Kurt Vonnegut Influences

To many authors, writing functions as a way to express themselves. Within the plot of novels and the stanzas of poetry authors are expressing their opinions and beliefs often in an attempt to influence their readers. Some writers use their works to spread a message of positivity; others wish to criticize societal values. The American writer and humorist Kurt Vonnegut uses much of his writings as vehicles for social criticism. Two such works that exemplify Vonnegut’s opinions are the novel Slaughterhouse- Five and the short story “Harrison Bergeron”. Slaughterhouse- Five is the tale of a war veteran named Billy Pilgrim who not only survived the bombing of Dresden, but also claims to have been abducted by aliens and can travel in time. “Harrison

Many writers in history have written science fiction novels and had great success with them, but only a few have been as enduring over time as Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five. Slaughterhouse-Five is a personal novel which draws upon Vonnegut's experience's as a scout in World War Two, his capture and becoming a prisoner of war, and his witnessing of the fire bombing of Dresden in February of 1945 (the greatest man-caused massacre in history). The novel is about the life and times of a World War Two veteran named Billy Pilgrim. In Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut uses structure and point of view to portray the theme that time is relative.

Vonnegut includes himself in scenes within Slaughterhouse-Five to portray an “author-as-character” unique style. It is in the tenth chapter when Vonnegut switches points of view to reveal himself as one of the soldiers alongside Billy.

Kurt Vonnegut Jr. is one of the most well known World War II authors. His humble beginnings and early life misfortunes shaped not only his writings, but also his view of the world. His imprisonment in Dresden in World War II, however, formed his opinions about war at an early age and later inspired many of his works and style of writing. After the returning from World War II, Vonnegut voiced his sentiments through his writing that war was wasteful and uncivilized. Vonnegut developed a unique blend of sadness, satire, and simplicity, along with his ability to understand the audience, which made his novels comprehensible and inspirational to any

Vonnegut calls upon his personal experiences to create his breakthrough work, Slaughterhouse Five. Vonnegut expresses his own feeling on war, family, and free will through the non-linear narrative of the protagonist, Billy Pilgrim. His experience as a soldier and death within his family are mirrored into Pilgrim’s character.

Kurt Vonnegut followed many principles in his writings. He claimed that “people do not realize that they are happy” (PBS NOW Transcript). Feeling that people had the wrong view on war, he felt that he needed to get the facts straight. Vonnegut believed that art can come from awful situations, and that the truth is not always easy to look at. Kurt Vonnegut wrote Slaughterhouse – Five to tell of his experience in the bombing of Dresden, as a prisoner in war and the atrocities that occurred.

Kurt Vonnegut writes pessimistic novels, or at least he did back in the sixties. Between Slaughterhouse Five, Mother Night, and Cat's Cradle, Vonnegut paints a cynical and satirical picture of the degradation of society using distortion as the primary means to express himself. In Cat's Cradle, the reader is confronted with the story of the narrator, John, as he attempts to gather material to write a book on the human aspect of the day Japan was bombed. As the

Vonnegut then came home, where he continued his college education by attending the University of Chicago from 1945 to 1947. He married Jane Cox in 1945 and eventually fathered three children, their names being Mark, Edith, and Nanette. After the war, he was a Chicago City News Bureau Police Reporter in 1947. Before he became a writer, he also worked with Public Relations for General Electric in Schenectady, New York from 1947 to 1950 (Ethridge 1-4: 970). In 1950, Vonnegut decided to become a writer, with his first novel, Player Piano, being published in 1951. He would later go on to write works such as Canary in a Cat House (1959), Mother Night (1961), Cat’s Cradle (1963), God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater (1965), Slaughterhouse-Five (1969), and Breakfast of Champions (1973). His most renowned work, Slaughterhouse-Five, is as close to an autobiography as he comes. In Slaughterhouse-Five, Vonnegut writes a novel based his experience as a prisoner of war

Kurt Vonnegut himself is a rhetor having written “Slaughterhouse - Five” as anti-war propaganda. His use of rhetoric works effectively as it shows the struggles of a man who has to live with after-war effects as well a great number of deaths which are shrugged off.

Kurt Vonnegut is an American novelist from Indianapolis, Indiana, born in 1922. A very important part of his life was when he served in WWII where he was taken as a prisoner of

Kurt Vonnegut has been called a genius, a fraud, a psychotic, and even a guru throughout his achievement filled life by many different people from all different walks of life. His works have been discussed, read, praised, and criticized throughout the natural world. While some people regard his books as masterpieces, and cult classics, others categorize them as trash. Dozens of books he has written are considered ahead of their time. Kurt Vonnegut is a revolutionary thinker and author who expresses avant-garde ideas and views about society and life, which have made a lasting impression on the way people see the many different aspects of the world today.

Kurt Vonnegut was a man of disjointed ideas, as is expressed through the eccentric protagonists that dominate his works. Part cynic and part genius, Kurt Vonnegut’s brilliance as a satirist derives from the deranged nature of the atrocities he had witnessed in his life. The reason Vonnegut’s satire is so popular and works so well is because Vonnegut had personal ties to all the elements that he lambasted in his works. Vonnegut’s experience as a soldier in WWII during firebombing of Dresden corrupted his mind and enabled him to express the chaotic reality of war, violence, obsession, sex and government in a raw and personal manner. Through three works specifically, “Welcome to the Monkey House,” “Harrison Bergeron,” and Slaughterhouse-five,

Kurt Vonnegut’s personal experiences of World War II and the firebombing of Dresden were important factors in determining his writing style and the political and philosophical views that it conveyed. Throughout his works, the overarching message that Vonnegut delivers is the need for love and compassion in a world where humans are helpless against an indifferent fate.

Kurt Vonnegut is the author of the book Slaughterhouse Five. Of course it was controversial, and still is. The first chapter addresses the conflicts of creating such a novel in the first chapter of the book. In the book Harrison Starr questioned Vonnegut asking if his book were to be a war book. Vonnegut said it was and Starr “Why don’t you make an anti-glacier book instead?” (4). Vonnegut believed what Starr meant by that was wars, like glaciers, are as unpredictable and unstoppable. (4). As one gets farther into the book it completely changed dynamics. The novel then goes into the story of Billy Pilgrim instead of the autobiographical view from the first chapter. The three main literary elements in which will be focusing on analysing is theme,

Kurt Vonnegut was born in 1922 in Indianapolis, Indiana to German parents. As a young man, Vonnegut wrote articles strongly opposing war for his high school newspaper, and the school newspaper of Cornell University, where he attended college (Allen 1). World War II broke out when he was just 16 years old, and at the age of 20, Vonnegut joined the US army. Speaking about his disdain for war, Novels for Students discloses,