One of the most disturbing occurrences is when a sheriff comes into the house and is afflicted by the euphora. He takes a seat and then offers the small child his gun. "Hey, kid- like guns? He took his revolver from its holster Eddie took the gun, aimed it at Marion's bottle collection and fired. A large blue bottle popped to dust and the window behind the collection splintered."(pg 180) This alone shows the dangers of the mind-shackling device, that of letting things happen no matter what the consequences or dangers involved. Another example of total disregard for life and property due to the mind shackling is found on (pg 182), "Susan and I arrived just in time to join the cheering as a big elm crashed down on our sedan. "Kee-runch!" said Susan, and I laughed until my stomach hurt. "Get Fred," Lew said urgently, "He's gonna, miss seeing the barn go!" It is obvious that because of this "drug," the human mind is shut off and everything becomes a joke- whether it be the destroying of a car or the destruction of ones house. The experiment finally ends and after several people are sent to the hospital, the machine is destroyed. The story finishes with the greediness of one man using the device at will to achieve whatever he likes. The mind in this short story attempts to be free, as seen when two of the characters break the original device. It is mans free will at stake and once they realize the effects of the machine, two of the three protagonists do all that they can to keep themselves free. If something has a profit- no matter what the cost, as seen in this story, someone will go after it like was done in this story.
In "Harrison Bergeron," the shackled mind overcomes all odds to break free. "Nobody was smarter than anybody else, nobody was better looking than anybody else, nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else."(pg 140) In this short story, the minds and body of all people are put to a handicap to attempt at making them all equal.
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. was born in Indianapolis, Indiana on November 11, 1922. He was the son of successful architect Kurt Vonnegut and Edith Lieber. ... Kurt Jr.'... These first two works of Kurt Vonnegut Jr. were initially categorized as science fiction, however Vonnegut's books go far beyond the realm of most pure sci-fi. ...
Kurt Vonnegut, one of the most popular science fiction writers of his time, is known for his antiwar themes in most of his novels and for his use of dark humor and satire to prove that war is a horrible thing. ... Kurt Vonnegut blames America for most of the destruction of war. ... Kurt Vonnegut is known for being an antiwar figure so this fits his theme of his other books. ... This is another example of Kurt Vonnegut's antiwar theme. ... This theme is deeply rooted in Kurt Vonnegut's books because he witnessed the bombing of Dresden, when over 100,000 innocent civilians were killed ...
All of Kurt Vonnegut's books are strongly satirical and ironical (Vonnegut often uses very dark humor), funny, compassionate and extremely wise. ... 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". ... When you examine Cat's Cradle, Harrison Bergeron, and Slaughterhouse five you are given a good idea of Vonnegut a writer, because it provides a cross section of his ideas and the themes he is attempting to portray. ... This underlying theme gives the e...
Kurt Vonnegut was the youngest of three children. ... While there are many arguments for themes in this story i feel the theme in this story is freedom, it is in the story many times but vonnegut throws all of the American rights of freedom away in this short story but almost everything that happens in this story relates back to the theme of freedom. In the story Harrison bergeron, Kurt Vonnegut Talks about Freedom for people. ... Vonnegut used Harrison in a very useful way to express the theme of Freedom all while tying in the huge need of setting. ... Lastly if Kurt Vonnegut did not use the ...
Diction Kurt Vonnegut is pointing out his view on what equality is and he wants us to think how extreme equality would affect us. ... Another use of diction Kurt Vonnegut uses to enforce his views on equality is when Vonnegut described the recently freed ballerina as "blindingly" (Vonnegut) beautiful on line 162. ... Imagery In Harrison Bergeron, Kurt Vonnegut uses imagery to convey his thoughts of how handicaps affect this society. ... Kurt Vonnegut used many details to show and emphasize how different our world would be with extreme equality. Language In Kurt Vonnegut's stor...
Author Kurt Vonnegut is often perceived as one of the greatest post-apocalyptic authors of the 20th century. ... In May 1945, the Red Army liberated Vonnegut's camp. ... Kurt Vonnegut submitted what would become "Cat's Cradle" as his master's thesis to the University of Chicago, who accepted it and he was awarded his Masters in anthropology. ... Kurt Vonnegut led a generation of authors into a whole new frontier of post-apocalyptic literature and in doing so spawned a whole new group of readers. What Spielberg did for movies, Vonnegut did for books. ...
Kurt Vonnegut's Inspiration. Kurt Vonnegut, Author of the short story collaboration Welcome to the Monkey House, expressed two messages inspired by his siblings. ... He said the two main themes of his novels were just those two statements. These themes were expressed in the short stories of Welcome to the Monkey House. ... Kurt Vonnegut was inspired by his siblings, and expressed his inspiration well in these short stories. ...
Kurt Vonnegut's Satire As with many of his books, Kurt Vonnegut fills Cat's Cradle with satire of different sorts. ... Vonnegut constructs a tale of a genius, yet completely detached scientist, Felix Hoenikker, who is the father of the atomic bomb. ... Vonnegut also defines his ideas about government through the island of San Lorenzo. ... Vonnegut uses satire to show us how ridiculous people can be. Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle is teeming with satire. ...
Kurt Vonnegut, religion and social laws. When reading Slaughterhouse-Five it is extremely noticeable that Kurt Vonnegut attempts to open your mind beyond the limits that society established once as untouchables. ... The sarcasm and careless for things that Billy Pilgrim shows in Slaughterhouse-Five reflects Vonnegut's careless for everything since human is innocent. ... (Vonnegut p.53). ... Despite Vonnegut's pessimism, he defends one's independency, he defends human capacity of doing things by their own. ...
