Cat's Cradle And Slaughterhouse Kurt Vonnegut Analysis

The meaning of religion can be different for everyone; some use it to justify events happening, while others use it to turn people against each other. As Kurt Vonnegut describes tragic events during World War II, unrealistic adventures in space and destructive scientific advances, he shares his unique perspective on life and religion. Although many of his works were set during 20th century, Vonnegut satirically addresses issues that are present in today’s society. Despite efforts to prevent wars, people have not found a solution to do it. And while mankind progresses toward scientific way of life, the destruction of life is inevitable. New machines are invented every day to make genocide easier and faster. So, in Cat’s Cradle and Slaughterhouse

This period became known as a Cold War because, after overcoming Nazis, countries started to spread their social and economic systems through various such as nuclear arms race (Boswelll, Marshall, and Carl Rollyson). So, Vonnegut wanted to show his opinion on chaos, uncertainty and unknown future that nuclear war can bring to the country. And “… Publication of Slaughterhouse-Five, a vehemently anti war novel that appeared during the peak of protest against American involvement in the war in Vietnam” (Vonnegut, Kurt Jr.). Hoping that it would change the future, he with other authors started to express ideas through literature, that would invite people to stand up against the war, as it led to the appearance of postmodernism.

This new movement expressed the feelings of people after war, when it showed “... Mixing and blending of cultures, ... a plurality or parallelism of intellectual and spiritual worlds … all consistent value systems collapse...” (Postmodernism). Struggles during post-war period, ideas about nuclear war and achieving stability and order had a tremendous effect on authors and their subject matter. Postmodern literature described author’s position in a society and other personal views. Kurt Vonnegut’s works displayed ideas about future and critiques of moral

For example in Slaughterhouse-Five, "On Tralfamadore, says Billy Pilgrim, there isn 't much interest in Jesus Christ. The Earthling figure who is most engaging to the Tralfamadorian mind, he says, is Charles Darwin - who taught that those who die are meant to die, that corpses are improvements. So it goes” (Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five). So, Vonnegut infers that Tralfamadorians have no faith in God and believe mainly in scientific advances. Because Darwin explained life without mentioning divine power; he challenged principles of many religions in the world. Vonnegut thought that religion simplifies life and draws a boundary between right and wrong. As a result, "Pilgrim 's dilemma is that he is a double Savior with two gospels—a weeping and loving Jesus and a Tralfamadorian determinist” (Slaughterhouse-Five). Raised in a religious society while travelling to a separate world, Billy faces two distinct ways to soothe his life after the war; Christian or Tralfamadorian ideas justify the position where he was at the end. Vonnegut does not believe in explaining life due to its unpredictable nature; in his work, right or wrong does not exist because it depends on