2br02b Kurt Vonnegut Summary

488 Words1 Page

In the short story “2BR02B”, written by the marvelous author Kurt Vonnegut, he is not advocating population control; although, he is exposing the future humanity will live if there is no consciousness regarding population growth. Throughout the story, Vonnegut paints vivid yet morbid descriptions of life before population control. “ ‘In the year 2000,’ said Dr. Hitz, ‘before scientists stepped in and laid down the law, there wasn’t even enough drinking water to go around, and nothing to eat but sea-weed--and still people insisted on their right to reproduce like jackrabbits. And their right, if possible, to live forever’ "(Vonnegut, 6). Dr. Hitz is hinting at a world that has reached its maximum capacity. Instead of controlling the issue before …show more content…

In the end, all individuals to some degree, possess vast amounts of selfishness. Sadly, rules are the only tool that aid humans into breaking out of the monotonous routine of self-centeredness. When rules are harsh, humans gain consciousness of their actions. Vonnegut is attempting another method to get humanity to realize their current issue of overpopulation by disclosing life after population laws are implemented. One of the last scenes of the story illustrates the feelings of the main character when he has to decide which one of his triplets would survive. " ‘What man in my shoes wouldn’t be happy?’ said Wehling. He gestured with his hands to symbolize care-free simplicity. ‘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, 6). With some extreme sarcasm, Mr. Wehling criticizes population control and makes it the paramount cause of his sorrow. This situation depicts how Kurt Vonnegut criticizes the psychological dangers of regulations concerning the expansion of population while indirectly emphasizing that, that is the direction the world is headed

Open Document