Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
“We are on this earth to fart around, don't let anyone tell you different.” This quote by Kurt Vonnegut, an influential author, describes his writing and attitude towards life perfectly. Vonnegut’s literary style was very creative, with a hint of gothic qualities. Vonnegut was an American author from the 1950s, however his amazing works have held their popularity into the 2000s. Kurt Vonnegut’s exposure to the cruelty of war caused him to write in such a way that invited his readers to see the world through his eyes, earning more recognition than awards, Vonnegut impacted the minds of many through his short story, “2BR02B”.
Kurt Vonnegut Jr. was born on November 11th, 1922 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Vonnegut developed his passion for writing while he attended Shortridge High School and wrote for his school newspaper. After graduating from high school, Vonnegut attended Cornell University, then quickly decided to enlist in the US Air Force in 1943. After he enlisted in the war, the army sent him to Carnegie Mellon University to pursue a degree in engineering. Vonnegut fought throughout WWII before being captured and held prisoner by the Germans. Witnessing such tremendous terror led Vonnegut
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“I really wonder what gave us the right to wreck this poor planet of ours.” This quote from Kurt Vonnegut relates to his views of society and our impact on the planet as well as with his story “2BRO2B” since it deals with the topics of overpopulation and pollution. Vonnegut’s writing in this story was sensitive to past events inside of WWII, having to deal with Adolf Hitler’s plan to control the population of certain races by using gas. Vonnegut interprets the scenarios of WWII by creating parallels within the two. (Vonnegut, 1-8) Vonnegut’s story “2BR02B” was tremendously controversial because of its gothic
Kurt Vonnegut, a modern American writer, composed stories about fictional situations that occurred in futuristic versions of today’s world. His stories included violence, both upon oneself and one another, and characters who sought out revenge. In “2BR02B” and “Harrison Bergeron”, Vonnegut conveys physical violence most likely experienced while a prisoner of World War 2, as a way to show how war brings pain and destruction.
So it goes. Vonnegut allows us to laugh out loud, despite the tragedies of war and the anxiety of the post-modern world. His picture of the modern man is simultaneously dismal and hopeful. His unique style, satiric overview and astute ability to capture the multiple faces of mankind, properly placed him in the realm of the most accomplished authors of the Twentieth Century. Works Cited Vonnegut, Kurt Jr.
"In Slaughterhouse Five, -- Or the Children's Crusade, Vonnegut delivers a complete treatise on the World War II bombing of Dresden. The main character, Billy Pilgrim, is a very young infantry scout* who is captured in the Battle of the Bulge and quartered in a Dresden slaughterhouse where he and other prisoners are employed in the production of a vitamin supplement for pregnant women. During the February 13, 1945, firebombing by Allied aircraft, the prisoners take shelter in an underground meat locker. When they emerge, the city has been levelled and they are forced to dig corpses out of the rubble. The story of Billy Pilgrim is the story of Kurt Vonnegut who was captured and survived the firestorm in which 135,000 German civilians perished, more than the number of deaths in the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined. Robert Scholes sums up the theme of Slaughterhouse Five in the New York Times Book Review, writing: 'Be kind. Don't hurt. Death is coming for all of us anyway, and it is better to be Lot's wife looking back through salty eyes than the Deity that destroyed those cities of the plain in order to save them.' The reviewer concludes that 'Slaughterhouse Five is an extraordinary success. It is a book we need to read, and to reread.' "The popularity of Slaughterhouse Five is due, in part, to its timeliness; it deals with many issues that were vital to the late sixties: war, ecology, overpopulation, and consumerism. Klinkowitz, writing in Literary Subversions.New American Fiction and the Practice of Criticism, sees larger reasons for the book's success: 'Kurt Vonnegut's fiction of the 1960s is the popular artifact which may be the fairest example of American cultural change. . . . Shunned as distastefully low-brow . . . and insufficiently commercial to suit the exploitative tastes of high-power publishers, Vonnegut's fiction limped along for years on the genuinely democratic basis of family magazine and pulp paperback circulation. Then in the late 1960s, as the culture as a whole exploded, Vonnegut was able to write and publish a novel, Slaughterhouse Five, which so perfectly caught America's transformative mood that its story and structure became best-selling metaphors for the new age. '"Writing in Critique, Wayne D. McGinnis comments that in Slaughterhouse Five, Vonnegut 'avoids framing his story in linear narration, choosing a circular structure.
Kurt Vonnegut is an outstanding author who addresses problems he has with others in very concentrated ways. The disrespect of his book Slaughterhouse-Five at Drake High School by principal Charles McCarthy caused Vonnegut to assert his opinion on the situation. The school did not like the unappealing style of Vonnegut's writing resulting in the destruction of all his books by fire. Vonnegut uses rhetorical strategies such as anaphora, didactic, and invective language portraying his message to never judge a book by it's cover, all writers have the right to express their opinion.
Vonnegut's writing style throughout the novel is very flip, light, and sarcastic. The narrator's observations and the events occurring during the novel reflect a dark view of humanity which can only be mocked by humor. At the beginning of the novel the narrator is researching for a book he is writing. The book was to be about the day the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and the lives of the people who created the bomb. The narrator travels through the plot of the story, with characters flying in and out, in almost a daze. He is involved in events which are helplessly beyond his control, but which are inevitably leading to a destination at the end.
Kurt Vonnegut’s fictional novel “Cat’s Cradle”, indirectly explores issues that parallels into topics such as religion, scientific/technological advancements, political power and much more. Vonnegut’s novel is narrated by a character named Jonah (John). He, Jonah, sets out to write an anthropological book based off of what key people were doing on the day that the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Throughout Vonnegut’s novel it can clearly represents how a writer can become a very destructive person to society. As for this novel, it shows through the uses of parallels that a writer can become a very destructive person to society, these parallels are reflects to real world issues throughout his novel to show this claim, that a writer too can be a destructive person to society.
One can only imagine the intense emotional scarring that one would suffer after exiting an underground shelter with a dozen other men to find a city destroyed and its people dead, corpses laying all around. These feelings are what prompted Kurt Vonnegut to write Slaughterhouse-Five as he did. The main character of this novel mirrors the author in many ways, but the striking similarity is their inability to deal with the events of Dresden on the night of February 13, 1945. Section Two- Critical Commentaries Kurt Vonnegut's work is nothing new to critics, but Slaughterhouse-Five is considered to be his best work.
Being an anti-war novel, his book is filled with shocking events and gruesome deaths. But Vonnegut portrays death as trivial. Every time someone dies or something bad happens, the reader might think " oh my gosh, that's awful!"
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. was born on November 11, 1922, in Indianapolis, Indiana to Kurt Vonnegut, Sr. and Edith Lieber Vonnegut. He had an older brother named Bernard and an older sister named Alice. Kurt, Sr. was a well-known architect in the city and Edith was the daughter of a wealthy local family. The Vonneguts had been in Indianapolis for several generations, and were well-off, respected members of the community. Unlike the characters in most of his books, Vonnegut's early childhood was extremely privileged. It wasn't until the stock market crash of 1929 that he experienced the type of life that he would go on to write about in the future: the middle Middle Class.
The Idealism of Kurt Vonnegut Kurt Vonnegut was greatly influenced by his involvement in World War II. His entanglement with the Dresden bombing had an unequivocal effect upon his mentality, and the horrid experience propelled the liberal anti-war assertions that dominate many of his novels. Throughout his life, his idealistic nature has perceptibly undulated, and five representative novels illustrate the forceful progression and gradual declivity of his liberal views. The first thirty years of his life outwardly coincided with the average American man. He was born in Indianapolis on November 11, 1922, and lived a happy childhood with a stable family.
Vitale, Tom. “Kurt Vonnegut: Still Speaking To The War Weary.” www.npr.org. May 31, 2011. Web. 14 Nov. 2013.
Slaughterhouse Five is not a book that should be glanced over and discarded away like a dirty rag. Slaughterhouse Five is a book that should be carefully analyzed and be seen as an inspiration to further improve the well-being of mankind. Vonnegut makes it clear that an easy way to improve mankind is to see war not as a place where legends are born, but rather, an event to be avoided. Intelligent readers and critics alike should recognize Vonnegut’s work and see to it that they make an effort to understand the complexities behind the human condition that lead us to war.
Throughout his career, Kurt Vonnegut has used writing as a tool to convey penetrating messages and ominous warnings about our society. He skillfully combines vivid imagery with a distinctly satirical and anecdotal style to explore complex issues such as religion and war. Two of his most well known, and most gripping, novels that embody this subtle talent are Cat's Cradle and Slaughterhouse-Five. Both books represent Vonnegut’s genius for manipulating fiction to reveal glaring, disturbing and occasionally redemptive truths about human nature. On the surface, Cat’s Cradle and Slaughterhouse-Five are dramatically different novels, each with its own characters, symbols, and plot. However, a close examination reveals that both contain common themes and ideas. Examining and comparing the two novels and their presentation of different themes provides a unique insight into both the novels and the author – allowing the reader to gain a fuller understanding of Vonnegut’s true meaning.
Imagine a society where overpopulation has been cured, people do not age and people do not get sick. Well, this is the exact kind of Utopia that Kurt Vonnegut has created in “2BR02B”. Although, for every one baby born, one person must willingly die. This short story was written in 1962, where concern over population growth increased greatly. Society’s concerns played a big part in the writing of this story.
Short, simple sentences, satirical societies, and the swift death of the main characters connect all of Vonnegut’s short stories. These elements will be analyzed through his short stories Harrison Bergeron, The Big Space Fuck, 2 B R 0 2 B. Vonnegut’s stories are concise and to the point, which comes from his history in journalism. With journalistic writing, it is important to tell the facts as they