I do hope you enjoy this story by Kurt Vonnegut. I have long wanted to teach Vonnegut – his works Slaughterhouse 5 and Cat's Cradle are among some of my favorite novels. One of my students from last year (shout-out to Wyatt!) stumbled across this story and shared it with me. It falls into a long tradition of dystopian novels that depict some future world where all elements of life are controlled and perfected, but as we all know perfection is hardly possible and life turns from a dream into a nightmare. Vonnegut's books are odd and quirky, fragmented and disillusioned. They came to be in a literary period influence by the end of World War II and the Cold War – a time of deep anxiety in America.
Before I drop you into some resources that you will find valuable in looking at what the story means and what the story means to you, here is the Vonnegut forum where you can work with your peers to discuss the text:
THE BASICS
"2BR02B," one of Vonnegut's last short stories, explores ethical dilemmas and unthinkable trade-offs. Is it far-fetched to think that we are trading our lives for the lives of our children? Vonnegut makes this a literal trade in this story. The reader cannot help but ask: what are the unintended effects as science and medicine make life-extending advancements? How does that affect population and the future lives of generations to come? Vonnegut propels his reader towards these examinations in this short, but powerful story set in the not-too-distant future (Tuebal.ca).ABOUT KURT VONNEGUT
The most important thing to know about Vonnegut is how experimental his novels are -- they blend a very strange humor, science fiction elements (aliens!), time travel, and potent social commentary about war and corruption to create works that are distinctly his own. His view of the world comes from the horrors that he witnessed as a POW in Dresden German during the utter annihilation of the city during World War II. One of the most loaded phrases in his works is the repetition of the phrase "And so it goes" in his most read novel Slaughterhouse Five. This phrase is uttered when someone dies, seeming to suggest that death is inevitable and even commonplace. Here is some more basic information from biography.com:Kurt Vonnegut is considered one of the most influential American novelists of the twentieth century. He blended literature with science fiction and humor, the absurd with pointed social commentary. Vonnegut created his own unique world in each of his novels and filled them with unusual characters, such as the alien race known as the Tralfamadorians in Slaughterhouse-Five (1969).You might be interested in seeing a bit of Vonnegut speaking about his life; this video was recorded shortly before he died at 83. The most interesting part comes around the two minute mark when he talks about the war.
After studying at Cornell University from 1940 to 1942, Kurt Vonnegut enlisted the U.S. Army. He was sent by the army to what is now Carnegie Mellon University to study engineering in 1943. The next year, he served in Europe and fought in the Battle of the Bulge. After this battle, Vonnegut was captured and became a prisoner of war. He was in Dresden, Germany, during the Allied firebombing of the city, and saw the complete devastation caused by it. Vonnegut himself only escaped harm because he, along with other POWs, was working in an underground meat locker making vitamins.
Soon after his return from the war, Kurt Vonnegut married his high school girlfriend, Jane Marie Cox. The couple had three children. He worked several jobs before his writing career took off, including newspaper reporter, teacher, and public relations employee for General Electric. The Vonneguts also adopted his sister's three children after her death in 1958 (biography.com).
IMPORTANT CONCEPTS
Dystopia: a futuristic, imagined universe in which oppressive societal control and the illusion of a perfect society are maintained through corporate, bureaucratic, technological, moral, or totalitarian control. Dystopias, through an exaggerated worst-case scenario, make a criticism about a current trend, societal norm, or political system.
Alienation: a feeling of not belonging. This feeling can be physical, mental, religious, spiritual, psychological, political, social, or economic. At one time or another, each one of us has experienced alienation in one form or another whether in school, among family members, in religion, in politics, and in society. The most common form of alienation is the physical and cultural kind experiencing "foreignness" or "culture shock." This is also the kind of alienation that is most easily understood; however, when one feels alienated in one's own home, society, religion, or culture, it is more difficult to rationalize or understand that feeling of not belonging.
