Kurt Vonnegut Reflection Paper

The first three words of the chapter “How to Tell a True War Story” are, “This is true” (67). Although Tim O’Brien begins this chapter with such a bold and clear statement, throughout the chapter he has the reader thinking and confused when he contradicts himself by stating things such as, “In many cases a true war story cannot

Kurt Vonnegut’s “EPICAC” demonstrates a tragic irony on how a machine’s obtained humanity causes his own self-destruction, and become so human to the point of inhumanity. From the point the narrator discovers a communication method with “EPICAC”, he is found to possess the traits one would find in the perfect human. From the narrator’s words, “he wasn’t noble and great and brilliant. He was all of those things,” and prays, “God rest his souls.” The narrator’s accurate perception of EPICAC is quite different from the start of the story compared to the end of the story. This change esteemed from EPICAC’s aid to the narrator in the form of magnificent, and emotional poems. Which, in the end, allows him to reach his goal of marrying Pat.

Billy Pilgrim's life is far from normal. Throughout most of his adult life he has been moving backwards and forwards through time, from one event to another, in a non-sequential order. At least, this schizophrenic life is hard to understand. Because Vonnegut wants the reader to relate to Billy

This quote in the first chapter of the book sets the overall tone. The author Tim O’Brien uses his language through out the book in an extremely straightforward manner. He does not sugar coat the way going to war and being in a war is. He does not use stories of heroes,

As you have read war is a very different type of world everything is turned around and it confuses people. The author of the book The Things They Carried and the writer of the quote "It has been said of war that it is a world where the past has a strong grip on the present, where machines seemed sometimes to have more will power than me, where nice boys (girls) were attracted to them, where bodies ruptured and burned and stand, where the evil thing trying to kill you could look disconnecting human and where except in your imagination it was impossible to be heroic." relates to each of his stories. Wrote about war so people could have a better understanding of

First, the reader must understand just what makes a good "war story". The protagonist of the novel, Tim O'Brien, gives us his

Again, Matheson points out the problem immediately by saying, “the first… [problem] is encountered in the unusual opening chapter where Vonnegut, apparently speaking as himself, gives an account of the novel’s genesis that cannot help but strike us initially as being carelessly written”(Matheson 1). Matheson is not fond of Vonnegut’s work, he not only dislikes the fact that there is not a single meaning to the book, but also the creative and eccentric style Vonnegut used in writing Slaughterhouse-Five. Slaughterhouse-Five is semi-autobiographical; the first and the last chapters are written in first person, and there are many similarities between Vonnegut’s life, and Billy Pilgrim’s life. In the first chapter Vonnegut identifies himself as the author when he is speaking to his friend on the phone by saying, “‘Listen— ’I said, ‘I’m writing this book about Dresden’”(Vonnegut 4). Critics seem to dislike the use of first person and the identification of the author because it is “irrelevant…[and leads] nowhere”(Matheson 1). The first person point of view comes back in the last chapter when Vonnegut says, “Robert Kennedy, whose summer home is eight miles from the home I live in all year round, was shot two nights ago”(Vonnegut 210). Vonnegut uses first person not to be annoying to critics, but to remind the reader that he experienced all of the events in his book, “more or less”(Vonnegut

What is religion? There is no one correct answer, however, one definition that seems to cover every aspect of most established religions is, "…the most comprehensive and intensive manner of valuing known to human beings" (Pecorino). In Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle, Vonnegut takes this definition and creates his own religion in order to satirize all others. Bokononism, Vonnegut's contrived religion, is built on foma, or harmless untruths. Bokononists believe that good societies can only be built by keeping a high tension between good and evil at all times, and that there is no such thing as absolute evil (Schatt 64). They have created their own language with words such as karass, a group of people

Death, death is a concept that many to all people can't accept. The idea of you going to sleep and never waking up again is a dark thought, but in the short story 2br02b by Kurt Vonnegut it's normal routine that is important in order to make new life. The story follows a family of a husband and a wife trying to give birth to triplets. But in order to maintain a steady population 3 people must die in order to bring 3 new people to life. But a common theme in this story is “death is needed in order for life to prosper”.

    Cat's Cradle is, "Vonnegut's most highly praised novel. Filled with humor and unforgettable characters, this apocalyptic story tells of Earth's ultimate end, and presents a vision of the future that is both darkly fantastic and funny, as Vonnegut weaves a satirical commentary on modern man and his madness" (Barnes and Noble n.pag).  In Cat's Cradle, Kurt Vonnegut uses satire as a vehicle for threatened self-destruction when he designs the government of San Lorenzo.  In addition, the Bokonists practice of Boko-maru, and if the world is going to end in total self destruction and ruin, then people will die, no matter how good people are and what religion people believe.

We all wish we could travel through time, going back to correct our stupid mistakes or zooming ahead to see the future. In Kurt Vonnegut's novel Slaughterhouse-Five, however, time travel does not seem so helpful. Billy Pilgrim, Vonnegut's main character, has come unstuck in time. He bounces back and forth between his past, present, and future lives in a roller coaster time trip that proves both senseless and numbing. Examining Billy's time traveling, his life on Tralfamadore, and the novel's schizophrenic structure shows that time travel is actually a metaphor for our human tendency to avoid facing the unpleasant reality of death.

     Those who write on the human condition are often philosophers who write with convoluted language that few can understand. Kurt Vonnegut, however, focuses on the same questions, and provides his own personal answers with as much depth as that of the must educated philosopher. He avoids stilted language typical of philosophers, using shorter sentences, less complex vocabulary, humorous tangents, and outrageous stories to get his point across. With this style, Vonnegut presents the age-old question "How do we as humans live in this world?" in a manner appealing and understandable to the less educated mass. When offering advice to writers on how to write, Vonnegut said, "Our audience requires us

While never a defeatist, Billy merely flows through his disjointed life without much heed to the event at hand. Billy realizes that he holds the power to create his own happiness and satisfaction out of life through appreciation of the present moment rather than contemplate the occurrence of past and future. Vonnegut develops Billy Pilgrim as a unique protagonist as a means of forcing the reader to question the application of free will upon society and gain a new perspective on the beauty of the present.

The last words of the novel “Poo-tee-weet” are appropriate because, in chapter one, Vonnegut stated that those were to be the ending. The statement that Vonnegut makes by closing the book that way is that the world is a violent place and this is especially true in war time. Vonnegut uses that expression in several passages throughout the book, especially after a horrible scene like in chapter one he describes a scene after a massacre: “And what do the birds say? All there is to say about a massacre, things like “Poo-tee-weet?”” (Vonnegut 19) That expression does not mean anything, seems out of place, and in a sort is a ridiculous saying. However, Vonnegut is trying to stress that it is hard to describe the horrific conditions of war unless

Kurt Vonnegut was born on November 11, 1922, in Indianapolis Indiana. Kurt Vonnegut, his sister Alice and brother Bernard were fourth-generation Germans, and were never exposed to their heritage because of the anti-German attitude that spread in the U.S. after WW1. Vonneguts lost most of their wealth from the Great Depression. Vonnegut’s father Kurt Vonnegut Sr. fell into severe depression, and his mother Edith Lieber overdosed on sleeping pills and died the night before Mother’s Day.