut). In other words, live a lie that will give you a happy life. The message that Kurt Vonnegut is saying in Cat’s Cradle is that despite religion being false, it has brought people hope, comfort, and good will. Although I somewhat agree with Vonnegut saying religion has brought people together even with its fallacies, religion has also brought a lot of chaos in the world. Religion has caused wars, deaths in the millions, discrimination, and intolerance. The purpose of religion is to follow the word of God and to remain pure as possible so in the afterlife, one will have eternal serenity. But instead, religion is used to judge someone else’s beliefs, stereotype, tell...
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...Kurt Vonnegut Jr tried to persuade a school board that his book was not inappropriate, and that it was actually very meaningful in his letter titled,”You Have Insulted Me” by using rhetorical devices, ethos, pathos, and logos. Vonnegut uses ethos in his letter when saying,”I am so much trusted with young people and by young people that I have served on the faculties of the University of Iowa, Harvard, and the City College of New York” (Vonnegut 4). This quote was an example of ethos because Vonnegut is using his credibility to build his reputation in the letter. If Vonnegut is trusted by all the colleges he listed in his letter, he must write something important and meaningful or he would not be invited. An example of when Vonnegut uses pathos...
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...The Bombing of Dresden was an attack on Dresden, Germany, which took place in latter part of World War II. Slaughterhouse Five, by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., is a novel about the author’s personal experience in World War II. The novel is about a prisoner of war who survives and witnesses the Allied Forces’ firebombing of Dresden. Slaughterhouse Five is a work of literary fiction mixed with elements of sci-fi, history, and also contains biographical context. Most people believe that they understand war, and what the soldiers go through. What Kurt Vonnegut Jr. is trying to tell his readers in a calm, emotionless manner, informing us that we do not know anything about the horrors of war, and how meaningless it is. Vonnegut brings us the traditional view on war by giving the readers the preview into the mind of a prisoner of war who survived the war. This novel is a literary classic which will be just as meaningful and educational during any period of time. Slaughterhouse Five is an educational piece about the psychological, historical, and biographical aspects of war and the effect of war on soldiers who have witnessed and survived it. When reading this novel, the feeling one would get is of fear and sympathy. Kurt Vonnegut’s novel is an all-time great cult classic with elements of time travel. “Billy Pilgrim has come unstuck in time” (Chapter 2). The novel’s protagonist, Billy Pilgrim, travels through periods of his life, which he is not able to decide what period he lands in. Therefore...
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