The Purpose of Mother Night

The Purpose of Mother Night

Over the years, such world-renowned authors as Mark Twain and J. D. Salinger have shown readers how literature reflects the era in which it is written. Another author who has also made significant contributions to American literature is Kurt Vonnegut, author of such well-known novels as Slaughterhouse 5 and Cat's Cradle.

Vonnegut was born on November 11, 1922 in Indianapolis, Indiana ("Kurt Vonnegut, Jr."). Vonnegut attended Cornell University in 1940 where he wrote for the Cornell Daily Sun ("Chronology"). In 1943, Vonnegut joined the United States Infantry. He fought in World War II for the 106th Infantry Division until 1945 when he was captured by the Germans and shipped to a work camp in Dresden. It was here in the city of Dresden where Vonnegut witnessed the American/British firebombing that killed an estimated 135,000 people. "[Vonnegut] tried for many years to put into words what he had experienced during that horrific event...It took him more than twenty years, however, to produce Slaughterhouse Five" ("Vonnegut in WWII").

Slaughterhouse Five is Vonnegut's most famous work. In this book, Vonnegut fictionally recreates his experience in Dresden. However this book wasn't published until 1969, and he had published several works before this. His first book, Player Piano, was published in 1952; and his third, Mother Night, was published in 1961 ("Chronology"). Even though Slaughterhouse Five was Vonnegut's only novel to re-create his experience in Dresden, a strong anti-war theme can be found in his earlier literature as well. A fine example of one of his works that fits this description is Mother Night. The novel takes place in an open jail in Old Jerusalem. The protagonist introduces himself by saying, "My name is Howard W. Campbell, Jr. I am an American by birth, a Nazi by reputation, and a nationless person by inclination, The year in which I write this book [is] 1961" (Vonnegut 17). In first-person narration Campbell accounts stories from before, during and post World War II. The reader learns that Campbell lived in Germany before the war entertaining Nazis as a playwright. He and his wife Helga had no intention of leaving Germany once war became a threat. Campbell tells the reader that in 1938 he was recruited as an American special agent who was to pose as a Nazi propagandist during the war. The reader learns that this is the reason Campbell is currently behind bars in; he is to be tried by Israel for severe war crimes of spreading propaganda.