Vonnegut as a "Bug in Amber"
Connection of Fiction and Autobiography in the Works of Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
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Introduction
Kurt Vonnegut Junior is a name that is well known in
the field of literature. The attitudes of both critics and
the general public differ regarding this novelist. While
some people consider him a distinguished writer, others
dismiss his writing and himself as a writer completely. In
libraries and bookstores, his books can be found both on
shelves among genres like fantasy and science fiction and on
shelves among "serious literature". One Czech critic once
wrote that "to look for psychological and philosophical
depth in the writing of Vonnegut is really futile. It would
also be pointless and unnecessary." (Jarab:235, transl.)
This is definitely not the only example of such criticism.
However, the spirit of this essay does not agree with these
critics. This work contradicts what has been written by
Jarab and seeks and finds this supposedly missing
psychological and philosophical depth.
Readers who have read any of the works of Kurt
Vonnegut must have come across many things that caught their
attention. It is not only his unusual style that makes him
special in contemporary American literature. It is not only
the skill and various literary techniques with which he
manages to convey the main message to readers of various age
groups. It is not only the message itself which always makes
people think and discover startling facts about our world.
Looking on Vonnegut's works from a holistic point of view,
a reader or a critic can see recurring themes and ideas.
Throughout this author's books, the reader can notice
a unique relationship between the created image of Humanity,
people in general, and Divinity, a divine power or God.
Humanity, in this case, seems to be in a rather peculiar
situation, unable to escape an invisible grasp that has
a hold on it. Vonnegut, through his life, novels and
stories, appears to have been looking for a way out of the
grasp, a way of making a m an free. In some books he
succeeds, in some he does not. What the way out (or the ways
out) is, is the main focus of this essay.
A common reader may have noticed that Kurt
Vonnegut's works seldom have villain characters. This has
been observed by many of his readers and many literary
critics as well (e.g. Ranly, Reed). However, it can be noted
that there is always at least one villain character,
although it is definitely not a human being. Whom Vonnegut
tends to present as a villain is God. Sometimes he calls Him
God Almighty, sometimes The Creator of the Universe,
sometimes Mother Nature. Sometimes Vonnegut does not mention
God at all, but always there is a force that carries the
attributes of a villain character. However, in most cases he
refers to 'Christian' God. 'Christian God', though, does not
mean that the image that is created by Vonnegut is the same
as the Christians' image of God. This essay will prove that
it is very different. 'Christian God' means only that
Vonnegut refers to the same God as Christians do, even
though Vonnegut sees Him in an altogether different light.
This conclusion can be arrived at from various references to
the Bible, the life of Jesus, or criticising Christians and
their faith.
Hero characters also do not appear in Vonnegut's books
very frequently. All human beings in his literary works are
little people which seem to be lead by a Master Puppeteer
from above and therefore cannot be responsible for what they
do and thus cannot be considered to be villains. In his
autobiographical collage Palm Sunday, Vonnegut himself says
that his books argue that "most human behavior, no matter
how ghastly or ludicrous or glorious or whatever, is
innocent," (PSU:xviii). Maybe humanity in general could be
considered to be a hero character, since it has to live
through the neverending attacks of the villain character,
that is - God; a hero character that can never win. However,
Vonnegut seems to find a way for humans to conquer the
villain.
This work, being written by a believing Christian,
will not focus on religious meditation about Vonnegut and
God, neither will it try to ridicule Vonnegut's opinions and
views. It will by no means judge if the way how Vonnegut
sees God is right or wrong. The focus of this essay should
be different.
Firstly, this work will study aforementioned Humanity
and Divinity, two literary characters which, though not
actually appearing in any of the books, play the major part
in Vonnegut's novels and stories. Numerous quotations from
Vonnegut's literary works will be used to create accurate
character traits and to illustrate their relationship.
Understanding the relationship between these two poles is
essential for creating a comprehensive the concept of being
stuck and finding a way out, especially for Vonnegut's
concept of "Bugs stuck in amber" (SH5).
Finally, this essay will explore and identify the
theme of being stuck and looking for or finding the way out
in Vonnegut's books written throughout his life. It will try
to show that even though each book and story is different,
the main theme is very similar, and the way out may be
there, for the characters of the particular book, for the
general character of Humanity, or perhaps for Vonnegut
himself.
Consistent biography of Kurt Vonnegut will not be
presented in this thesis. His life, however, will be
explored to some extent in order that arguments on
autobiography in Vonnegut's novels may have better
grounding.
Creating a consistent picture
It cannot be very difficult to write about the themes
of one particular book by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Certainly, an
essay written on the themes of one book would not reveal
anything the reader might not notice during his own reading.
The reason for this is the fact that Vonnegut does not leave
any mysteries in his books, but with endurance explains
himself over and over again. This usually takes the wind out
of the potential critics' sails. Kakutani, for example, is
irritated by this and writes th at what is most disturbing
about the novel Galapagos is
the author's tendency to repeatedly italicize the
moral of his story: as in most of Mr. Vonnegut's
fiction, deciphering the message is never the
reader's problem, and Galapagos is obvious enough
without our having to be told, point-blank, that
Mandarax stands for "the apple of knowledge" or
that Captain von Kleist represents the "new Adam."
(Kakutani:17)
Even though it might be pointless to discuss one book
in particular (it has been done many times already), this
essay will do something different. It will put Vonnegut's
books and stories together, identify the common themes,
merge the ideas that are expressed in various books by
Vonnegut, thus creating one consistent picture out of
fragments scattered throughout Vonnegut's works. Through
this picture it will be enabled to get deeper into the
meaning of Vonnegut's writing and maybe into the psyche of
Kurt Vonnegut himself.
Interchangeability
Characters, main or less important ones, tend to
reappear throughout Vonnegut's work. For example Eliot
Rosewater, who appears "full time" in the novel God Bless
You, Mr. Rosewater, shows up to occupy a few pages of
Slaughterhouse-Five. Diana Moon Glampers playing her
important role in the story "Harrison Bergeron", where she
destroys the world's only hope of salvation, becomes
a wretched character in God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater. Dwayne
Hoover first appears in Breakfast of Champions, then in
Deadeye Dick. Kilgore Trout, as the last example, shows up
in many novels, either as a minor or a major character
(e.g. SH5, BOC, JAI, TQK, ROS, GAL). This habit, this
tendency of reappearing characters makes Vonnegut's novels
interchangeable.
It is not only characters which are interchangeable.
There are various recurring themes (predestination and
fatalism), ideas (handicapping people in order to be equal
in "Harrison Bergeron" and Sirens of Titan) and places
(e.g. Indianapolis, Ilium). Sale notices this when he says
that what he resists in Vonnegut's books is the fact that
they
seem formulaic, made of interchangeable parts,
though this is one quality which may endear him to
others. Once Vonnegut finds what he takes to be
a successful character, motif or phrase he can't
bear to give it up, so he carries it out from novel
to novel. (Sale:3)
Though this fact may make Vonnegut's books appear to be
non-attractive to some people and interesting to others, it
can also help in creating the image of Humanity as
a character and later characterize the main theme of the
works of Kurt Vonnegut. The interchangeability makes it
possible to put the works, the themes, the characters and
the ideas together in order to form one consistent image.
Reed also sees that
the numerous recapitulations of previous themes,
resurrections of characters who have appeared
before, and recollections of earlier mentioned
incidents ... represent an attempt at integration,
an effort to bring together all that Vonnegut has
been saying about the human condition and
contemporary American society. (Reed:172-173)
The reason for the recurrence described by Reed above will
be used in this essay: to integrate and to bring together.
Certainly, there are major differences in Vonnegut's
novels, especially, they are constantly changing and
evolving through time. It would be wrong to assume that all
novels and stories can be used identically in criticism.
Vonnegut's fiction does seem to evolve, from more
sci-fi-like fiction to more autobiographical fiction. His
style evolves, his themes evolve, his characters evolve,
too.
Humanity as a character
In this essay, Humanity will be treated in the same
way as any literary critic would treat a literary character.
It is true that there are individual human characters in
Vonnegut's books, but it will be necessary to generalize
a little and deal with Humanity as one literary character
(hence the capitalization of the two words). Vonnegut
himself indirectly hints at the fact that all human beings
behave the same way and can, therefore, be considered as one
entity. It is typical of Vonnegut that he describes
something and then suddenly stops and concludes the
paragraph by a simple "and so on" or "etc." phrase. Here is
presented just one small example out of many:
In some places people would actually try to eat mud
or suck on gravel while babies were being born just
a few feet away. And so on. (BOC:13)
In Breakfast of Champions Vonnegut explains himself and his
almost obsessive usage of and-so-on's and et-cetera's. Here
he draws a part of a structure of a plastic molecule with
numerous "etc." endings. "The molecule went on and on and
on, repeating itself forever to a form of a sheet both tough
and poreless." He says that the abbreviation "etc." means
"sameness without end" and that "the proper ending for any
story about people . . . , since life is a polymer in which
the Earth is wrapped so tightly, should be that same
abbreviation." After a large drawing of an "etc." Vonnegut
continues, "And it is in order to acknowledge the continuity
of this polymer that I begin so many sentences with 'And'
and 'So' and end so many paragraphs with '...and so on"
(BOC:227-228). "It's all like celophane!" Vonnegut cries out
(BOC:228). This obviously implies, that Vonnegut considers
all human beings, without exception ("poreless"), to be of
the same nature. Therefore, Humanity can be treated like
this tough and poreless piece of plastic, like a roll of
celophane -- like one literary character.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS:
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER I: Humanity
Characteristics of Humanity
Playthings, puppets
Human life and its value
Bugs in Amber
CHAPTER II: Divinity
Characteristics of Divinity
Other Divinity characters
The Divine Father
Religion
CHAPTER III: Hero vs Villain
Hero vs. Villain
Unsuccessful Ways Out
Successful Ways Out
Humanity vs. Divinity
On meaning and purpose of life
CHAPTER IV: Vonnegut as the Hero
Fiction and Autobiography merged
Vonnegutīs amber
Vonnegutīs ways out
CONCLUSION
List of Abbreviations Used
Bibliography
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Last modified: Apr 2, 1998