Kurt Vonnegut’s short story “2BR02B” a doctor named Dr. Hitz invented the idea of population control to solve the world’s problems. A man named Edward Wehling Jr. is in the hospital, because his wife is having triplets. In order for the family to keep the babies, they must find three volunteers willing to die to maintain the population, because the government is controlling the right for the citizens to have however many babies they want to have. The power of the government is described by prohibiting overpopulation.
The government enforces the law by limiting the number of offspring, taking away individuality, and encouraging suicides.
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Initially, the government limits the amount of offspring that a family can have. Dr. Hitz explains …show more content…
The citizens are forced to obey the overpopulation law, even if they do not agree with it. Wehling is a victim of the government control. In order for his babies to live, he must find volunteers willing to die so there will be space. Wehling is forced to let his grandfather kill himself so that the family can let one of their babies live:“‘All I have to do is pick out which one of the triplets is going to live, then deliver my maternal grandfather to the Happy Hooligan, and come back here with a receipt’” (Vonnegut 3). This is an act of government control because Wehling does not want his grandfather to die, but he does not have another option if he wants the baby to live. The only way the citizens can express individuality is by killing themselves. Wehling wants all of his babies to live, but the law prohibits it. In the story, Wehling expressed how he felt about the law by killing Dr. Hitz, Leora Duncan, and himself. By doing this, Wehling created enough room for all of his babies to live. “Wehling shot Dr. Hitz dead. ‘There's room for one—a great big one,’ he said” (Vonnegut 4). This is an act of individuality, because Wehling chose to rebel against the government’s views. A modern day scenario of government control is dress codes in the school district. Students cannot express their sense of style. The school district is taking away the student’s individuality and is forcing the students to wear the …show more content…
In the hospital, a popular song is being sung and the song makes suicide a good thing. “If you don't like my kisses, honey, Here's what I will do: I'll go see a girl in purple, Kiss this sad world toodle-oo. If you don't want my lovin', Why should I take up all this space? I'll get off this old planet, Let some sweet baby have my place” (Vonnegut 1). The song encourages the citizens to commit suicide to make room for babies. The government of Switzerland assist prisoners commit suicide. The prisoners support the idea of assisted suicide because the prisoners have little to no hope of being released from prison. A Switzerland prisoner explains,” I think that’s something that should absolutely be offered in prison. And not for medical reasons, but really, simply from weariness of life. Or from prison weariness” (Shaw and Elger). The prisoners get tired of living the harsh conditions that the prison life brings. The fact that the Switzerland government is helping inmates commit suicide is a way of encouraging other inmates to do the same. In the story, the painter decides that he is not happy, and he wants to end his life. He proceeds to call the suicide number to end his life. When the painter calls the operator says, “‘Thank you, sir,’ said the hostess. ‘Your city thanks you; your country thanks you; your planet thanks you. But the deepest thanks of all is