... soldiers. As a prisoner of war, he witnessed the Allied bombing of the city of Dresden, in which more than 135,000 people died due to the resulting fires (Draper, 3785). This experience had a profound impact on Vonnegut. From it, he developed his existential personal philosophy and his ideas about the evils of technology. He states, "I am the enemy of all technological progress that threatens mankind" (Nuwer, 39). The influence of Dresden shows up in each of the novels. In Cat's Cradle, one element of his experience at Dresden that Vonnegut portrays is his fear of technology. Initially, the intention of the story is for the narrator to write about what the scientis ...
Words: 2012 - Pages: 8
... is poor that he must rely on a boy to provide for him his necessities of life. The boy is attached to the man but his parents will not let him fish with the man because he has become so unlucky. So the man goes alone on his skiff out to the sea, doing the most he possibly can with his weathered and deteriorating body. The man going alone with no help from the boy is an important factor in the story which is based upon independence of spirit and the drive of one man against nature. Life brings challenges and obstacles and seem to be a large problem to an individual at the time they occur, but in the reality of the big picture the problems are not that important. W ...
Words: 737 - Pages: 3
... all the hills and vales in my wood yard, and the ground was already strewn with the dead and dying, both red and black.” This is the first reference to the Trojans and their war. The Myrmidons were the people of ancient Thessaly who followed their king, Achilles, to the Trojan War. “Or perchance he was some Achilles, who had nourished his wrath apart, and had now come to avenge or rescue his Patroclus.” This statement was in reference to a little red ant, who either dispatched his last foe without a scratch or had come green from the home-front. Either way, the little red ant was described as being full of excitement and ready to fight. There a ...
Words: 853 - Pages: 4
... or wrestler." (THAAL, pg. 2513) The author wants the reader to see that Billy has strength as well as beauty. He also goes on to make an allusion between "young Alexander", Alexander the Great, and Billy to create an image of a powerful figure. (THAAL, pg. 2513) Melville compares Billy's physical appearance to that of Alexander the conqueror creating an image of a superior being. Billy is an "honest soul" and wants simple peace and quiet. (THAAL, pg. 2514) The simple peace that he seeks may represent the romantic view of a noble savage, who has goodness because he is untainted by the corruption in society. Melville has interest in the noble sava ...
Words: 603 - Pages: 3
... to learn and improve their knowledge. People would rely on the computers rather than "try to memorize enough to match someone else who knows" (Nine Tomorrows, Profession 55). People would not chose to study, they would only want to be educated by computer tapes. Putting in knowledge would take less time than reading books and memorizing something that would take almost no time using a computer in the futuristic world that Asimov describes. Humans might began to rely on computers and allow them to control themselves by letting computers educate people. Computers would start teaching humans what computers tell them without having any choice of creativity. Com ...
Words: 865 - Pages: 4
... to his servants not to leave the house. The servants naturally left the house, thinking the master would be out for the rest of the night. Montressor had told them not to leave knowing that they most defiantly would. The house was now empty and perfect for his plot. Montressor led Fortunato into the gloomy depths of the vaults. The humidity caused Fortunato to cough so Montressor gave him more to drink. He made it seem like he cared about Fortunato's cough when he was actually trying to get him more drunk than he already was. Montressor's evil is shown when he responds to another one of Fortunato's insults by saying "Nemo me impune lacessit", which m ...
Words: 551 - Pages: 3
... "Of Their Voyage…" , he tells of a sailor "..of a lusty, able body.." who "would always be condemning the poor people in their sickness and cursing them daily….he didn't let to tell them that he hoped to help cast half of them overboard before they came to their journey's end". But, "it pleased God before they came half-seas over, to smite this young man with a grievous disease, of which he died in a desperate manner, and so was himself the first that was thrown overboard". Bradford believes that the sailor died because God was punishing him. According to Bradford, the sailor's cursing, and mistreatment of the other passengers displeased God, so God punis ...
Words: 1755 - Pages: 7
... with "beautiful stuff and poetry"(111). He even appraises the chairs, noting they are "nice split-bottom chairs, and perfectly sound, too-not bagged down in the middle and busted, like an old basket"(111). It is apparent Huck is more familar with busted chairs than sound ones, and he appreciates the distinction. Huck is also more familiar with flawed families than loving, virtuous ones, and he is happy to sing the praises of the people who took him in. Col. Grangerford "was a gentleman all over; and so was his family"(116). The Colonel was kind, well-mannered, quiet and far from frivolish. Everyone wanted to be around him, and he gave Huck confidence. Unlike the dr ...
Words: 1506 - Pages: 6
... And each week, we could hope to be lucky. That hope was our only joy." (p. 12) Really, this was their only joy. The mothers grew up during perilous times in China. They all were taught "to desire nothing, to swallow other people’s misery, to eat [their] own bitterness." (p. 241) Though not many of them grew up terribly poor, they all had a certain respect for their elders, and for life itself. These Chinese mothers were all taught to be honorable, to the point of sacrificing their own lives to keep any family members’ promise. Instead of their daughters, who "can promise to come to dinner, but if she wants to watch a favorite movie on TV, she no longer has a ...
Words: 688 - Pages: 3
... care of someone beside herself: her colored friend, Starletta, and her dying mother. Ellen's parents die, and her grandmother dies, but this isn’t really a great loss for Ellen. Her mother was a frail and sick woman whom Ellen was constantly protecting from her drunken father. For a time, Ellen’s Art teacher, Julia, and her husband move Ellen into their home. She feels, for the first time, that she is apart of a loving family. She describes, in the book, “ the three of us could pass for a family on the street.” {P. 55} Unfortunately, the juvenile courts system must always intervene, and her mean old Grandmother takes over her life. Her grandmother treats her badly. ...
Words: 666 - Pages: 3
