All of Kurt Vonnegut's books are strongly satirical and ironical (Vonnegut often uses very dark humor), funny, compassionate and extremely wise. They mostly have a very poor plot (or none at all) and the emphasis is put onto the rather comic and pathetic characters. Kurt Vonnegut also very often uses science fiction and comic book formulas (quick action, short dialogues etc.), which usually puts his books onto ... bookstore shelves marked "sci-fi". Vonnegut, however, doesn't take the sci-fi elements with the same seriousness as the other sci-fi writers ... with love, beauty, humanity, and in...

• Word Count: 750
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... doesn't necessarily use specific events, but instead uses the emotions he feels during these times in his life. The incidences in Kurt Vonnegut's life, in which he has been stripped of important relationships, experienced schizophrenic illusions of grandeur brought on by loneliness, and sought artificial relationships to fill the void, surface in recurring themes: forced isolation of characters, allusions to schizophrenic tendencies ... life without a family. He felt the need to search other areas for a new family (Klinkowitz 33). Kilgore Trout, a character from Breakfast of Champions an...

• Word Count: 2120
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... short story "Harrison Bergeron", the author, Kurt Vonnegut Jr., uses his natural ability of satire to illustrate a dystopian future, where the value of "equality" is said to be held above all else. However, as we explore the meaning of the story we find that Vonnegut is actually warning us that in a ... the conclusion would end in a form not dissimilar to the one Vonnegut conjures. The theme of dehumanization is not uncommon for Vonnegut, being commonplace in almost every one of his books, from Player Piano to Sirens of Titan to Slaughterhouse Five. In fact, what led me to include the i...

• Word Count: 678
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate