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Dr. Remenzel In Kurt Vonnegut's The Lie

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“Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value,” is a quote from Albert Einstein. Dr. Remenzel, a character in the short story “The Lie” written by Kurt Vonnegut, tried too hard to be a successful man that he forgot about his morals and forgot be a man of value. Within this short story, Dr. Remenzel would harp on his wife and son about being good examples. Not only this but, he would ensure that they wouldn’t, under any circumstances, go searching for a hand out because of their last name. Throughout the journey, the only one to break, not just one but, both of the rules happens to be Dr. Remenzel himself. For this very reason, Dr. Remenzel’s character changed the most throughout this story, which ranges from confident to furious to even hypocritical within a few hours. …show more content…

Remenzel was adamant on Eli not receiving anything special and was passionate about this issue. “ ‘Let me tell you in no certain terms.’ said Doctor Remenzel, ‘that you are not to ask for anything special for Eli ­ not anything.’ ” This passage expresses that Dr. Remenzel was bold, confident, and he was concerned about his social image. From this passage, a reader can infer that this would be Dr. Remenzel’s natural and original personality. However, he goes from confident and proud to furious due to his son’s false school admission. The story states that “Doctor Remenzel stood impressively, angry and determined.” Angry, even furious, is a way to explain Dr. Remenzel’s emotions at that time, which is completely different from his bold and confident self earlier. Some are led to believe that Eli changed the most because his lie was revealed over the course of the story; however, Dr. Remenzel changed the most because he becomes hypocritical. “Doctor Remenzel, in his wretchedness, could find no works to say. ‘I apologize to you both,’ he said at last. ‘It was a very bad thing to try.’ ” This proves perfectly that

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Alas, when everything goes according to plans, even the strongest of plans are in and of themselves flawed and will eventually crumble. Perfection is a concept of fantasies and faux realities, everything and everyone will have their imperfections, and Doctor Remenzel is of no exception. Even with all of the money to his name, he isn’t invincible, he deals with all of the internal struggles and conflicts as everyone

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