ipl-logo

What Is The Theme Of 2 B By Kurt Vonnegut

1015 Words5 Pages

The short story, “2 B R 0 2 B”, written by Kurt Vonnegut, is a science fiction short story published in January of 1962. The story is about a futuristic world in which all problems are solved like crimes, disabilities, or diseases. One of the main problems that was solved was finding a cure for aging. While this might seem like the dream to some, in reality it is pretty depressing having to deal with population control, and in this world people are praised for committing suicide to make room for new kids to be born. During the story, the main protagonist Wehling is talking to two people that work for the Federal Bureau of Termination, and they think that life is great. For Wehling however, life couldn’t be worse, he and his wife had just had …show more content…

Towards the middle of, “2 B R 0 2 B” Wehling finally starts to talk to the other characters. Dr. Hitz tells him that his triplets have just been born and he’s going to see them and Wehling, without emotion, says “hooray”. The doctor points out that Wehling doesn’t sound that happy, to which he says, “What man in my shoes wouldn’t be happy… All I have to do is pick out which one of the triplets is going to live, then deliver my maternal grandfather to the Happy Hooligan, and come back here with a receipt” (Vonnegut 5). When Wehling says this, the reader can clearly tell that he is being sarcastic and a lot of things are being said in this one sentence. One that he really points out is how he has to kill two of his triplets and only let one of them live, showing how inhumane this world has become because of needing population control. Another point that he makes is when he says he has to give his grandpa the Happy Hooligan and bring the receipt. For context, the Happy Hooligan is a nickname given to one of the suicide gas chambers in order to make it seem cheerful. Back to what Wehling said, he’s really pointing out the fact that paying to be killed like it’s a normal thing is just so inhumane and that death should be looked upon as a bad thing, not a good thing, and that you should enjoy life in the moment, not be thinking about how you’re going to die. The author uses both of these to show how solving the problem of aging created a huge problem of overpopulation, thus causing people to normalize and look up to

Show More
Related

Kurt Vonnegut Rhetorical Analysis

59 Words | 1 Pages

the idea of equality was taken to the extreme. Satire is also used to exaggerate how awful equality is to persuade readers to believe that total equality will violate human rights. Kurt Vonnegut also uses symbols such as handicaps which make everyone equal and Harrison Bergeron to display the lack of freedom present in a world of total equality.

Read More

Book Thief Quotes

1098 Words | 5 Pages

“ Just as risk leads to more risk, life to more life, and death to more death.” Pg 83 This quote is important as it shows the readers how the theme of the book, death, is supported by the events and characters. Death is one the main themes shown throughout the book, and that the narrator of the story is death himself, Death is shown throughout the whole book at times through war, bombs, suicide, and old age. He is something that no one can escape and all the characters in the story show an understanding of this concept. But death is misunderstood to have no feeling when he has some feelings or at least knows when things are not fair to even though he said that all he is fair (contradicting himself).

Read More

Kurt Vonnegut: Prisoners Of War

1749 Words | 7 Pages

Victorious conquerors have taken prisoners of war in conflicts across human history. The foreign prison camps of the World Wars were infamous for their cruelty. However, many people are not aware that millions of German prisoners of war were placed in hundreds of camps all across America. These prisoners had their own unique experiences that differed significantly from prisoners held in foreign POW camps. Kurt Vonnegut voices his own traumatizing prisoner of war experience through the main character of Slaughterhouse-Five.

Read More

How Did Kurt Vonnegut Change Literature

879 Words | 4 Pages

It’s a day that would start a series of events that would change literature forever. So it goes. November 11, 1922, Methodist Hospital, Indianapolis Indiana Edith Vonnegut gives birth to one of the most influential writers of the 20th century, he is named after his father, Kurt Vonnegut Sr. And So it goes. Kurt Vonnegut Jr. was a man of many shades,

Read More

The Farming Of Bones By Edwidge Danticat

823 Words | 4 Pages

He interprets a death mask, wood, and religion to foreshadow the importance of memory and that everyone’s life is worth remembering.

Read More

2br02b Death Parlors As Ethical Suicide Studios

536 Words | 3 Pages

In "2BR02B" hostesses made people comfortable by referring to their suicides as anything but the term "suicide"; this includes terms like "weep-no-more" and "why worry". Vonnegut showed this in the short-story by introducing institutions such as "Kiss-me-quick," "Lucky Pierre”,"Waring Blendor," "Weep-no-more" and "Why Worry?”. Another reason why hostesses called death parlors “Ethical Suicide Studios” was because the death parlors solved the problem they had with overpopulation. As it claimed in the short-story 2BR02B " In the year 2000," said Dr. Hitz, "before scientists stepped in and laid down the law, there wasn't even enough drinking water to go around, and nothing to eat but sea-weed”.

Read More

Hi Tracie: An Insight To A Natural Day In A Person's Life

181 Words | 1 Pages

Hi Tracie, Banks makes a good point about the human condition and gives an insight to a natural day in people’s life. In the story, I love the idea of losing. The loss is an unavoidable event found in everyday life and a crisis like a bomb explodes in someone’s life because it is not something that tends to cause pleasure when experienced. Throughout the story, the character Chappie experiences the loss of something that is very important to him, which is his parent. This loss triggered a feeling of lack of meaning and purpose in life within him.

Read More

Analysis Of An Echo Sonnet To An Empty Page

1363 Words | 6 Pages

Pack utilizes multiple literary devices and a modified Shakespearean sonnet structure to illustrate the speaker’s struggle between appreciating the serenity of death and accepting an unforeseeable future. More broadly, this poem serves as an existentialist commentary on how humans can make meaning out of present circumstances, even despite the chaotic nature of the future, the inevitable nature of death, and the ultimate futility of life. In the first two quatrains, Pack establishes the speaker’s confusion and effort to reconcile himself to the idea of death. He questions the importance of grief and joy, when there is nothing else to experience.

Read More

Kurt Vonnegut: A Literary Analysis

2045 Words | 9 Pages

“The year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal”1 is a statement that in the mouth of the American writer should sound at least victorious. However, Kurt Vonnegut in the opening line of his dystopian short story Harrison Bergeron creates a highly ironical declaration, which he later ridicules by the following story. The author who gained his fame by writing the novel Slaughterhouse-Five, describes the world supposedly equal and free, but entirely bound by the laws that command the lives of people. That describes also fairly well the second short story 2 B R 0 2 B, which title refers to the famous phrase “to be or not to be”2 from William Shakespeare 's Hamlet, as mentioned in the text, “the trick telephone number that people who didn 't

Read More

What Is Vonnegut's Choice Of Structure

132 Words | 1 Pages

Vonnegut's choice of structure in "Fortitude" allows him to explore the effects of war on multiple characters and their relationships. By using a variety of narrative techniques, including letters, fragmented sentences, and thorough conversations, Vonnegut creates a complex and compelling story that highlights the resilience and courage. The letters provide insight into Kennedy's experiences and his attempts to cope with the stresses of war. The structure of the letters allows Vonnegut to reveal Kennedy's inner thoughts and emotions. The structure of the section where he used the fragmented sentences creates a sense of urgency and tension, as he tries to draw the reader into Susanna's desperate struggle to survive.

Read More

2b02b Kurt Vonnegut Analysis

516 Words | 3 Pages

The story, “2BR02B” by Kurt Vonnegut tells the story of a world where there is controlled population, old aged and diseases were overcome, and the world was seemingly positive. In this place humans call their home, certain people volunteer to ie, and the population continued to stay controlled. The Wehling family are expecting three triplets, but they must need to find 3 people to sacrifice. Dr.Hitz, Leora Duncan, and the father of the newborn children are killed, with the painter creating an amazing mural willing to be killed after seeing all the deaths unfold. This leads to the question, is the world really worth sacrificing yourself for others?

Read More

Summary Of 2BR02B By Kurt Vonnegut

439 Words | 2 Pages

Sometimes people forget that there are often many flaws in seemingly perfect things. They imagine perfection, but there will still be many factors that were overlooked. The author of “2BR02B”, Kurt Vonnegut, realizes that perfection will never be achieved. Even in the far future when there are many new, helpful innovations and perfection will be strived for, it is not obtainable. Through Vonnegut’s use of setting and symbolism, it is evident that he feels that there will always be flaws.

Read More

The Giver: A Perfect Society

740 Words | 3 Pages

The people in the book couldn’t handle major emotions if they were introduced to them. One emotion that they are not familiar with is loss, this dystopia explains death as “release.” The population is raised to believe that people just disappear or go away. While these citizens do not know it, people are actually euthanized. “As he continued to watch, the newchild, no longer crying, moved his arms and legs in a jerking motion.

Read More

Because I Could Not Stop For Death Essay

975 Words | 4 Pages

Through personification the speaker depicts death as a gentlemen, and not someone who brutally takes our lives quickly, but in a courteous manner. The use of symbolism to describe three locations as three stages of life. These three stages are used to show our childhood,adulthood, and us as elderly soon about to meet death, The speaker also uses imagery to show that all death is a simple cold, then we go to a resting place which is the grave, and from there on we move on toward eternity. Death is a part of life that we all need to embrace, and learn that it is not meant to be

Read More

Theme Of Death In Fairy Tales

1535 Words | 7 Pages

The story teaches three important lessons about death: death is fair to all, death can not be cheated and death is more powerful than mortals. Through this story the grimm brothers show that death does not differentiate between all man. In the beginning of the story a man chooses death as a godfather to his son, he explains he does this because “[you(death)] are the right person- you make no difference between the rich and the poor”. The lesson to be learned from this is that death doesn’t pick who to take based on who they are in their in the mortal life, people die no matter the possessions they have. This can be taken into an ever deeper lesson that teaches that possessions are only temporary and one should not get too obsessed with what the have because none of this will matter when death comes for them.

Read More

More about What Is The Theme Of 2 B By Kurt Vonnegut

Related Topics

Open Document