The Idealism of Kurt Vonnegut :: Biography Biographies Essays

The Idealism of Kurt Vonnegut Kurt Vonnegut was greatly influenced by his involvement in World War II. His entanglement with the Dresden bombing had an unequivocal effect upon his mentality, and the horrid experience propelled the liberal anti-war assertions that dominate many of his novels. Throughout his life, his idealistic nature has perceptibly undulated, and five representative novels illustrate the forceful progression and gradual declivity of his liberal views. The first thirty years of his life outwardly coincided with the average American man. He was born in Indianapolis on November 11, 1922, and lived a happy childhood with a stable family. He then proceeded to pursue science in college, serve his country in World War II, study under the GI Bill after the war, and land a job in public relations before becoming a full-time writer. Even his large and growing family seemed to capture the true spirit of the American ideal. However, one element of his past would affect him in a way that would change his life forever. In December 1944, he was captured by the Germans at the Battle of the Bulge. He and his fellow POWs were taken to Dresden, an "open" city rich with architectural treasures and devoid of any military value. British and American planes needlessly firebombed the city on the night of February 13, 1945, hoping to inspire terror in the Germans and crush their fighting spirit. Over 135,000 civilians were killed-twice the amount of casualties at Hiroshima. The insane horror and absurdity of the Dresden attack remained deeply etched into Vonnegut's mind from that day forward. Nearly two decades later, Vonnegut published Mother Night, a novel that displays the profound influence that the massacre exerted upon him. It contains this stirring autobiographical account of his Dresden experience in its preface: We didn't get to see the fire storm. We were in a cool meat-locker under the slaughterhouse with our six guards