Kurt Vonnegut Sarcasm And Black Humor Essay

, Research Paper

Sarcasm and Black Humor

Kurt Vonnegut uses sarcasm to portray the humor, foolishness, and futility of real life issues, people events, and expectations. In his books, he writes like a satire, but in reality, that s not what it really is. He has many opinions and questions of mans search for the meaning of life. Objects, events, and people, of real life, are represented in his books and are put into Vonnegut’s context. Characters in his books are put through a lot of adversity and find out they do not have the ability to control or change fate. War and religion are often questioned in Vonnegut s books. All of these things, become victims of Vonnegut s sarcasm and satire.

A unique writing style in most of his books, he writes like a satire to attack a satire and its ideal world with definite answers (Kennard 1). A significant part to Vonnegut s books is the satiric and humorous qualities used to emphasize the serious points of his books. In the books, which are considered science fiction, contain wild black humor, which is uncommon amongst these types of books (Overview 1). His humor targets the futility of warfare, the negative effects of technology, and the potential of man s evil to cause havoc. He laughs and is pessimistic towards government and religion (Introduction 1). Vonnegut is anti-technology, anti-machine, and anti-science and he shows this throughout his books (Overview 1).

There is a concern of genuine human questions throughout his books. These questions often are about war, peace, technology, and human happiness. These questions recur throughout his books and are answered ridiculously (1). He likes to emphasize the comic absurdity of man looking for meaning and order in his life when the character exists in a meaningless and disorderly universe (Introduction 1). Vonnegut directs his satire to his characters. He also directs most of this satire to himself as much as he does to society (Overview 1).

Questions are often asked about the meaning of life in his books to be sarcastic. For example, he asked people, When was it that their art gave them the most satisfaction. When was it framed and exhibited. When it was published or sold. When it was praised by loved ones or an important critic. (Vonnegut Homepage 1). This represents his questioning man when their lives become important. Only a sarcastic man would ask a question like this and be able to hide its real meaning from those who are futile. Another one of Vonnegut s questions that attack man s need for absolutes is, If god created the world, then who created god. (Kennard 2). This is a good example of a satiric question, which is addressed in many of his books. Vonnegut provides funny and unrealistic answers to his question (Overview 7).

Vonnegut likes to target his readers too. He tries to confuse the reader by using the form of a fable against the objectives of a fable. He builds a reader up to their expectations and morals, and lets them down by providing a disillusioned moral or a different I tricked you type answer (Kennard 2). Vonnegut brings the reader into thinking that he has the answer to the problem, and then rips it to shreds with irony (1). He undercuts the reader s expectations for humane, rounded characters. An example of this is in the Foster Portfolio. Mr. Foster, a hard working person likes his mother, inherited a large sum of money and invests it. He never tells his wife or family of the money, so he keeps working his three jobs. It turns out that Foster has secretly become like his father, who was an idle musician.

His third job is playing music like his father who he never wanted to become (Vonnegut Welcome 55-69). Another example of this is in More Stately Mansions. This is about how a lady is obsessed on the way house should look. She continually has suggestions for her neighbors. One would think that her house would be great. That s false, she has no money nor does her husband, but she has her house planned out perfectly, from catalogues and magazines, for when they come across money. One day she becomes sick and goes to the hospital for a month and her husband receives money. He spends the money on the house and makes it just like she wanted it. She comes home and is delighted. A new home magazine comes in that day and Vonnegut makes it seem like the woman will always be improving her house. This is wrong because she never reads the magazine and its content. This tricks the reader (135-137).

You ll find that Vonnegut shows his characters trying to conquer their environment, but then he ll show that the character s actions have little or no impact on his environment (Overview 31). Man must come to realize that harsh realities of meaningless cruelty and death will follow him to the end of the world. Wherever man goes, and whatever he does, failure is eminent because man is failure (2). This is a negative and a sarcastic approach towards his characters, He [rejects] all ethical absolutes. Vonnegut stress the futility of man s search for meaning in a world where everything is a nightmare of meaninglessness with end, where we are all the victims of a series of accidents, trapped in the amber of this moment because this moment simply is (Kennard 1). In all of Vonnegut s books, man finds he cannot change fate. In Where I Live, an encyclopedia salesman goes to a town called Barnstable, and finds this town is like its