Vonnegut's Life
At what age did Vonnegut drop out of Cornell and enlist in the Army?
20
How might his youth have influenced his perspective on war?
What phrase does Vonnegut use to summarize life’s absurdity in Cat’s Cradle and Slaughterhouse-Five?
“So it goes.”
How does repeating the same line after tragedy make us think about death differently?
Which city’s bombing inspired Vonnegut’s “the day the world ended”?
Hiroshima
Put yourself in the shoes of someone living through such an event—what do you think you’d feel? Fear, disbelief, anger?
Which major personal tragedy occurred while Vonnegut was away in 1944?
His mother committed suicide
How might experiencing family tragedy influence the way an author tells their stories?
What does Vonnegut mean by the term “cosmic joke”?
Life and death are absurd; survival can seem like a joke
Why do you think Vonnegut calls life a “cosmic joke”? Can you think of something today that feels like that?
What event did Vonnegut survive that deeply influenced his writing?
Firebombing of Dresden
What might surviving a disaster like that make someone wonder about humanity or their own life?
Which novel was inspired by Vonnegut’s reflections on the atomic bomb, human destructiveness, and his experiences after World War II?
Cat’s Cradle
How might Vonnegut’s experiences in the war have influenced the story of Cat’s Cradle?
Why is humor a tool Vonnegut uses when dealing with horrific events?
It lets him make fun of life while still showing serious events.
Do you personally use humor to cope with difficult situations? Why or why not?
What is the moral irony of the Hiroshima bombing according to Hawley?
It was justified as “saving lives,” but real victims were civilians
Why might societies convince themselves that harmful actions are “acceptable”? Can you think of something like that today?