Kurt Vonnegut's Expressions Of Life

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Artistic output is an expression of the creator. What differentiates a man from his fellow inhabitants of the Earth on which they all conduct their practices of life is that man’s experiences. Experience is the dirty, old hand and knife that shapes the big clay sculpture of life. And so, when the creator decides to do what he does best and create, his finished work will be the physical expression of the life his experiences have shaped for him. Kurt Vonnegut, the creator famous for his sarcastic, unapologetic, bleakly humorous writing displayed in such novels as Slaughterhouse- 5, Breakfast of Champions, and short stories such as 2br02b and Harrison Bergeron (works that changed the genres of science fiction and dark humor), is no exception. …show more content…

What is after life that seems to be void of the pain that life offers? Vonnegut alludes to Hamlet’s contemplations so that we, the readers, come to think that maybe those who dial the number, wishing to meet their end, are struggling with those same thoughts. Those who dial the number are thinking that death may be a possible end to their sorrows. But even without overwhelming analysis, the true, and simplest, question is do we live or not? “The painter pondered the mournful puzzle of life… All the answers the painter thought of were grim… he decided he had had about enough of life” As the painter witnesses the three sudden deaths that just occurred in front of him he witnessed three living creatures, alive at one moment and dead in the next. They were and are not anymore. The number is then …show more content…

Dr. Hitz is the primary representative of the controlling government. He sees no difference between Edward Wheling’s children and grandfather; all he sees is a certain number of people in the world. It’s a routine of control for him as he consults Wheling about the upcoming death of his two children. Edward is the symbol of the rebellious individuality. In a final act of expression, he sees killing Leora Duncan, Hitz, and himself as the way to separate himself from the population. Death, when exacted outside of the government’s control, is the remaining option of self-expression. But as his attempts to rebel approach, he only conforms to the system by opening three new slots for his children. “And then he shot himself, making room for all three of his children.” His ultimate attempt to devastate the routine and control by performing a deed of chaos and expression ended with a logical solution to his children’s problem; the solution that Wehling was trying to fight all this

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