Questioning the Value of Literary Realism in...

Questioning the Value of Literary Realism in Slaughterhouse Five, Cats Cradle, and Mother Night In questioning the value of literary realism, Flannery OConnor has written, I am interested in making a good case for distortion because it is the only way to make people see. Kurt Vonnegut writes pessimistic novels, or at least he did back in the sixties. Between Slaughterhouse Five, Mother Night, and Cats Cradle, Vonnegut paints a cynical and satirical picture of the degradation of society using distortion as the primary means to express himself. In Cats Cradle, the reader is confronted with the story of the narrator, John, as he attempts to gather material to write a book on the human aspect of the day Japan was bombed. As the†¦show more content†¦By doing this, the people could all employed full time as actors in a play they understood, that human being everywhere could enjoy and applaud (144). So became Bokononism, one of the men taking charge of the government, and the other, Bokonon, retreating into the forest to preach his faith. After exploring the theory of Bokononism, and machinations of the men behind it, the reader is left wondering if Vonnegut is implying that democracy and our American ideals could be, perhaps, an elaborate hoax. Bo konons words: I wanted all things To seem to make more sense, So we all could be happy, yes Instead of tense. And I made up lies So that they would all fit nice And I made this sad world A par-a-dise (109) Upon his arrival at San Lorenzo, John is struck by the illusionary visage that the island projects. From his room in the luxurious Casa Mona, he is blessed with a view of the islands one paved street, the harbor, the airport, and a multiplicity of well manicured lawns and hedges. However, the squalor and misery of the city, being to the sides and back of the Casa Mona, were impossible to see (131). This clouded sense of beauty projected by the hotel may be interpreted as yet another metaphor blasting the concept of nationality. Perhaps the bells and whistles decorating our freedom and independence are merely distracting us from the corruption and destruction being planned behind the scenes? Perhaps we really have no