Countless literary works have been focused on human nature and some specifically on humanity’s inability to face harsh reality. Throughout time, many works have shown characters’ reluctance to confront the truth and instead choose to live a lie and take the easy way out. Similarly, Kurt Vonnegut uses multiple characters in both Cat’s Cradle and Slaughterhouse Five to criticize American thinking for its laziness.
In Cat’s Cradle, Felix Hoenikker creates an extremely dangerous substance called ice-nine without thinking about the consequences. Dr. Breed is telling John what Felix said after a marine general asked him to solve the problem of mud. "In his playful way, and all his ways were playful, Felix suggested that there might be a single grain …show more content…
Billy is being lazy and not confronting his problem, instead he is becoming numb to the world. McKean believes that, “They teach him to “ignore the awful times,” to “concentrate on the good ones.” They urge him to “stare only at pretty things.” (McKean 71). This shows that the aliens in Billy’s fantasy urged him to forget about his problems and only focus on good things. However, life doesn’t work that way and eventually Billy will have to deal with his PTSD sooner or later. In addition to the Tralfamadorians, time travel is also one of Billy’s coping mechanisms. “Billy says that he first came unstuck in time in 1944, long before his trip to Tralfamadore. The Tralfamadorians didn't have anything to do with his coming unstuck. They were simply able to give him insights into what was really going on” (Slaughterhouse Five 38). Billy’s time-travel appears to be a symptom of his overall suffering. For example, the moment he truly begins to realize he is in deadly danger behind enemy lines, he flashes forward beyond death, back before birth, and then to the moment when he almost drowned trying to learn to swim. Billy needs to find a healthy way to deal with his pain or else he will continue to suffer. In his criticism Sieber states, “Certainly, a part of Billy’s charm is his innocence, which also seems to protect him from harm in a curious way, but it is the combination of his child-like innocence and the horrific nature of the Dresden firebombing Billy survives that sets the stage for the child’s transformative “play” in which his mind becomes “unstuck in time.” (Sieber 129). Due to the fact that Billy entered this war as a kid he has suffered for most of his life. This causes Billy to want to escape reality and go into his fantasy where he’s happier. Yet, at one time or another Billy will have to stop being lazy and deal with all of his
In Cat’s Cradle, Felix Hoenikker creates an extremely dangerous substance called ice-nine without thinking about the consequences. Dr. Breed is telling John what Felix said after a marine general asked him to solve the problem of mud. "In his playful way, and all his ways were playful, Felix suggested that there might be a single grain …show more content…
Billy is being lazy and not confronting his problem, instead he is becoming numb to the world. McKean believes that, “They teach him to “ignore the awful times,” to “concentrate on the good ones.” They urge him to “stare only at pretty things.” (McKean 71). This shows that the aliens in Billy’s fantasy urged him to forget about his problems and only focus on good things. However, life doesn’t work that way and eventually Billy will have to deal with his PTSD sooner or later. In addition to the Tralfamadorians, time travel is also one of Billy’s coping mechanisms. “Billy says that he first came unstuck in time in 1944, long before his trip to Tralfamadore. The Tralfamadorians didn't have anything to do with his coming unstuck. They were simply able to give him insights into what was really going on” (Slaughterhouse Five 38). Billy’s time-travel appears to be a symptom of his overall suffering. For example, the moment he truly begins to realize he is in deadly danger behind enemy lines, he flashes forward beyond death, back before birth, and then to the moment when he almost drowned trying to learn to swim. Billy needs to find a healthy way to deal with his pain or else he will continue to suffer. In his criticism Sieber states, “Certainly, a part of Billy’s charm is his innocence, which also seems to protect him from harm in a curious way, but it is the combination of his child-like innocence and the horrific nature of the Dresden firebombing Billy survives that sets the stage for the child’s transformative “play” in which his mind becomes “unstuck in time.” (Sieber 129). Due to the fact that Billy entered this war as a kid he has suffered for most of his life. This causes Billy to want to escape reality and go into his fantasy where he’s happier. Yet, at one time or another Billy will have to stop being lazy and deal with all of his