Comparing Humanity In Kurt Vonnegut's And Tim O Brien
Slaughterhouse of Humanity: The Coldness They Carried
Often war are entangled with the perception of humanity, but what does it mean to be human? It cannot be fully encompassed by a definition in a Merriam Webster dictionary, or by the opinion of an English Professor. Humanity is defined by the individual, and so the focus here is on the Kurt Vonnegut's, and Tim O’Brien’s definition of humanity, which is characterized by human spirit, heart, and empathy.
In Slaughterhouse-Five and The Things They Carried both Kurt Vonnegut and Tim O'Brien describe the destruction of humanity caused by war. However, Vonnegut highlights how powerless in war leads to decimation of humanity within a solider, while O'Brien highlights the struggle to retain humanity …show more content…
By accepting that fate as an absolute force that puppeteers the world - “all time. . . .does not change”- he loses his humanity, and becomes apathetic. Hence why all other character’s in Vonnegut's novel are flat and lack depth, because from Billy's perspective they do not matter, their death is imminent, thus he remains numb to the human condition by saying “so it goes.” Vonnegut symbolically convey Billy’s loss of humanity by having him embrace the ideals of the Tralfamadorian, an alien race, and rejecting the mentality of of humans(humanity). Vonnegut also conveys the destruction of his own humanity through the recurrence of “mustard gas and roses.” The scent is associated with corpses in Vonnegut’s novel and thus his breath also retaining that scent is representative of his loss of spirit; war killed Vonnegut’s humanity, and so his breath smells like death. Vonnegut vanished his humanity as a coping mechanism. This is evident when he associates humanity with self-destruction stating “But she did look back. . . it was so human” , however, “she was turned to a pillar of salt.” Vonnegut believes having humanity and compassion for others is not worthwhile, which is further supported in his statement “People aren't supposed to look back. I'm certainly not going to do it anymore.” And so within Slaughterhouse-Five Vonnegut portrays the effects war has on the humanity of the individual, who becomes enveloped in inhumane
Often war are entangled with the perception of humanity, but what does it mean to be human? It cannot be fully encompassed by a definition in a Merriam Webster dictionary, or by the opinion of an English Professor. Humanity is defined by the individual, and so the focus here is on the Kurt Vonnegut's, and Tim O’Brien’s definition of humanity, which is characterized by human spirit, heart, and empathy.
In Slaughterhouse-Five and The Things They Carried both Kurt Vonnegut and Tim O'Brien describe the destruction of humanity caused by war. However, Vonnegut highlights how powerless in war leads to decimation of humanity within a solider, while O'Brien highlights the struggle to retain humanity …show more content…
By accepting that fate as an absolute force that puppeteers the world - “all time. . . .does not change”- he loses his humanity, and becomes apathetic. Hence why all other character’s in Vonnegut's novel are flat and lack depth, because from Billy's perspective they do not matter, their death is imminent, thus he remains numb to the human condition by saying “so it goes.” Vonnegut symbolically convey Billy’s loss of humanity by having him embrace the ideals of the Tralfamadorian, an alien race, and rejecting the mentality of of humans(humanity). Vonnegut also conveys the destruction of his own humanity through the recurrence of “mustard gas and roses.” The scent is associated with corpses in Vonnegut’s novel and thus his breath also retaining that scent is representative of his loss of spirit; war killed Vonnegut’s humanity, and so his breath smells like death. Vonnegut vanished his humanity as a coping mechanism. This is evident when he associates humanity with self-destruction stating “But she did look back. . . it was so human” , however, “she was turned to a pillar of salt.” Vonnegut believes having humanity and compassion for others is not worthwhile, which is further supported in his statement “People aren't supposed to look back. I'm certainly not going to do it anymore.” And so within Slaughterhouse-Five Vonnegut portrays the effects war has on the humanity of the individual, who becomes enveloped in inhumane