Kurt Vonnegut was always known for pushing the literary limits of his time. His most famous novel, Slaughterhouse Five, spent a great deal of time on the infamous banned books list. He was passionate about his morals and weaved them throughout his inventive narratives. Vonnegut was a proud liberal and held tightly to the principles of the Left. As a conservative, I differ with Vonnegut on most subjects. However, rather than this deterring me, it intrigues me. This opposing viewpoint is packaged in such a way that I appreciate it even as a disagree with it.
For the uninitiated, Kurt Vonnegut was an American novelist whose career spanned 50 years. Vonnegut fought in WWII and was captured by the Nazis and witnessed the bombing of Dresden as a POW, which became the centerpiece of the aforementioned Slaughterhouse Five. He is one of the most acclaimed authors of all time and was known for his unique characters, hilarity, poignant satire and biting wit. For all of these reasons, I can’t get enough of his work.
One of the results of Vonnegut’s experience in the second world war and the carnage he saw in the wake of the bombing, was a very strong anti-war stance, which I share in a lot of ways. While I understand the conservative mindset of war being a necessary evil at times, the plain and ugly words Vonnegut uses to describe war in his work is downright jarring and has the potential to cause even the most ardent military supporter to shudder.
Vonnegut was an observer. He watched the world around him go by and often shook his head in disapproval. Rather than simply complaining as we all do at one time or another, Vonnegut told stories. He parodied the absurdities of the world with a rich sardonic wit that is unmatched in the American canon. He wrote about his fears, his nightmares, his demons and the things he hated, yet wrote about them in ways that have readers laughing throughout the majority of his work.
Another thing Vonnegut and I have in common is a general distaste for the establishment. Vonnegut always enjoyed poking fun at the establishment, giving the media a hard time and shocking people with his candor. He wasn’t afraid to rattle cages and say things plainly. He was not a big believer in keeping things to oneself.
Perhaps most of all, Vonnegut cared about the little guy. He saw the value in everyday people and elevated them in his work. Perhaps his views on wealth redistribution and other such political subjects differ greatly from my own, but the truths he hit on about humanity and their relationship to each other and the world around them are no less valuable. “So it goes.” is a line Vonnegut repeats in Slaughterhouse after each character dies. It’s an idea that has stuck with me since I first read it. It has stuck with me to the point that it is tattooed on my arm. Tragedy strikes, people die and such is the way of the world. All we can do is move forward and keep the people and experiences we love in our memories. So it goes. He was not a fan of conservative Christians and probably would not be thrilled with me as a fan. In true Vonnegut fashion, that makes me want to read his work all the more.
