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MASTER's THESIS So It Goes… 2010:008 MASTER'S THESIS So It Goes… - Fate, Destiny and Determinism in Six Kurt Vonnegut Novels Brittany Westerblom Luleå University of Technology D Master thesis English Department of Language and Culture 2010:008 - ISSN: 1402-1552 - ISRN: LTU-DUPP--10/008--SE So It Goes… Fate, Destiny and Determinism in Six Kurt Vonnegut Novels Brittany Westerblom Abstract Destiny, fate and determinism are constant themes in several of Kurt Vonnegut’s novels. His novels, while often prophetic and grim, encourage readers to examine their own lives and their own fatalistic tendencies. It is Vonnegut’s aim to influence his readers to take control of their lives and manipulate or change, not only their own destinies and fates, but that of the planet as well. This essay explores aspects of the concepts of fate, destiny and determinism in six of Kurt Vonnegut’s novels: Slaughterhouse-Five, Cat’s Cradle, God Bless You Mr. Rosewater, The Sirens of Titan, Bluebeard, and Breakfast of Champions. Part one examines the influence of fate, destiny and determinism on the individual with a focus on the extent to which characters’ lives are determined by these concepts. Part two explores the concept of the individual versus fate, destiny and determinism and to what extent the individual characters can affect their own destiny and challenge determinism, while exploring whether or not choice or free will exist. The third part of the essay looks into Vonnegut’s message. Questions concerning why he wrote about these concepts and why these are important in modern society are broached in the final section. Contents Introduction ......................................................................................................................................1 Terminology........................................................................................................................................ 3 Chapter 1: The Influence of Fate, Destiny and Determinism on the Individual.............................4 To what extent are characters’ lives determined by fate and/or destiny?............................................ 5 To what extent are characters’ lives determined by aspects of social/family determinism?............... 7 Fate/Destiny influencing the individual to a predetermined fate ...................................................... 10 Cat’s Cradle .................................................................................................................................. 10 The Sirens of Titan ........................................................................................................................ 12 Chapter 2: The Individual Versus Fate, Destiny and Determinism ..............................................15 To what extent can individual characters affect their own destiny?.................................................. 15 Can the individual fight Determinism? ............................................................................................. 19 Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................22 Works Cited......................................................................................................................................25 Primary Sources ................................................................................................................................ 25 Secondary Sources ............................................................................................................................ 25 1 Introduction Is there purpose to human history or in the life of each individual? Who or what, if anything, is in control of our fate and destinies? Why are we here? In the world of Vonnegut, these age old questions of whether a man’s will is free or constrained by underlying forces, are highlighted in many of his novels. He writes both about characters who accept their lot in life as well as on others who struggle to be freed from their pre-determined plight. Aspects of fate, determinism and destiny have always been of academic interest to critics interested in Vonnegut’s works. Some of them have interpreted the fatalistic tendencies of Vonnegut’s characters as his own resigned acceptance of the human condition. Other critics recognize Vonnegut for the postmodern writer he was and interpret his use of free will and determinism as being compatible with his position as a postmodern humanist. 1 For these critics, Vonnegut constructs a world in which human life seems predetermined and meaningless while free choice is basically illusionary. Perhaps we humans have no free will, perhaps our lives are meant to be viewed as a whole, a whole which has been played forward and backwards again and again. Could it be that our lives are predetermined, that, like Tralfamadorian books, “There is no beginning, no middle, no end, no suspense, no moral, no causes, no effects”2? Perhaps our lives should be viewed as containing many wonderful moments at once, ignoring the terrible moments. Perhaps humanity has no beginning or end or causes or effects. Vonnegut’s theme may refer back to incidents throughout his life. Kurt Vonnegut was born in 1922 to prosperous German-American parents in Indianapolis, Indiana. His youth was influenced by the anti-German backlash following the First World War, which caused his family to reject their German heritage. Additionally, the challenges and burdens of the Great Depression ruined his family’s financial basis. He enlisted in the military in 1942, after dropping out of Cornell University. Vonnegut returned home from the army one final time before being shipped to the European war front on Mother’s Day 1944. Upon his arrival home he found out that his mother had committed suicide the night prior to his arrival. That December he was captured by Germans at the Battle of the Bulge and brought to Dresden as a prisoner of war. He survived the traumatic firestorm holocaust of the Allied bombardment of Dresden in the subterranean meat locker nr. 5 of the city’s slaughter house. As an adult he 1 Bo Petterson, The World According to Kurt Vonnegut (Åbo, Finland: Åbo Akademi University Press, 1994) Jerome Klinkowitz, The Vonnegut Effect. (Columbia, SC: South Carolina Press, 2004) 2 Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five : A Duty-Dance with Death (New York: Laurel, 1991) 87. 2 suffered from mental illness and attempted suicide on numerous occasions.3 These experiences shaped Vonnegut’s views on the providence of man. Destiny, fate and determinism are constant themes in many of Kurt Vonnegut’s novels. From Billy Pilgrim in Slaughterhouse-Five and his fatalistic credo of “So it goes” when confronted with the actuality of his predetermined life, to Kilgore Trout and Dwayne Hoover and their puppet-mastered actions in Breakfast of Champions, readers of Vonnegut’s novels are exposed to a universe where free will seems to be lacking and one’s existence is orchestrated by a second party. These fatalistic tendencies are not only a comfort to Vonnegut’s characters but to his readers as well. His novels, while often prophetic and grim, encourage readers to examine their own lives and fatalistic tendencies. It is Vonnegut’s aim to influence his readers to take control of their lives and manipulate or change, not only their own destinies and fates, but that of the planet as well. This essay is comprised of three sections and will explore aspects of the concepts of fate, destiny and determinism in six of Kurt Vonnegut’s novels: Slaughterhouse-Five, Cat’s Cradle4, God Bless You Mr. Rosewater5, The Sirens of Titan6, Bluebeard7, and Breakfast of Champions8. Part one will examine the influence of fate, destiny and determinism on the individual with a focus on the extent to which characters’ lives are determined by these concepts. Part two will explore the concept of the individual versus fate, destiny and determinism and to what extent the individual characters can affect their own destiny and challenge determinism while exploring whether or not choice or free will exist. The third part of this essay will look into Vonnegut’s message. Questions concerning why he wrote about these concepts and why these are important in modern society will be broached in this final section. 3Branimir M. Rieger, Dionysus in Literature: essays on literary madness (New York: Bowling Green University Popular Press, 1994) 203. 4 Kurt Vonnegut, Cat’s Cradle (New York: The Dial Press, 2006) 5 Kurt Vonnegut, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater (New York: The Dial Press, 2006) 6 Kurt Vonnegut, The Sirens of Titan (London: Victor Gollancz Limited, 2004) 7 Kurt Vonnegut, Bluebeard (New York: The Dial Press, 2006) 8 Kurt Vonnegut, Breakfast of Champions (New York: Laurel, 1991) 3 Terminology Fate, destiny and determinism are three terms which are often used interchangeably to describe one’s predetermined future, as they all imply that one’s lot in life is dependent upon all events leading up to said moment. However these terms are not direct synonyms, each term has its own exact meaning depending on the academic context. For the purpose of this essay I will distinguish the terms using Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary9. According to their definition, fate is the will or principle or determining cause by which things in general are believed to come to be as they are, or cause events to happen as they do. This wordy definition is also used verbatim to describe destiny. However, the differing factor for the two terms is that fate denotes
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