The Pleasures of Life Through the Eyes of Kurt Vonnegut
In the famous works of Kurt Vonnegut, and a few of his short stories and his decades, the wonders and pleasures of life appear to be present, even in the tiniest of sentences and the longest of paragraphs, Kurt Vonnegut always adds some sense of living life and joy.
In Cat’s Cradle, written in 1963,a particular quote stuck out and put everything into perspective on whats going on in our heads during war, “Tiger got to hunt, bird got to fly; Man got to sit and wonder ‘why, why, why?’ Tiger got to sleep, bird got to land; Man got to tell himself he understand.” The tiger represents the soldiers going to war and the birds represent the fallen soldiers. When the soldiers go off to war we, mankind, wonder what is going on, but when there is no war, mankind understands whats going on. Yes, going off to war isn’t the happiest moment for a mother whose child is headed off, but to the child who is eligible to go to war, this is the time of their life, to defend and protect their country. There is much pleasure for men to go off to war, it is a rush.
Cigars became a common mentioning that appeared in some of Kurt Vonnegut’s writings “Cigars, of course, are made of trail mix, of crushed cashews and Granola and raisins, soaked in maple syrup and dried in the sun. Why not eat one tonight at bedtime?” This quote from God Bless You Dr. Kevorkian,1999, appeared in If This Isn’t Nice, What Is?, publish in 2013, but in a different arrangement of words. The pleasurable side of cigars, is relaxation, cigars were made for back porch sitting and late night relaxation, this would be a moment “uncle named Alex, who said, when life was most agreeable—and it could be just a pitcher of lemonade in the shade—he would say, “If this isn’t nice, what is?” this quote reflects the relaxation and pleasurable things in life. With all the pleasure that can come of life, there is the ill fortune that can occur.
“Society is more concerned with material possessions than it is with the true love and compassion of another human being.” Material possessions are less likely to leave compared to another human being. Mother Night shows the reader what lying can do for a person. “We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.” A pleasure that comes out of life, is a sense of secrecy, sense that anyone can tell a lie to hide something else. In A Man Without A Country the reader discovers that on this corrupt world we live on, we all find something pleasing out of it.
“No matter how corrupt, greedy, and heartless our government, our corporations, our media, and our religious & charitable institutions may become, the music will still be wonderful.” Music is prominent in If This Isn’t Nice, What Is? as well but is talked about that the only proof of God was music, because music moves the body and the mind, music will never change from wonderful. “All time is all time. It does not change. It does not lend itself to warnings or explanations. It simply is.
Take it moment by moment, and you will find that we are all, as I’ve said before, bugs in amber.” This quote in Slaughterhouse Five, symbolizes that people should live in the moment because it’s just like a big trapped in amber, giving a clear knowing of what happened in that moment instead of being questionable. “Early evidence was in his response to the 9/11 event. Not surprisingly, he viewed them as human tragedy.” Addressed in Kurt Vonnegut’s Decades any american that was alive for 9/11 realizes the tragedy and distress it caused as the twin towers came tumbling down. To all the children that were not alive or too young to remember what happened, will hear it in any of their classes through school and watch videos of the occurrence.
Beside the war and destruction of terrorists and our own mistakes, there is one thing that keeps the people running and trying harder for success.”The good news is that we Americans are governed under unique Constitution, which allows us to write whatever we please without fear of punishment.” As American human beings, we have the right to freedom of speech, in any form, this is one of the many pleasures of being an American citizen. Discussed in How To Write With Style, the reader learns the many pleasures of writing and how to write with style. 2BR02B shows the purpose of finding something that pleases you as a person. “The orderly looked in at the mural and the muralist.
“Looks so real,” he said, “I can practically imagine I’m standing in the middle of it.” “What makes you think you’re not in it?” said the painter. He gave a satiric smile. “It’s called ‘The Happy Garden of Life,’ you know.” Realizing the true beauty in life and taking a moment to see the beauty are age old components of finding a pleasure in life.
To be a better person, people have to think positively and stop and smell the roses. Harrison Bergeron shows what all southerners are feeling when spring hits, well better yet when there is no winter. “Some things about living still weren’t quite right, though. April, for instance, still drove people crazy by not being springtime” The time of year and seasons are a true beautiful asset of living in this world of corruption, disruption, and mutilation. Kurt Vonnegut’s Letters taught the reader that it takes more than one person to create achievement in any of the arts by putting a group into accretion to get more done and accomplish more.
“No man who achieved greatness in the arts operated by himself; he was top man in a group of like-minded individuals.” One person’s ideas are influenced by someone else because of their like minded thoughts.
