Department of English and American Studies English

Masaryk University Faculty of Arts

Department of English and American Studies

English Language and Literature

Martina Jergová

Vonnegut’s Cradle: The United States as Reflected in Selected Novels by Kurt Vonnegut Bachelor‟s Diploma Thesis

Supervisor: doc. PhDr. Tomáš Pospíšil, Dr. 2014

I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography.

…………………………………………….. Martina Jergová

Acknowledgement I would like to thank my supervisor doc. PhDr. Tomáš Pospíšil, Dr. for his valuable advice and comments and his very helpful attitude.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction 3

1.1. Introducing Kurt Vonnegut 3

2. Slaughterhouse-Five 5

2.1 Background 5

2.2 Plot Summary and Narrator 6

2.3 Dresden 8

2.4 American Army 9

2.5 Religion 12

2.6 American Society 13

2.7 Summary 14

3. Breakfast of the Champions 15

3.1 Birthday Present 15

3.2 Symbols of the United States 15

3.3 American Society 17

3.4 Race 21

3.5 Summary 22

4. Hocus Pocus 23

4.1 Narrator and the Plot Summary 23

4.2 Vietnam War 24

4.3 Conditions in 1980s America 28

4.4 Summary 31

5. Jailbird 32

5.1. Narrator and the Plot Summary 32

5.2. Sacco and Vanzetti – Story of Immigrants in 1920s America 32

5.3. Richard M. Nixon and the Watergate Scandal 35

5.4. Summary 36

6. Conclusion 38

7. Works Used and Cited 39

8. Czech Resume 42

9. English Resume 43

1. INTRODUCTION

Kurt Vonnegut said he was „a man without a country‟. This thesis analyzes this statement and his attitude towards the United States of America in general. Analyzing his novels, namely Slaughterhouse-Five (1969), Breakfast of Champions (1973),

Jailbird (1979), and Hocus Pocus (1990),1 the thesis will show how Vonnegut perceived his native country, its people, culture, and politics. The choice of books is based on their content, since they concern various events in the history of the United

States, such as the Vietnam War, the Second World War, the Watergate Scandal, and the Great Depression, as well as the American politicians and ordinary citizens.

Therefore, these books contain lots of information about the United States and

Vonnegut‟s reflections of it. Focus is given to particular characters, plots, and depictions in the novels dealing with America in some way. The aim is to observe

Vonnegut‟s perception of the United States and how it was changing through the years.

The reason that led me to choose this particular topic and author is the fact that I can identify myself with Vonnegut‟s attitude toward life, his ideas and worldview, such as is his humanistic view of life. Prior to starting the analysis of the selected novels, however, I believe it is useful to write a few words about Kurt Vonnegut, which may contribute to a better understanding of his attitudes.

1.1. Introducing Kurt Vonnegut

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. was born in 1922 in Indianapolis, Indiana. When he was 7 years old, the Great Depression in the United States started. He watched his father, a talented architect, losing commissions day by day. Young Vonnegut wanted to be an artist, too,

1 Due to the space limitations it is not possible to analyze also other novels. Therefore, because of this selection, this thesis cannot include Vonnegut‟s famous novels such as Cat’s Cradle, which inspired the title of this thesis 3

preferably an architect, and be part of the family firm, but his father warned him away from any kind of arts, because he found them a useless way of producing money during the Depression; hence Vonnegut majored in chemistry (Man Without a Country 15).

This knowledge, however, turned to be an advantage, since „most fine American authors know nothing about technology‟ (MWaC 16) and thanks to that he was able to write about various fictional chemical substances and technical devices, such as the substance ice-nine in Cat’s Cradle, which at the end turns to be a weapon to destroy the whole earth, and which made the novel different and more interesting.

On Mother‟s Day in 1944, his mother killed herself with sleeping pills. The same year he was captured by Germans at the Battle of the Bulge, the bloodiest battle of the Second World War for American troops (Miller 358), taken prisoner of war, and a year later he survived the massive firebombing of Dresden, witnessing deaths of more than 20,000 people, mostly civilians (Neutzner 70). These tragedies have more or less influenced Vonnegut‟s writing, even though he said that „the importance of Dresden in my life has been considerably exaggerated because my book about it became a best seller‟ (Conversations with KV).

When another death occurred within his close family – his father passed away – he dropped the „Jr.‟ from his name, which is why he will simply be referred to as Kurt

Vonnegut throughout this thesis. However, this family name he inherited indicates that

Vonnegut, despite being born in the United States, has German ancestry.2 Thus, he was

„identified with his German heritage‟ (Krasny), which allowed him to write about the

2 The family name has its origins in an estate by the River Funne in Germany owned by Vonnegut‟s forebears. German „ein Gut‟ means an estate, thus derived surname „FunneGut‟ indicates an estate by the river Funne. In English it sounded more like a „funny gut‟, therefore Vonnegut‟s great-grandfather decided to change it to „Vonnegut‟ to be better accepted by American society. (Shields 418)

destruction of Dresden, the major theme of Slaughterhouse-Five, from the both the

Allies‟ and the Germans‟ point of view. He did not write this best-seller until more than

20 years afterwards. In 1951, he quit his job at General Electric which he disliked so much (Conversations with KV) and he began to write short stories to support his family.

Later he started to publish his first novels such as Player Piano and The Sirens of Titan, other short stories and even plays. Nevertheless, Slaughterhouse-Five remains his most influential and famous work, which is why this thesis begins with the analysis of this novel.

2. SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE

2.1. Background

Kurt Vonnegut would be probably disappointed if the whole title of the book was not mentioned here, since the original name of the novel in fact expresses Vonnegut‟s opinion on every war and his bitterness of the unnecessary deaths of countless young people. He explains his choice of „Slaughterhouse-Five, or The Children’s Crusade: A

Duty-Dance with Death’ at the beginning of the novel, when his friend‟s wife expresses her disapproval of all the war stories that make soldiers look like heroes and great men, but who just „pretend to be men instead of babies…and war will look just wonderful, so we‟ll have a lot more of them‟ (SF 12). Vonnegut promised her he would call the book

„The Children’s Crusade’, comparing this disastrous march of Christian children, majority of whom ended up in slavery or dead, to the World War II, the firebombing of

Dresden, wars, and violence in general.

2.2. Plot Summary and Narrator

The story of Slaughterhouse-Five basically describes Billy Pilgrim‟s life, from his youth at the Battle of the Bulge, his becoming a POW, his marriage, nervous breakdown which sent him to hospital and his mind-traveling in time. Vonnegut, however, put the priority on the characters, which are allegorical (Krasny), such as the protagonist of the book, Billy Pilgrim. Despite the fact that he and Vonnegut have many things in common and at the first sight it may seem he in fact is Kurt Vonnegut, it is not so.

Rather he is something like his alter ego. The difference between the two can be seen when comparing their wives; Jane Cox, Vonnegut‟s wife, was his childhood sweetheart

(„Kurt Vonnegut's 'Homesick' Letter To His Wife‟), while Billy „didn't want to marry ugly Valencia. She was one of the symptoms of his disease. He knew he was going crazy, when he heard himself proposing marriage to her‟ (SF 88). Furthermore,

Valencia in the novel died, while Jane Cox was still alive when Vonnegut wrote the novel. Speaking about their education, Vonnegut majored in chemistry and was awarded a master‟s degree in anthropology, whereas Billy spent only six months at college, which was not even a regular one; but a night school of optometry (SF 31). Not to mention that at the end of the book Billy is assassinated with a laser gun.

It is important to say that even though Vonnegut seems to be the narrator of the whole story, it is not so, either. In the first and the final chapter, it is undeniably

Vonnegut who narrates. The first chapter includes Vonnegut‟s statement about writing the book, „I would hate to tell you what this lousy little book cost me in money and anxiety and time. When I got home from the Second World War twenty-three years ago,

I thought it would be easy for me to write about the destruction of Dresden…‟ (SF 2), which indicates that Vonnegut himself addresses to the reader and he is going to talk about his own experiences from Dresden and World War II. He also describes the way he used crayon during the writing process and how his friend‟s wife influenced the title

of the book. The final chapter recapitulates the whole story and Vonnegut mentions there assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, but still there is Billy

Pilgrim, who together with Vonnegut and his war buddy O‟Hare returns to Dresden two days after the bombing. Therefore, it cannot be unequivocally decided who is the narrator in the rest of the book, excluding the first chapter. Literary critics, however, most often claim it is „told by an impersonal narrator‟ (Loeb 10), or that it is „the novel by the author-as-character within the novel by Vonnegut the author‟ (Harris 230), or the most suitable opinion of Bo Petterson, that „the novel is simply an innovative mix of autobiography and fiction‟ (Petterson 237).

Nevertheless, even though Vonnegut is not the narrator and the story is rather told by an impersonal narrator, whom Vonnegut created in order „to gain some distance to a painful subject‟ (Loeb 13), his presence is still there and from the comments of the implied narrator and Billy‟s story of life, some thoughts and opinions on what happened can be derived. Particularly on war events that both Billy and Vonnegut experienced, that is US Army Air Force destroying mostly peaceful German city, US government sending young American boys to fight, duty of the American prisoners of war to bury hundreds of bodies after the Dresden firebombing, or US Army in general.

2.3. Dresden

Firebombing of the city known as „Florence of the Elbe‟ which Vonnegut witnessed in

1945 became the central theme of Slaughterhouse-Five. Vonnegut describes Dresden as

„the loveliest city that most of the Americans had ever seen...It looked like a Sunday school picture of Heaven to Billy‟ (SF 122). According to Monica Loeb, these positive descriptions of the city emphasize how tragic it was to bomb Dresden, „the Allied bombing is made to seem ridiculous, unnecessary and cruel‟ (Loeb 78). Therefore, it is clear that Vonnegut was not fond of the American decision to attack Dresden, that he was not proud of it.

After this terrifying firebombing, US fighter planes „came in under the smoke to see if anything was moving‟ (SF 148). If they happened to see anything, the planes

„sprayed them with machine-gun bullets‟. American fighters were killing every living creature that managed to survive the bombing of Dresden, cultural landmark with only little military significance (Addison 194). Bombing of Dresden happened just a few months before the end of the Second World War, when the result of was more or less clear. Vonnegut comments on it with a sarcastic remark, „the idea was to hasten the end of the war‟ (SF 148).

What is interesting is the fact that in A Man Without a Country Vonnegut states that the bombing of Dresden was „a British atrocity, not ours‟ (MWaC 17), which seems as if he somehow wanted to defend the United States. He considered himself a man without a country, he distanced himself from the United States and therefore he should not have cared whether it was primarily British or American fault, because it was people in general who were responsible for that. But here he stands at the side of the United

States, which shows he did not distance himself from his native country entirely.

2.4. American Army

To analyze Vonnegut‟s view of the US Army as reflected in Slaughterhouse-Five, it is essential to take a look at such issues as is physical and mental state of American prisoners of war, their perception by the civilians, and Billy Pilgrim as a character particularly. After that it will be possible to see Vonnegut‟s attitude towards the themes of America and war.

Early in the novel, Billy Pilgrim served as a chaplain‟s assistant during the

World War II. This position is described as „customarily a figure of fun in the American

Army‟ (SF 31). Besides this, Billy plays the main part in many other comical or absurd scenes in the book; his silly dancing with the barbed-wire fence (SF 101); a scene where he was taken prisoner of war and he got the coat that was „so small, that it appeared to be not a coat but a sort of large black, three-cornered hat. There were gummy stains on it, too, like crankcase drainings or old strawberry jam. There seemed to be a dead, furry animal frozen to it. The animal was in fact the coat's fur collar‟ (SF 67). Billy himself was ridiculous in appearance – „Billy was preposterous…with a chest and shoulders like a box of kitchen matches. He had no helmet, no overcoat, no weapon and no boots. On his feet were cheap, low-cut civilian shoes which he had bought for his father's funeral.

Billy had lost a heel, which made him bob up-and-down, up-and-down…he didn‟t look like a soldier at all. He looked like a filthy flamingo.‟ (SF 27). That is, Vonnegut made the protagonist of his novel seem comical and not very serious. Billy does not care about many things, he is mostly indifferent to his life, too. It is supposed to show what impact the Second World War had on Billy, which is mainly him losing his right mind

(because of what he married ugly Valencia, for instance) and, influenced by the

Tralfamadorians, he starts to travel in time in his mind. Tralfamadorians are aliens who are able to travel in time to any moment to the past or to the future. Therefore, it is

irrelevant whether a person is dead or alive, when Tralfamadorians see someone dead they know that person is just fine in another moment, so there is no reason to feel sad.

Due to Billy‟s trauma and the posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) caused by the war, no matter if he travels to the future or to the past, his memories always bring him back to the war, and he goes through those horrors once again. According to Batschke, „ever since the war, Billy‟s whole life had been tainted... He could not think of a happy memory, without at some point thinking of the war. His whole past had been ruined...

Kilgore Trout and the Traflamadorians helped make his life easier.‟ Because of the

Second World War, Billy started to believe in unreal things and his mind went wrong.

Vonnegut uses this character to show negative effects of the war on those who are sent there, and his disapproval of the fact that young American men were recruited and sent to war against their will. Vonnegut, however, came to the military service voluntarily in

1943, after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor (Smith 5). This also contradicts with his statement that he was „a man without a country‟, since he decided to defend the United

States as a soldier and risk his own life for the country where he was born.

Nevertheless, he made this statement years after he volunteered to the army, so it is obvious that as he got older his perception of the United States changed. As a young man, despite being a pacifist, Vonnegut wanted to fight for his country, when he grew older and when the United States were led by politicians whom Vonnegut disliked –

George W. Bush may serve as a good example3 – he distanced himself from the United

States.

Billy Pilgrim is not the only character in Slaughterhouse-Five who is negatively affected by the war, other American POWs are spiritless and pessimistic, too. „There are almost no characters in this story, and almost no dramatic confrontations, because most

3 Vonnegut mentions his disapproval of George W. Bush in his autobiographical novel/essay collection A Man Without a Country (p. 40, 97, 99, 106), in his 2007 interview A Man Without a Country, and in various other speeches/texts 10

of the people in it are so sick and so much the listless playthings of enormous forces.

One of the main effects of war, after all, is that people are discouraged from being characters‟ (SF 134). Vonnegut describes these spiritless American soldiers as „light opera‟, providing fun for Dresdeners as they march through the streets of the city. Billy, in his „blue toga and silver shoes‟ led the parade. There were others, such as Paul

Lazzaro, „with a broken arm and fizzing with rabies‟, and Edgar Derby, poor old high school teacher, „mournfully pregnant with patriotism and middle age and imaginary wisdom‟ (SF123). It was Edgar Derby who was opposing Howard W. Campbell, Jr., an

American who had become a Nazi, when he was telling them, the POWs, that they should be more nationalist and fight the Communists. In spite of being sleepy and exhausted after working at the factory, poor old Edgar Derby „was a character now.‟ He

„raised his head, called Campbell a snake. He corrected that. He said that snakes couldn't help being snakes, and that Campbell, who could help being what he was, was something much lower than a snake or a rat-or even a blood-filled tick.‟ (SF 135).

Vonnegut wrote that Derby became a character when he did that, therefore indicates that it was something right to do, to oppose too determined nationalist. Derby is patriotic and defends and opportunities and fair play for all‟, but does not agree with the idea of

American Nazism. Since Vonnegut describes him as a rather positive character, it can be concluded that Vonnegut identifies with him and that he, too, opposes such radical nationalism, while still honoring American ideals.

Towards the end of the book, Vonnegut quotes President Truman and his letter announcing to the world that the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima

(SF 152). Vonnegut quotes the most vehement parts of the speech, such as „That bomb had more power than 20,000 tons of T.N.T. It had more than two thousand times the blast power of the British 'Grand Slam' which is the largest bomb ever yet used in the

history of warfare. The Japanese began the war from the air at Pearl Harbor. They have been repaid many-fold. And the end is not yet‟ (SF 153), and „We are now prepared to obliterate more rapidly and completely every productive enterprise the Japanese have above ground in any city. We shall destroy their docks, their factories and their communications. Let there be no mistake; we shall completely destroy Japan's power to make war‟ (SF 153). Vonnegut chose these powerful sections in order to emphasize the horrors and ugliness of war (Loeb 79). It is obvious that Vonnegut disapproves with this

American disastrous attack and does not share President Truman‟s enthusiasm about the atomic bombing.

2.5. Religion

Vonnegut is known to had been a humanist, as he said, „My parents and grandparents were humanists, what used to be called Free Thinkers. So as a humanist I am honoring my ancestors, which the Bible says is a good thing to do. We humanists try to behave as decently, as fairly, and as honorably as we can without any expectation of rewards or punishments in an afterlife‟ (MWaC 79). He also said that he is not rebelling against any organized religion and that he „never had any‟ (Conversations with KV).

This Vonnegut‟s approach to religion is reflected also in Slaughterhouse-Five. In one of his science fiction stories, Kilgore Trout – character that appears in many other

Vonnegut‟s stories – writes about the visitor from outer space who came to make a study of Christianity (SF 89). What he finds out, however, is that Gospels did not teach people to be merciful, they taught this: „Before you kill somebody, make absolutely sure he isn't well connected‟ (SF 89).

Another Kilgore Trout novel tells about a man who built a time machine and travels back in time, in order to see Jesus (SF 166). He wanted to get to know whether

Jesus had really died on the cross. Using a tool from the future, stethoscope, the man furtively listen to Jesus‟ heart, „the Son of God was dead as a doornail‟ (167).

Billy‟s position of chaplain‟s assistant can be mentioned again in this context.

As already said before, it was usually someone to make fun of. This does not contribute to positive perceiving of religion as to the Vonnegut‟s point of view, either.

The importance of analyzing also the theme of religion in this novel is that even today, forty-five years after publishing Slaughterhouse-Five, the majority of Americans is religious and believe in God.4 Vonnegut, as an atheist, thus, differed from his fellow citizens. However, he does not say whether this feature of the majority of Americans bothers or troubles him, so it is probable that this fact did not change his perception of the United States in any major sense.

2.6. American Society

Vonnegut‟s books are typically populated by a range of different characters. That gives a fine opportunity to analyze the American society, relations between people, and relationships within a family.

Billy Pilgrim‟s mother serves as an example of an ordinary person from the middle-class. Despite being mentioned only a little, her nature can be seen from her behavior and priorities, such as when Billy married Valencia, rich and ugly girl whom no one else would ever marry. She only cared for his material profits from the marriage, saying that „The Pilgrims are coming up in the world‟ (SF 97). She also seemed as if

4 According to the American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS) from 2008, 76% of the American adult population identified themselves as Christians 13

she did not know what to do with her life, so „like so many Americans, she was trying to construct a life that made sense from things she found in gift shops‟ (SF 31). This means she simply went to gift shops and bought something which she thought would give some meaning to her life. According to Loeb, „This is a sharp statement on

Americans in general revealing a spiritual void filled with bric-à-brac‟ (SF 61). Thus, through her Vonnegut points out poor spiritual life of the middle-class Americans.

Besides, when she came to see Billy in hospital, he always covered his head with his blanket, because he was feeling „embarrassed and ungrateful and weak because she had gone to so much trouble to give him life, and to keep that life going, and Billy didn‟t really like life at all‟ (SF 83). Perhaps it was the idea that life is so meaningless and that people are satisfied only with buying things from gift shops that made Billy so depressed about his existence, and also that middle-class parents felt they had to provide their kids with everything they had, not realizing their children might have different attitudes to life and want different things. Through their relationship Vonnegut criticizes middle-class society and their priorities, the differences caused by the generation gap, and the trouble it brings.

2.7. Summary

Slaughterhouse-Five reflects Kurt Vonnegut‟s perception of the United States through his view of war, army, religion, and society. Although in the novel he satirizes

Christianity, the major American religion, and American middle-class, too, Vonnegut voluntarily fought for the United States in the Second World War, which he also describes in the book; therefore it is clear that back then he did not consider himself „a man without a country.‟

3. BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS

3.1. Birthday Present

Published in 1973, Breakfast of Champions, or Goodbye Blue Monday is a birthday present from Vonnegut to himself as his fiftieth year on Earth approached. The book tells a story of two old men – a science-fiction writer Kilgore Trout and an automobile dealer „on the brink of going insane‟ Dwayne Hoover – and what impact they had on each other towards the end of their lives, when they thought nothing exciting would happen anymore. Vonnegut includes his own drawings, which are simple and rough, but also accurate, amusing, and kind of childish. That is why some reviewers criticize

Vonnegut for not writing appropriately to his age. He earned criticism for swearing in the novel, too. Breakfast of Champions is partly autobiographical, therefore Vonnegut‟s opinions and attitudes can be seen clearly, not disguised by any characters. In the interview from 1973 he stated that „as I get older, I get more didactic. I say what I really think. I don‟t hide ideas like Easter eggs for people to find‟ (Conversations with KV).

Popularity of the book led to a film adaptation, but since the story is so complex, tangled, and absurd, it is only understandable that the film version cannot be a considerable success. Breakfast of Champions, filmed in 1999 and staring such popular actors as Bruce Willis was rather a failure5, so it is better idea to stick to the book.

3.2. Symbols of the United States

From the very beginning of the novel, Vonnegut comments on various American symbols – anthem, flag, the Statue of Liberty – and writes about such issues as education and settlement of the United States. The Star-Spangled Banner is called „pure

5 According to International Movie Database (IMDb) 15

balderdash‟ (BofC 8), and the only national anthem that was „gibberish sprinkled with question marks‟ (BofC 8). Then it is flag‟s turn, when Vonnegut points out that flag- dipping, that is „a form of friendly and respectful salute‟ was prohibited by the state law

(BofC 9). He makes a remark about American paper money, which besides „lot of baroque trash‟ (BofC 9) shows a picture of „truncated pyramid with a radiant eye on top of it‟ (BofC 9). He supplies his own picture of it. Vonnegut enables the reader to see what such pyramid looks like, then allows him/her to see his sharp opinion of what it meant, what it was all about, which was this: „not even the President of the United

States knew what that was all about‟, and that it seemed as if national motto was „In nonsense is strength‟ (BofC 10). Speaking about the Statue of Liberty and the beacon supposed to symbolize freedom, in Breakfast of Champions it is simply liken to „sort of an ice-cream cone on fire‟ (BofC 11). Taken into consideration that it is Vonnegut himself who says these words, that these are directly his thoughts and opinions, it is quite clear that his attitude towards above mentioned symbols is not very positive. He does not consider them valuable or important – the flag-dipping is absurd, anthem is too questioning, and pictures on paper money without deeper meaning – or at least he assumes that it is not that much about symbols themselves, rather than about behaving according to what they symbolize, that is freedom and equality for all.

As to the settlement of America, Vonnegut accuses teachers of telling the children that 1492 was a year when human beings discovered American continent, while it was only the year when „sea pirates began to cheat and rob and kill‟ (BofC 10) human beings already living there. These sea pirates – white people from Europe – were later responsible for the creation of the new government and were owners of human slaves. This of course brings up the theme of race, which will be analyzed later in separate section. Moreover, the colonizers are not praised as heroes and great men,

rather they are described as being „meaner than anybody else‟ and that they astonished people with how „heartless and greedy they were‟ (BofC 12). It is hard to sense any pride in Vonnegut‟s words.

Vonnegut then depicts the United States as „by far the richest and most powerful country on the planet...it disciplined other countries by threatening to shoot big rockets at them or to drop things on them from airplanes‟ (BofC 12). Even though he writes that the United States are strong and powerful, the novel is set in 1972, when, according to

Klinkowitz, America was „polluted, wasted of its resources, covered in industrial detritus and filled with agonized lonely existences‟ (Klinkowitz 70). Thus, the fact that

America was a very influential superpower and could threaten other countries does not mean everything was perfect there. More likely, it seems that Vonnegut links America‟s need to show its power to the world with its unsatisfactory and miserable condition.

3.3. American Society

Breakfast of Champions tells the story of two men –wealthy owner of a car dealership

Dwayne Hoover, and rather unsuccessful science-fiction writer Kilgore Trout.

However, Dwayne is becoming insane, while Kilgore eventually earns his fame and appreciation. Thus, the feature of a society based on happiness and wealth could be analyzed here. Nevertheless, instead of dealing with this rather common question, the focus will be given to more specific aspects of the American society.

In keeping with the direct expressing of his thoughts, Vonnegut speaks about the possession of guns by the citizens of the United States. He speaks about the ability of every American to own a gun, that they could easily „get one down at their local hardware store‟ (BofC 50). Vonnegut describes guns simply as tools with only one

purpose – to make holes in human beings. „Sometimes a wife would get so mad at her husband that she would put a hole in him with a gun. Sometimes a husband would get so mad at his wife that he would put a hole in her. And so on.‟ (BofC 50). From the simplicity of the sentences Vonnegut uses it can be recognized how easy it indeed was to kill someone, and that it was indeed often happening. Vonnegut points out that such unrestricted access to guns as citizens of (not only) the United States had is not very reasonable solution, but rather a dangerous one.

In chapter 4, Dwayne Hoover held one of these easily obtainable guns dangerously close to his brains. At the last moment, he changed his mind and instead of shooting himself he shot up his tiled bathroom, but nobody heard that. No one would heard if he had shot himself, either. In the United States, people were living isolated from their neighbors by thick walls of their houses. „All the houses in the neighborhood were too well insulated for sound ever to get in or out‟ (BofC 52). It is hard to believe that people living in such isolated houses were truly happy and content with their lives.

In his 1973 interview, Vonnegut speaks about the importance of living within a community, „People don‟t live in communities permanently anymore. But they should:

Communities are very comforting to human beings‟ (Conversations). His concern about the Americans is evident, „I would like there to be ancestral homes for all Americans somewhere‟ (Conversations), and his idea of giving all the Americans a middle name and thus placing them into various extended families – so that everyone would have a relative to go to when in trouble – shows his interest in the well-being of the citizens of his native country.

Further, Vonnegut points out another defect of the American society, which is an expensive health care – „one of the most expensive things a person could do was get sick‟ (BofC 136). Everyone was supposed to pay his own hospital bills which

Vonnegut, as a socialist, considers a major deficiency, supporting the idea that everyone deserves equal treatment and rights, and so that health insurance should be affordable for all American citizens. As it happened, young waitress named Patty Keene needed a large amount of money to pay for her father‟s doctors‟ bills and she knew that wealthy

Dwayne Hoover could solve all her financial problems. Vonnegut here states that she was acting „stupid on purpose, which was the case with most women in Midland City6‟

(BofC 136). Along with the idea of comparing people to machines, which appears throughout the whole novel, women are just „agreeing machines‟ since thinking was not beneficial to them at all. Moreover, Patty, as well as Dwayne and everyone else, spoke in short sentences with simple words, afraid of making mistakes. This was the result of their education and strict English teachers who „would wince and cover their ears and give them flunking grades and so on whenever they failed to speak like English aristocrats before the First World War‟ (BofC 138). The teachers were also telling them they had to read poems and novels which were very old and usually incomprehensible for ordinary people in Midland City. Besides this criticism of education, Vonnegut speaks about literature and he explains why Americans behaved the way they did and why he decided to shun storytelling. He says that his countrymen were behaving so detestably only because „they were doing their best to live like people invented in story books‟ (BofC 210) and bringing back the topic of guns, Americans shot each other so often because it was „convenient literary device for ending short stories and books‟

(BofC 210). People in the United States were thus, according to Vonnegut, very much influenced by the fictional stories they were reading. Government of the United States, too, writes Vonnegut, treated its citizens so neglectfully because that was the way authors treated some characters in their stories. Since Vonnegut did not want his fellow

6 Fictional city where most of the story of Breakfast of Champions takes place 19

citizens to kill themselves just so they would live according to a made-up story, and to be treated more appropriately by the government, he „resolved to shun storytelling‟. In his own words, it was only making the United States „dangerous, unhappy nation of people who had nothing to do with real life‟ (BofC 210), anyway.

Breakfast of Champions does not exclude the topic of war, either. Despite the fact that Vonnegut mentions wars here only a little, he clearly indicates that neither the

Civil War nor the US involvement in the Vietnam War brought any benefits. In the case of the first one, he says that its end „frustrated the white people in the North, who won it, in a way which has never been acknowledged before‟ (BofC 246). Speaking about the latter one, Vonnegut describes Vietnam and the United States‟ effort to stop the domino effect in Asia in the simplest way possible, „Viet Nam was a country where

America was trying to make people stop being communists by dropping things on them from airplanes‟ (BofC 86). In the conversation between Kilgore Trout and the truck driver, the driver says that when the United States are bombing Vietnam, they are in fact

„committing suicide‟ and, referring to the increasing amount of roads, cars, and fumes, which will turn the atmosphere into „poison gas‟ he adds that „it seems like the only kind of job an American can get these days is committing suicide in some way‟ (BofC

86). Trout, who is often compared to Vonnegut himself7 in some aspects, thinks it is a

„good point‟. Vonnegut‟s contempt of the American involvement in Vietnam, which is reflected in his novels, even caused his problems with consummation of alcohol, „I was getting morbidly depressed about such things as the Vietnam War and other events on earth. A doctor told me he thought heavy drinking might have something to do with it.

7 Trout, in earlier novels, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater and Slaughterhouse-Five is just an unknown, unsuccessful writer, only in Breakfast he is recognized as a genius. According to Klinkowitz, „What happens to Kilgore Trout in Breakfast of Champions, then, is much like what has transpired in KV‟s own professional life during the years of its composition‟ (Vonnegut in Fact 118), and also that most of what KV has put into Trout is „an image of Vonnegut himself, including judgements, fears and aspirations‟ (Vonnegut in Fact 118) 20

So I stopped.‟ (Noble interview 1972). The issue of Vietnam War will be further analyzed within Hocus Pocus section.

3.4. Race

Right at the beginning of the book Vonnegut states that „color was everything‟, that „the sea pirates were white. The people who were already on the continent when the pirates arrived were copper-colored. When slavery was introduced onto the continent, the slaves were black‟ (BofC 11). Skin color seems to be an important human feature in the story, since Vonnegut uses it to point out persisting racism in the United States. The novel shows how African-Americans were compared to animals and machines and what was their position in society.

The comparison of humans to the machines can be seen throughout the whole novel, but black people are linked to machines even more than the others. When

Dwayne Hoover asked a white workman about a machine for digging cellar holes, he told him he did not know how many horsepower drove the machine, but that they called it „The Hundred-Nigger Machine‟ (BofC 146). This links back to the times of slavery, when the black people did most of the work such as digging, and Vonnegut also indicates that there are white men who – in 1972 – still consider them inferior race.

Vonnegut‟s anti-racism can be seen in even more radical example, when

African-Americans are compared to animals, namely reindeers. In their conversation, sales manager at Dwayne‟s agency, Harry, is asking his wife about their African-

American maid, whether she, „the reindeer‟, can hear them. „Fuck the reindeer...No, the reindeer cannot hear‟ (BofC 164), she replies. Thus, not only are they compared to the animals, but the whites‟ attitude is reinforced by their negative attitude in conversations

and in general. Through this almost absurd hyperbole Vonnegut ridicules and condemns racism in America.

3.5. Summary

Breakfast of Champions reflects Vonnegut‟s ideas as he got older and more experienced about the world. It is understandable that these ideas are perhaps more realistic, or one could say more radical. Nevertheless, besides his usual commenting on the flaws in the

US society and politics from the settlement of the United States to the health care and guns, Vonnegut shows his concern about his fellow citizens. After all, he „resolved to shun storytelling‟ in order to prevent American citizens from living according to characters in novels and eventually killing themselves.

4. HOCUS POCUS

4.1. Narrator and the Plot Summary

One of the Vonnegut‟s last novels, written in 1990, takes place eleven years ahead, in

2001. Similarly to Vonnegut‟s other novels, Hocus Pocus is a retrospective first-person narrative with several time and story lines which converge as the book progresses. The narrator, Eugene Debs Hartke, is a Vietnam veteran and he writes the memoir about his life. Vonnegut serves here as a mere editor of the text; instead of an autobiographical preface, he writes the „Editor‟s Note‟ in which he describes various circumstances of the author‟s narrating, such as the reason why the author initially wrote the book on the small pieces of paper or why he capitalized certain words. Moreover, Hartke‟s confessional tone seen throughout the novel „suggests Vonnegut‟s continued devotion to the kind of realism‟, found also in Jailbird, Breakfast of Champions, and other

Vonnegut‟s books (Davis 127).

Very similarly to Vonnegut‟s youth, Hartke is as a boy sent to West Point, despite his preference to study journalism. His father wanted him to join the army

„because he needed to brighten his family‟s image‟ (Petterson 136) after they had cheated in the Science Fair. It is worth noticing that fighting in a war was a tool to make a family more likeable or popular in the American society, those who fought in a war were automatically treated with more respect and admiration, almost like heroes. It was an opportunity to have something to „boast about which would impress our simple- minded neighbors‟ (HP 2). At the West Point he became perfectly skilled for a war.

Later, when he came back from Vietnam, he began to teach at Tarkington College8, „a gentle institution that specializes in nurturing the dyslexic and moronic sons and

8 Tarkington College seems to be a substitution for the Culver Military Academy at Lake Maxincuckee where Vonnegut‟s father wanted to send him (Broer 183) 23

daughters of the ruling class‟ (McIreney), but was dismissed as a result of his un-

American teaching. He soon found a place at the state prison just across the lake from the college. After the accusation of planning the jailbreak he is dismissed and eventually imprisoned.

As was already said, Vonnegut is only the editor of the story, not the narrator.

Nevertheless, as Klinkowitz says, „Hartke survives as an able spokesman for

Vonnegut‟s point of view‟ (The Vonnegut Effect 148). Besides this there are certain similarities between Vonnegut and the narrator of the story. They both had to obey their father as to the choice of the university, they fought in a war, and they both were for a certain period of their lives teachers. Vonnegut, same as Hartke, spoke out his controversial and deconstructive ideas – perhaps rather than as a teacher he expressed them in his essays and novels, though – and because of that he got into trouble with some conservatives, too.

One of the major topics in the novel is doubtlessly the Vietnam War and its legacy. It reflects the struggle of the Vietnam veterans to return to the normal life after the war – the war hated by all Americans. As Klinkowitz puts it, „Veterans were finding it increasingly hard to fit into a society that had been ambivalent about the war at best, if not entirely opposed to it‟ (KV‟s America 103). One such veteran is Eugene Debs

Hartke.

4.2. Vietnam War

„The only war we [the Americans] had‟, as the Vietnam War is sometimes referred to9, in Hocus Pocus gets several unpleasant attributes. When Hartke explains his firing from

9 Nickname that appeared in the title of the book by Michael Lee Lanning The Only War We Had: A Platoon Leader’s Journal of Vietnam 24

the Tarkington, he contributes it to the fact that he had „ugly, personal knowledge of the disgrace that was the Vietnam War‟ (HP 82). This war is also called „one big hallucination‟ (HP 67) and its end was „abrupt and humiliating and dishonorable‟ (HP

2).

Even though Vonnegut did not fight in Vietnam, he transfers his experience from the Second World War „in terms understandable to the current Vietnam War times‟ (Vonnegut in Fact 130). Klinkowitz also suggests that there is a remarkable similarity between Slaughterhouse-Five and its seek to grasp unspeakable nature of

Dresden, and Hocus Pocus, distinctive with its struggle with the legacy of Vietnam. The main issue Vonnegut deals with is morality, or rather immorality of the war, and the fact that people got used to come up with various excuses to justify the killing. Therefore,

Hartke explains, while the Second World War was a good war, a justified one, the war against the evil – „civilians and soldiers alike, even the little children, were proud to have played a part in it‟ (HP 138) – Vietnam War was perceived as the war that

„belongs exclusively to those of us who fought in it…We alone are stupid and dirty, having fought such a war. When we lost, it served us right for ever having started it‟

(HP 138). However, from novels such as Slaughterhouse-Five and various Vonnegut‟s interviews, it is clear that he stood against wars, so he obviously was not „proud‟ to be part of it.10 Through this hyperbole, that everyone liked the Second World War, though,

Vonnegut shows that the war in Vietnam was considerably worse than the one before and that the US involvement in it is more than questionable.

The interesting fact is that even though through the years there has been a debate about whether the Vietnam War was a success or a failure, whether the United States won or lost, Hartke, as Vonnegut‟s spokesman, simply considers the war lost. „In 1975,

10 Nevertheless, he stated that his major objections are against the aerial warfare, „I'm pigheaded about the difference between the Air Force and the Infantry. I like the Infantry. If there were another war, and if I were young enough, and if it were a just war, I'd be in the Infantry again‟ (Conversations with Vonnegut) 25

I was a Lieutenant Colonel on the roof of the American Embassy in Saigon, keeping everybody but Americans off helicopters that were ferrying badly rattled people out to ships offshore. We had lost a war!‟ (HP 37). Vonnegut himself said in his 1969 interview that „the suggestion of declaring a victory in Vietnam and withdrawing is charming,…I'd simply get out.‟ (Conversations with KV), and that the United States hereby lost their honor. His opinion about the result of the war therefore differs from the one of the US leaders of that time, such as President Nixon. Nixon, who promised to end the war as soon as possible, managed to gradually withdraw all the American soldiers from Vietnam, thus keeping the promise of ending the war, but it can hardly be called a victory since the United States did not succeed in preventing Soviet expansion and neither in spreading democracy. When asked about his opinion of Nixon, however,

Vonnegut‟s words are not exclusively contemptuous, „I don't think he's evil. But I think he dislikes the American people, and this depresses us‟ (Conversations with KV).

Affected by the Vietnam War (along with his other life events), Eugene Debs

Hartke writes his memoir „in an attempt to make some sense of it all, to assuage the guilt of his country‟s and his own unethical and inhumane actions‟ (Davis 127). He counted that there is exactly the same number of people who he has killed and of women he has slept with. After resolving Vonnegut‟s mathematical question at the very end of the book the reader finds out it is 82. Hartke manages to find a justification for his actions, for all that killing, and here is where Vonnegut tells us that it is exactly what we should be beware of, all those inhumane and immoral actions – such as was the

Vietnam War – that people in present days are doing. As Davis formulates it, „rather than accept defeat, Hocus Pocus calls attention to the rhetorical strategies, the „lethal hocus pocus,‟‟ often used to justify our inhumane acts‟ (127).

Unpopularity and kind of irrelevance of the Vietnam War is also reflected in a scene when Hartke‟s student Bruce tells a story when he got stuck in an elevator. He was six years old and 20 minutes spent in the elevator seemed to him as eternity. Bruce

„believed himself to be at the center of a major event in American history. He imagined that not only his parents but the President of the United States must be hearing about it‟, and he expected „bands and cheering crowds‟ (HP 136) to greet him when he was rescued. None of this, however, happened, and the only people who greeted him were customers who were waiting for the net elevator, without even knowing anything unusual happened. Hartke tells Bruce that what he had just precisely described was

„what it was like to come home from the Vietnam War‟ (HP 137).

In another of his interviews, Vonnegut speaks about the US government and how the Vietnam War showed that the common people in the United States did not in fact have any influence on the government and its decisions. When the US leaders ordered the enlistment of all the men, Hartke could not have chosen to stay at home instead of going to Vietnam just the same way as all the antiwar activists with their movements had no or at best a small impact on the decisions of the US government.

„Vietnam War has taken away the illusion that we have some control over our

Government‟, says Vonnegut, „I think we have lost control of our Government. Vietnam made it clear that the ordinary citizen had no way to approach his Government, not even by civil disobedience or by mass demonstration. The Government wasn't going to respond, no matter what the citizen did‟ (Conversations). That was what he calls a withering lesson.

4.3. Conditions in 1980s America

Besides dealing with the Vietnam War, the novel reflects social conditions in the United

States in 1980s. From all of Vonnegut‟s works, Hocus Pocus is the most political one.

United States were affected by economic and political pressure. The story takes place in

2001, but Vonnegut could not have known what the United States and the world would look like in the future, he could only suppose and derive from what he experienced in the 20th century. Klinkowitz sees the protagonist of the story as a character affected by the combination of three trends that were typical for the United States in 1980s. The first trend concerns foreign investment in the United States. It was the result of the inflation during that time, and so investments had to come from the abroad to help the economy. „But the spectacle of Japan owning institutions such as CBS and Rockefeller

Center‟, claims Klinkowitz, „was frightening to some, including Vonnegut‟ (KV‟s

America 102). In the novel, this fear is portrayed through the state prison where Hartke finds job after he is dismissed from the Tarkington College. The prison is owned by a

Japanese corporation that runs it rather profitably; however, in the end the penitentiary experiences a massive jailbreak.

Second characteristic feature Vonnegut‟s homeland had in 1980s was privatization of public institutions. The money spent on prisons such as the one in the novel was „taken from the parts of the public sector that educate, train, socialize, treat, nurture, and house the population--particularly the children of the poor‟ (Currie).

Vonnegut was not very fond of this trend, the fact that is reflected in the novel as well.

„In order to reinforce that dislike for his readers, he combined it with the first one [trend of foreign investments], and in Hocus Pocus a state penitentiary is run by the Japanese for profit‟ (KV‟s America 102). The third trend is of course the legacy of the Vietnam

War, mainly difficulties of its veterans such as Hartke, as had been analyzed above.

Vonnegut again speaks rather negatively about the education of the American citizens. Gene Hartke, as the creation of Kurt Vonnegut, claims that a rather small number of Americans knew where or what Laos or Cambodia were, and, probably a bit exaggerating, that „thanks to our great educational system and TV, half of them couldn‟t even find their own country on a map of the world‟ (HP 224).11 On the contrary, to defend the US education system, it is essential to remind that Tarkington College was a university for learning-disabled students, thus Vonnegut believed that in 2001 there would be a special university for such disabled people, and that it would be in the land of opportunities, his native country – the United States of America.

The Board of Trustees of the Tarkington College was not very tolerable, though.

Any un-American opinion or remark was intolerable. Hartke got fired because he dared to say that Adolf Hitler was a Christian – a statement that is indeed a known fact – however, unpleasant for the ears of the conservative members of the Board. He also speaks positively about Karl Marx and his ideal society, it is without doubts that they did not like that, either. In his autobiographical essay collection A Man Without a

Country Vonnegut states about Karl Marx that „all he was trying to do was figure out how to take care of a whole lot of people‟. Therefore Vonnegut‟s ideas are partly reflected in Hartke and it can be concluded that he criticizes such conservative

Americans.

In the year of 2001, as described by Vonnegut, the United States has been resegregated. „The prison where Hartke works, near the college town of Scipio, is populated entirely by black inmates, the Supreme Court having decided that it was cruel and inhuman to confine one race with another‟ (McInerney). After the prison break,

Hartke was arrested and charged for planning of the action, since he was the only white

11 Survey from 2002 conducted by National Geographic shows that only 6% of the Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 do not know where the United States are. However, it does says that half of young Americans cannot find New York on a map 29

person in the jail. It was concluded that no black person could have been so clever to

„masterminded such an escape‟ (Davis 128). Furthermore, the armed forces were segregated, too.

It is an issue to consider why Vonnegut decided to portray the future America as segregated and racist country; it is hard to believe that he really thought this would happen once it was resolved. Vonnegut was a humanist and, after all, he believed in people, in their right and moral decisions. Segregation and racism are definitely not moral.

Once again there can be seen Vonnegut‟s irreligious, thus not typically

American attitude towards the world. Hartke explains who are „Freethinkers‟, whose beliefs shared also his grandfather12, and his description noticeably reminds in what

Vonnegut himself (and his ancestors) believed. Freethinkers believed that „nothing but sleep awaited good and evil persons alike in the Afterlife, that science had proved all organized religions to be baloney, that God was unknowable‟ (HP 153) and that everyone should focus on a life they are living on Earth and try to improve it. That is indeed very humanistic approach, rather than a religious one.

4.4 Summary

Indeed, it seems that Vonnegut again reflects only those observations that show the flaws of the United States and humanity in general. However, one cannot expect from

Vonnegut to write a purely optimistic and praising book. Hocus Pocus is nevertheless

„one of Vonnegut‟s most empathic statements against the ever-present darkness lurking within civilized humanity‟ (Davis 127). Besides, the Americans themselves seemed to

12 In the novel written with the capital „G‟, because, as states Vonnegut the editor, „The author himself is responsible for the capitalization of certain words whose initial letters a meticulous editor might prefer to see in lowercase‟ 30

like the book, since it sold „briskly, made various best-seller lists, and drew favorable reviews‟ (Davis 127).

5. JAILBIRD

5.1. Narrator and the Plot Summary

Jailbird deals with the history of the American labor movement and points out flaws in corporate America, the American political system, the American red scare of the 1950s, and both capitalist and communist theory. Its plot concerns a man recently released from the prison after having served time for a minor role in the Watergate scandal.

In his 1976 novel Slapstick Vonnegut states that is it „the closest I will ever come to writing an autobiography‟. Jailbird, published only three years later, also fits this description, since several autobiographical facts can be found in the story.

Vonnegut met Powers Hapgood, socialist labor leader and a family friend, when he was a young „private just back from World War II and Dresden and in need of ideals for rebuilding his world‟ (Vonnegut in Fact 122). Hapgood therefore offered a model for living and he left a strong impression on the young author and his view of politics.

Vonnegut‟s admiration was based on Hapgood‟s noble features such as sharing profits with workers, becoming politically active on national labor issues and leading protests against the executions of Sacco and Vanzetti (KV‟s America 79). The very last one mentioned is the one that Jailbird‟s protagonist Walter F. Starbuck speaks about in the novel, too, as it was the case that Vonnegut considered „so shaking and moving – one of the most impressive I know‟ (Conversations).

5.2. Sacco and Vanzetti – Story of Immigrants in 1920s America

The impressive story of the deliberate injustice that meant death for two innocent men serves as a reference to all mistakes ever made in the courts throughout the American history, especially those dealing with immigrants, such as is the case of Sacco and

Vanzetti. Bartolomeo Vanzetti and Nicola Sacco were Italian-born anarchists sentenced to death in the electric chair for a murder they did not commit. What is more, the actual murderer confessed to the crime, but the two Italian immigrants had to die all the same.

Despite many evidences of their innocence, it is presumable that they were executed because of their origin and anarchist political beliefs (Kaiser and Young), and their alleged crime rests „solely in the color of their skin and the potency of their politics‟

(Davis 99). Sacco and Vanzetti promoted politics of mercy, according to Davis, their aim was to „feed the hungry, cloth the naked, and shelter the homeless‟, however, such a politics was in contrast with the interests of the country where „capitalistic economy went mad‟ (Davis 99). Vonnegut hereby comments on immigrants who came to the

United States in the 1920s and 1930s and the attitude of the Americans towards them.

There were indeed preconceptions about the immigrants and many of them had trouble fitting into the American unfriendly society. Historian John W. Johnson supported this claim when he has said that „the authorities and jurors were influenced by strong anti-

Italian prejudice and the prejudice against immigrants widely held at the time, especially in New England‟ (Johnson 62). The article from 1979 wrote about Vonnegut that he „lambasts the USA for its false promise of justice and equality for all, for claiming to be the land of hope and idealism after the failure of corrupt Europe‟

(„Jailbird‟ 1979). In his novel it indeed seems so, since the case of Sacco and Vanzetti is being reminded throughout the whole novel and it is one of its major themes.

The story that fascinated Vonnegut amazes Starbuck, too. He describes his belief from his youth – he believed the story of Sacco and Vanzetti would have been „retold as often and as movingly, to be as irresistible, as the story of Jesus Christ some day‟

(Jailbird 171). In his 1979 interview Vonnegut adds that this story is nowadays even more accurate one, since „it‟s difficult to incorporate something like the real Christ

story, the literal crucifixion, into our times. The crucifixion of Sacco and Vanzetti fits rather neatly‟ (Conversations). Thus, it is evident that Vonnegut condemns this inhospitable behavior of the United States and their rejection of the immigrants and he shows his humanism again. What troubles him even more is that this story, yet a very important one, really was forgotten and the lesson that could have been learnt from it most people do not care about anymore. „I believed that the story of their martyrdom would cause an irresistible mania for justice to the common people to spread throughout the world. Does anybody know or care who they were anymore? No.‟ (Jailbird 7).

As to the writing of Jailbird, it was rather an advantage, if one can say so, for

Vonnegut to have lived in the years of the Great Depression – he experienced exactly what was happening back then and that enabled him to reflect it perfectly in his novel decades later. Walter F. Starbuck figured in two major social reorganizations: the

FDR‟s New Deal and Nixon‟s Watergate scandal (Vonnegut Effect 115) and Vonnegut through these events revealed flawed progress of the United States as a nation and, according to Davis, „condemns the narratives of nationalism and greed that have made a mockery of our [US] Constitutional ideals‟ (Davis 97).The economic crisis and the crash of the stock market led to legislation that barred certain ethnic groups from entering the United States, and, evidently, those who did come usually were not very welcomed.

The terrible iniquity of Sacco and Vanzetti is only one example of the results of the Great Depression. In Jailbird, Vonnegut also describes how the family of the main character Walter F. Starbuck had to change their name when they arrived to the United

States. Similarly as Francis Scott Fitzgerald‟s Jay Gatsby, who changed his name from not particularly American sounding James Gatz in order to create a new identity, the

Stankiewitz family chose to use Starbuck instead, because Walter‟s father was advised

that Stankiewitz had „unpleasant connotations to American ear, that people would think he smelled bad, even if he sat in a bathtub all day long‟ (Jailbird 29). The same situation, after all, happened to Vonnegut‟s ancestors, as mentioned above.

5.3. Richard M. Nixon and the Watergate Scandal

Walter F. Starbuck is President Nixon‟s special advisor on youth affairs. As a matter of fact, they were born in the same year, 1913. The first and the last time Nixon wanted to see Starbuck was at an emergency meeting about the shooting at Kent State University, where four students died while protesting against the war in Vietnam. Walter was preparing to tell the president what he thought about the incident. „The guardsmen, I thought, should be pardoned at once, and then reprimanded, and then discharged for the good of the service…The President should call the tragedy a tragedy, should reveal himself as having had his heart broken‟ (Jailbird 32). In addition, Vonnegut, through

Starbuck, expresses his bitterness about National Guard units, and whether those

„civilians in soldier‟s costumes‟ were to be trusted with live ammunition. He sees that as the main reason of the Kent State tragedy. It is the same aversion for possession of guns as he expresses in Breakfast of Champions.

However, Starbuck never got the chance to say those words to the president, the one thing he did was that he enabled Nixon to make his only „genuinely witty comment

I ever heard attributed to him‟ (Jailbird 32), when he was smoking three cigarettes at once and thus creating the column of smoke around him. „We will pause in our business‟, comments Nixon, „while our special advisor on youth affairs gives us a demonstration of how to put out a campfire‟ (Jailbird 33). Now it is to consider what

Vonnegut‟s actual opinion of Nixon was. It is unnecessary to say that Nixon was one of

the most controversial from all the presidents of the United States and, what is more, too many people have disliked him. Nevertheless, Vonnegut does not blame Nixon in particular for the Kent State shooting, rather he ponders over the legitimacy of the guns in the hands of „civilians‟. This supports the idea that he expressed in his interview mentioned above, that he did not consider this president of the United States an evil person – while many Americans still see his presidency as the unsuccessful one. 13

As to the scandal that caused the resignation of Richard Nixon from the position of the president of the United States, Walter F. Starbuck played only small and even unintentional role in the Watergate burglaries. Some of the Watergate money was stashed in his windowless office, and so he spent two years in jail together with other

Watergate felons. Starbuck, as well as his creator, was a young idealist. According to

Klinkowitz, Vonnegut „praised the civic institutions of his childhood that had worked so well‟ (KV‟s America 80) and therefore the fact that he describes Watergate and what demoralization it caused should serve for readers to see „how one can prevent it from happening again‟ (KV‟s America 80).

5.4. Summary

This realistic novel, or as Davis puts it, the work of „postmodern social realism‟ reflects the situation in the United States through the 1920s and 1930s and political situation of the 1970s. Vonnegut precisely described the period of the Great Depression, the period he was growing up in, and the one that led to other crisis such as Watergate Scandal.

Through Walter F. Starbuck Vonnegut expresses his profound concern in the case of

13 A 2002 survey to establish a ranking of United States presidents conducted by the Siena Research Institute at Siena College placed Nixon in the twenty-sixth spot out of the forty-three possible, which is below average 36

Italian immigrants sentenced to death and by reminding it he tries to give a warning about possible similar troubles happening in the future.

6. CONCLUSION

This thesis analyzes attitude of the American writer Kurt Vonnegut towards his native country. The analysis of the selected novels – Slaughterhouse-Five, Breakfast of

Champions, Hocus Pocus, and Jailbird – showed that his perception of the United

States of America became slightly more pessimistic as he got older. In Slaughterhouse-

Five he mainly expresses his discontent with the US decision to bomb peaceful

Dresden, while in Breakfast of Champions he criticizes everything from country symbols, through the health care, to the possession of guns. Hocus Pocus reflect

Vonnegut‟s perception of Vietnam War legacy and in Jailbird he condemns political and judicial crimes.

There is indeed a significant amount of critique in these novels, nevertheless,

Vonnegut cared for his native country at least a bit till the end of his life. He gave several speeches at the universities, giving young Americans advices for life as well as for writing. In his autobiographical essay collection A Man Without a Country he ponders on the issue of belonging of the United States to its citizens, when he describes all what was in America in fact built by the immigrants, such as the Germans-

Americans. Asking „who the hell‟s country is this anyway‟ (A Man Without a Country

52) makes his distancing from the United States a bit less radical, since he is in fact only speculating about the United States and its citizens, rather than expressing his hatred towards his native country. Thus, all the critique found in the novels should not express his deep contempt for his homeland, rather it serves as a way to point out the American deficiencies so that they can be avoided in the future.

7. WORKS USED AND CITED

Primary Sources

Vonnegut, Kurt. Slaughterhouse-Five, or The Children's Crusade: A Duty-Dance with

Death, London: Vintage, 2000. Print.

Vonnegut, Kurt. Breakfast of Champions, New York: Dell Publishing, 1973. Print.

Vonnegut, Kurt. Jailbird, London: Vintage, 1992. Print.

Vonnegut, Kurt. Hocus Pocus, London: Vintage, 2000. Print.

Secondary Sources

Addison, Paul, and Jeremy A. Firestorm, The Bombing of Dresden. London: Pimlico,

2006. Print.

Allen, William Rodney. Conversations with Kurt Vonnegut, Mississippi: Mississippi

UP, 1988. Print.

Batschke, Cameron. „The Effects of War on Slaughterhouse-Five‟s Billy Pilgrim.‟

Oocities October 2009. Web. 5 March 2014.

Broer, Lawrence R. Sanity Plea: Schizophrenia in the Novels of Kurt Vonnegut,

Alabama: Alabama UP, 1994. Print.

Currie, Elliott. Crime and Punishment in America, London: Picador, 2013. Print.

Davis, Todd. Kurt Vonnegut's Crusade : Or, How a Postmodern Harlequin Preached a

New Kind of Humanism, Ithaca, NY: State University of New York UP, 2006.

Print.

Harris, Charles B. „Time, Uncertainty, and Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.: A Reading of

Slaughterhouse-Five.‟, Centennial Review 1976: 228-243. Web. 4 April 2014.

Johnson, John W. Historic U.S. Court Cases, London: Routledge Press, 2001. Print.

Klinkowitz, Jerome. Kurt Vonnegut, London: Methuen, 1982. Print.

---. Vonnegut in Fact: The Public Spokesmanship of Personal Fiction, Columbia: South

Carolina UP, 2009. Print.

---. Kurt Vonnegut’s America, Columbia: South Carolina UP, 2010. Print.

---. Vonnegut Effect, Columbia: South Carolina UP, 2011. Print.

Krasny, Michael. “Slaughterhouse Five and Its Relevance to Our Time.” WOLM

Lectures for Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five. Santa Rosa Junior College.

Newman Auditorium, Santa Rosa, CA. 25 October 2012.

Loeb, Monica. Vonnegut‟s Duty-dance With Death: Theme and Structure in

Slaughterhouse-Five, Umea: Acta Universitatis Umensis, 1979. Print.

McInerney, Jay. „Still Asking the Embarrassing Questions.‟, The New York Times 9

September 1990. Web. 23 March 2014.

Miller, Donald L. The Story of World War II, New York City, NY: Simon & Schuster,

2002. Print.

Neutzner, Matthias; et al. Abschlussbericht der Historikerkommission zu den

Luftangriffen auf Dresden zwischen dem 13. und 15. Februar 1945. Dresden:

Edition Sächsische Zeitung, 2005.

Petterson, Bo. The World According to Kurt Vonnegut, Abo: Abo Akademi UP, 1994.

Print.

Shields, Charles J. And So It Goes: Kurt Vonnegut, A Life, New York, NY: Henry Holt

and Co., 2009. Print.

Smith, Dennis S. Cliffs Notes on Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five, Nebraska: Cliffs

Notes, 1997. Print.

Vonnegut, Kurt. A Man Without a Country, London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2007.

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Young, William and David E. Kaiser, New Evidence in the Case of Sacco and Vanzetti,

Massachusetts: Massachusetts UP, 1985. Print.

Czech Resume

Tato bakalářská práce se zabývá díly významného amerického spisovatele dvacátého století, KurtaVonneguta a popisuje vztah Vonneguta k jeho rodné zemi, tak jak jej popsal ve svých knihách. Konkrétně se jedná o díla Jatka č. 5 (Slaughterhouse-

Five), Snídaně šampiónů (Breakfast of Champions), Hokus Pokus (Hocus Pocus) a Kriminálník (Jailbird). Tyto knihy pojednávají o různých událostech z americké historie a politiky a skrze jejich děje, postavy a komentáře samotného autora je možné zanalyzovat jeho postoj k Americe.

V díle Jatka č. 5 je hlavním tématem druhá světová válka a taky bombardovaní

Drážďan, události, které Vonnegut zažil na vlastní kůži a tudíž byl schopen prožité hrůzy popsat v jeho díle. Snídaně šampiónů je jeho zčásti autobiografické dílo, kde se zabývá širokým spektrem aspektů americké společnosti, jako jsou její symboly, ale také obyčejnými lidmi. Tématem jeho následujícího díla, Hokus Pokus, je především

Vietnamská válka a Vonnegut se zabývá jejími vlivy jak na válečné veterány, tak na ty

Američany, kteří válku sledovali jen z médií. Kriminálník popisuje osudy muže náhodně zapleteného do aféry Watergate a zabývá se také pro Ameriku ne velmi

šťastnými roky po dobu Velké hospodářské krize.

Vonnegut o sobě prohlásil, že je ,,muž bez vlasti“ (man without a country). Tato práce sleduje, jak se jeho vztah k Americe měnil v průběhu jeho života – od mladíka dobrovolně vstupujícího do armády s úmyslem bránit svou vlast, až po muže, který se takovýmto radikálním vyhlášením od Ameriky v podstatě distancoval – a to skrze analýzu jeho vybraných díl.

English Resume

This thesis deals with the works of an important American writer of the 20th century, Kurt Vonnegut, and it describes his attitude towards his homeland as reflected in his selected novels. The analyzed works are namely Slaughterhouse-Five, Breakfast of Champions, Hocus Pocus, and Jailbird. These books look at various events throughout the recent American history and politics and focusing on particular characters, plots, and depictions analyzes Vonnegut‟s perception of the United States of

America.

The main topic in Slaughterhouse-Five is the Second World War and the firebombing of Dresden; the events that Vonnegut personally experienced, and therefore was able to precisely describe the horrors of it. Breakfast of Champions is his partly autobiographical novel, in which he comments on a wide range of aspects of the United

States such as its symbols, as well as the ordinary citizens. The next book, Hocus Pocus, deals mainly with the Vietnam War and its legacy – effect it had on war veterans and their subsequent trouble with fitting into the war-hating society. Jailbird describes the life of a man incidentally involved in the Watergate scandal and at the same time it is concerned with the unpleasant period of the Great Depression.

Vonnegut pronounced himself „a man without a country‟. Thus, analyzing his selected novels, this thesis examines Vonnegut‟s perception of the United States and how it has changed through his life – at the beginning a youth voluntarily enlisting to the army to defend his country, in the end a man who with such a radical statement in fact distanced himself from the United States.