kurt vonnegut, jr
DESCRIPTION
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. “ I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don't let anybody tell you different ” --K.V. The Early Years. Born - November 11, 1922, Indianapolis, Indiana Grandfather- first licensed architect in Indiana Father- wealthy architect - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
“I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don't let anybody
tell you different”--K.V.
“I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don't let anybody
tell you different”--K.V.
The Early Years
Born - November 11, 1922, Indianapolis, Indiana
Grandfather- first licensed architect in Indiana
Father- wealthy architect Family’s wealth diminished when the Great
Depression hit and Kurt Sr. couldn’t find work Parents had trouble accepting the fact that they
were no longer wealthy Mother committed suicide on May 14, 1944 (Mother’s
Day) (he was away at war) Father retreated into his own little world until his
death in 1957
Education/Writing
Shortridge Daily Echo - the first daily high school newspaper in the country
Cornell University - double major (bio and chem!) Brother Bernard was a scientist - discovered
cloud seeding to induce precipitation Struggled with bio & chem Excelled as Managing Editor for Cornell Daily
Sun (school newspaper) By 1943- almost asked to leave Cornell, joined
Army instead
Dresden
“All this happened, more or less. The war parts,
anyway, are pretty much true.”
Dresden
Became German POW after being captured in the Battle of the Bulge
Sent to Dresden “The Florence on the Elbe” No military significance
Sent to work in vitamin syrup factory February 13, 1945 - Allied forces
firebombed Dresden (incendiary bombs)
Warning: some of the images that follow may be
upsetting. Close your eyes if you do not want to
see them.
“Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and
exhaustion. I myself prefer to laugh, since there is less cleaning up to do
afterward.”
“It is a very mixed blessing to be brought back from the dead.”
Dresden, cont’d.
Debate about number of casualities from bombing (35,000 - 350,000)
Vonnegut and fellow POWs survived Making vitamins in an underground meat locker After bombing, put to work cleaning up bodies -
too many, so the Germans brought in flame throwers
Sent home in May of 1945 Received Purple Heart for what he called a
“ludicrously negligible wound” Owes career to experience in Dresden
Family Life
Married - Jane Marie Cox (high school sweetheart)
Three children of their own Later adopted his sister’s three
children after her death in 1958
Employment
Graduate student at University of Chicago Anthropology major (the study of
humankind and human cultures/societies) Thesis was rejected, did not receive degree
Newspaper reporter Teacher (yay!) Public relations employee for General
Electric in Schenectedy, NY Ran a Saab dealership
Humanism
As described by Kurt Vonnegut himself, “being a Humanist means trying to behave decently without expectation of rewards or punishment after you are dead”
Humanism is a progressive lifestance that, without supernaturalism, affirms our ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives of personal fulfillment that aspire to the greater good of humanity
Fatalism
"All persons, living and dead, are purely coincidental.” (from Timequake)
Fatalism - the belief that all events are predetermined and therefore inevitable
Who in Slaughterhouse-Five is a fatalist? How would the belief in fatalism guide
someone’s everyday actions?
From Cat’s Cradle
"Tiger got to hunt, bird got to fly; Man got to sit and wonder,
'Why, why, why?' Tiger got to sleep, bird got to land; Man got to tell himself he understand."
From Timequake
In response to his own question, “Why bother?” (regarding reading and writing):
"Many people need desperately to receive this message: 'I feel and think much as you do, care about many of the things
you care about, although most people do not care about them. You are not alone.'"
Writing Style
Long sentences Little punctuation
“Do not use semicolons. They stand for absolutely nothing.”
Humanist point of view Satire - the use of humor, irony, exaggeration,
or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues
Writing Style
Nonlinear Chronology - events are out of order
Metafiction - fiction in which the author self-consciously alludes to the artificiality or literariness of a work by parodying or departing from novelistic conventions and traditional narrative techniques
Writing Style
Repetition Allusions (religious, literary,
classical) Use of an alter-ego (see if you can
figure out who it is) “Combination of simplicity, irony,
and rue” Blended literature with science fiction and
humor, the absurd with pointed social commentary
Science Fiction?
"I have been a soreheaded occupant of a file drawer labeled 'science fiction' ever since [the publication of Player Piano],
and I would like out, particularly since so many serious critics regularly mistake the
drawer for a urinal.”
Later in Life
Taught creative writing at Harvard Got divorced (and later remarried Jill
Krementz [a photographer]) Saw his son Mark suffer and recover
from a psychotic breakdown Attempted suicide (1984) Died April, 2007- head injuries due
to a fall in his home (ironic)
Other Interesting Tidbits
Smoked unfiltered Pall Mall cigarettes, which he considered a “classy way to commit suicide”
November 11, 1999 - an asteroid was named in his honor
Considered Mark Twain to be an American saint (did you wonder why his son was named Mark?)
Vonnegut’s Last Lines
When the last living thingHas died on account of us,How poetical it would be
If Earth could say,In a voice floating up
PerhapsFrom the floorOf the Grand Canyon,
"It is done."People did not like it here.''
So it goes.