Welcome To The Monkey House

Kurt Vonnegut’s writing style in Welcome to the Monkey House varies from that of Slaughterhouse-Five. It is more conventional and sticks to more characteristics of postmodernist literature. Literary critics of his works recognize this, among other differences. These differing characteristics include conveying a sense that little is unique, questioning cultural beliefs and ideas often using irony, and using new literary techniques. These elements of postmodernism are best shown by four of Vonnegut’s short stories. These include “Harrison Bergeron”, “EPICAC”, “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow”, and “Report on the Barnhouse Effect”. The same ideas which are treated in the novels appear as well in Vonnegut’s science-fiction short stories” (Wood.

In Slaughterhouse-Five, Vonnegut uses irony to express these messages, whereas in his short stories, these messages remain in the undertones of the situations and their conclusions. This is displayed in “Report on the Barnhouse Effect” from Welcome to the Monkey House. The professor appealed to Mr. Cuthrell. “Look,” he pleaded, “Isn’t it war and military matters we’re all trying to get rid of?” (Report. 182). Later on, this character expresses their beliefs through their actions, “Since that day, of course, the professor has been systematically destroying the world’s armaments, until there is now little with which to equip an army other than rocks and sharp sticks” (Report. 185). Vonnegut expresses in Slaughterhouse-Five the irony of war and what it can cause, saying, “A whole city is burned down, and thousands of people are killed. And then this one American foot soldier is arrested in the ruins for taking a teapot” (Slaughterhouse. 5). As said by Vonnegut, “The irony is so great” (Slaughterhouse. 5). These quotes demonstrate Vonnegut’s tendency to use irony to express his anti-war beliefs in his