Kurt VonnegutExploring the Human Condition

Kurt Vonnegut Jr.Born: November 11th, 1922 Birthplace: Indianapolis, IndianaServed as an infantry scout during WWIIWitnessed the bombing of Dresden as a POWMA in AnthropologyMarried twice and has seven childrenDied: April 7th, 2007Previous President of the American Humanist Association

Major Works Cat’s Cradle Slaughterhouse-Five Player Piano Breakfast of Champions The Sirens of Titan God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater Timequake A Man Without A Country

Focus Slaughterhouse-Five is a story of Billy Pilgrim, a man who has come "unstuck in

time." At any point in his life, he may find himself suddenly at another point in his past or future. Billy's experiences as an American prisoner of war in Germany during World War II are told in more or less chronological order, but these events are continually interrupted by Billy's travels to various other times in his life.

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Cat’s Cradle is a story about the book's narrator ("John") and his research to the life and work of one Felix Hoenniker, a physicist who has created the world's most deadly substance, ice-nine (water that freezes at room temperature). However, the story ultimately takes him to the fictional Caribbean island of San Lorenzo, a failed utopia where the locals practice an outlawed religion that may hold the secret to the mystery of life's purpose. http://www.answers.com/topic/slaughterhouse-five-novel-1

Elaboration• in his stories are not considered heroes or villains. In a sense they’re average people

trying to do what they think is right in a society of strange rules. Although his characters know the rules and religions of their (created) society they question their validity. Much like how Vonnegut questions the rules in his own current society. He goes on to create everyday people in his anecdotes and puts them in extraordinary circumstances where they challenge the very rules and truths that they held. Many of his stories and plots are a comparison to his owns views about humanism.

• Much of “Slaughterhouse-five” had to deal with the horrors of war and the tragedies that people had been through (PBS). Vonnegut felt that “there was nothing intelligent to say about a massacre” (NY Times) when referencing his WWII experience. The book, however, said everything about the massacre without saying anything specific. The novel deals with Billy’s experiences with death, war, life, love and his understanding of them just as the author had experienced (Vit).

• “Cat’s Cradle” is filled with references about the strangeness of religious beliefs and the destruction of the world by our own hands. Obviously the author has distinct feelings about religion and he makes it clear in Cat’s Cradle. At the opposite end Vonnegut also expresses his concerns with doomsday. He feels that mankind will inevitably destroy themselves in the end (Huber). What is also conveyed in the story is that mankind truly does not understand their purpose in this life. They do not understand that things are because they are and there is no other reason. Just be kind to one another and try to do what is right.

Awards and Decorations• 1967. Guggenheim fellow, Germany. • 1970. National Institute of Arts and

Letters grant. • 1973. L.H.D., Indiana University. • 1974. Litt.D., Hobart and William Smith

Colleges. • 1981. Literary Lion award, New York

Public Library. • 1981. Eugene V. Debs Award, Eugene V.

Debs Foundation; for public service. • 1983. Freedom to Read Award, Chicago

Public Library. • 1985. Emmy Award for Outstanding

Children's Program, National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences; for ''Displaced Persons.''

• 1986. Bronze Medallion, Guild Hall.

Works Cited• Vonnegut, Kurt. Slaughterhouse-Five. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1968. • Vonnegut, Kurt. Cat's Cradle. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1963.

• "Analysis of Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five." 19 Jul 2009 http://www.123HelpMe.com/view.asp?id=19262

• "Slaughterhouse-Five: Summary." Novels for Students. Ed. Marie Rose Napierkowski. Vol. 3.

Detroit: Gale, 1998. eNotes.com. January 2006. 19 July 2009. • http://www.enotes.com/slaughterhouse-five/summary • New York Times, March 31st, 1969http://www.nytimes.com/books/97/09/28/lifetimes/vonnegut-slaughterhouse.html?_r=1 • PBS Educational Broadcasting Corporation, March 2007http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americannovel/timeline/slaughterhousefive.html • Vit, Marek, “The Themes of Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughter House-Five” http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/4953/themes.html • Huber, Chris, Durham, NC, 1997

Magill Book Reviews: Salem Press/Magill Bookshttp://www.vonnegutweb.com/catscradle/cats_magill.html