Essays on Vonnegut

Many people today tend to believe that they can declare their superiority over other individuals, for example by burning their books, which to their mind are considered to be offensive. Vonnegut has written a powerful letter to the chairman of the Drake School Board, Mr. McCarthy, concerning his novel, Slaughterhouse-Five, which was used as a teaching aid by a school teacher, in order to get acquainted students with the brutality of World War II, but later on all the copies of the book were burnt in the furnace of the school. When it comes to the topic of “real ...

Book Censorship

Despite the fact that the First Amendment in the U.S. Constitution provides legal protection for the freedom of religion, speech and press, modern American history as well as its democratic façade have been compromised greatly by numerous cases of book censorship and bans, particularly in educational institutions. Thereby, the case of Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five is only a drop in the ocean of shameful censorship policies. As Vonnegut’s seminal work was banned in schools across the United States and as the Drake School Board set several books on fire, the prominent American writer whose books are ...

It needs to be reckoned that one of the main aspects of a fictional literary work is the characterization that goes on to bind the entire text together accentuating its affective appeal to the readers. Literary artists too have come to exude their aesthetic and literary quintessence when it comes to the question of penning characters in their respective stories. For the purpose of proper comprehension of the matter in context, one can take into reckoning three very popular short stories that have come to gain the accolades of the literary critics as well as the avid readers all ...

In a similar manner that the comedic film termed as Dr. Strangelove includes convectional genres as per their time of publication, the Slaughter-House Five also incorporates fantasies, memoirs, autobiographies and science fiction. For instance, whereas the novel is based on the fantasy of time travel describing people being struck at it, the movie analysis the elements of cold war in a satirical manner by describing the doomsday device made by the Russians. Vonnegut perspective was against the warmongering apparent in the society like Kubrick movie. They were both based on an assumption that a superior power would create fear ...

Introduction

The Half-blood Blues narrates the story of a black band who successfully recorded a jazz album in the midst of World War II. It centers on a group of jazz musicians whose ambition to become great in their art was dampened by the war. The war did not only deter them from pursuing their musical aspiration as a group, but it also shattered their dreams forever. On the other hand, the Slaughterhouse-Five is considered as an anti-war novel, and centers on the life of Billy Pilgrim. Most of the stories in this novel were based on the experiences of ...

Kurt Vonnegut Jr. in his novel “Slaughterhouse-Five” talks about several themes in relation to war. He uses meta-fiction and writing about writing as a major style in which to relay his message. The memories of the war keep getting off his mind. He wants to write the story but in other times he feels that it is not necessary. Vonnegut applies meta-fiction in his writing in order to bring the various effects of war: psychological and physical. Through the use of various characters in his work, Vonnegut is able to depict clearly the situation during the war. It is ...

Kurt Vonnegut was a prolific American author, who wrote the novel “Slaughterhouse Five” (1969). The novel is one of the arguments against war that exists even today. The reason for this is because the novel deals with the effects of war on a person when they return home. This is because for many people it is hard to truly leave the battlefield behind due to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. As PSTD was not a recognizable diagnosis at the time of Vonnegut’s writing, he used Billy’s inability to connect with reality as a representation of the potential effect ...

Introduction

Literature has a way of connecting the reader’s imagination with a distant or even future place. It is the avenue where future inventions and even fears can be highlighted and it is important in directing the thinking and even the current actions of the humans today. The following are the works of art that tend to highlight some examples of dystopia that relate to human behavior and state of mind. James, P. D. The Children of Men. London: Faber and Faber, 1992. Print. The book highlights the story of a future world which is marred by political anarchy ...

Introduction

"Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegurt was first published in 1959 and its major theme was equality. The story begins with a portrayal of equality whereby every person is purported to be equal. The author is trying to warn the society of the kind of equality which people are seeking that may in some cases be fatal to humankind. The author presented a scary view of the future society where everybody was equal. “The year was 2081 and everybody was final equal. They were not only equal before God and the Law but were equal in every way.” (Vonnegut 1961:7). This is a ...