Kurt Vonnegut Essay

Litature is a major contributory factor in a decade. In the 70s there were several break-out authors who we still read and look up to today. Among them are John Updike, Joyce Carol Oates, Kurt Vonnegut, Toni Morrison, Neil Simon, Sam Sheperd, Agatha Christie, Robert C. Atkins, Christina Crawford, Richard Nixon, Carl Sagan, and Stephen King. Robert C. Atkins is responsible for the Atkins Diet which has taken America by storm. Christina Crawford is responsible for the book Mommie Dearest, which gave an in depth view into the life of Christina Crawford growing up as Joan Crawford's daughter. Richard Nixon wrote the book Memoirs of Richard Nixon. And Stephen King debuted in 1979 with his first big name book, The Dead Zone. Toni Morrison was born Chloe
While Vonnegut struggled in his chemistry and biology studies, he excelled as a columnist and managing editor for the Cornell Daily Sun. But by 1943 Vonnegut was on the verge of being asked to leave Cornell due to his lackluster academic performance. He beat Cornell to the punch by enlisting in the army. By this point Vonnegut's parents had given up on life, being unable to adjust to or accept the fact that they were no longer wealthy, world travellers. On May 14, 1944, his mother committed suicide by overdosing on sleeping pills. His father was to remain a fairly isolated man the rest of his days, in full retreat from life, content to be in his own little world until his death on October 1, 1957. On December 14, 1944, Vonnegut became a German prisoner of war after being captured in the Battle of the Bulge. He was sent to Dresden, an open city that produced no war machinery; thus it was off-limits to allied bombing. He and his fellow POW's were to work in a vitamin-syrup factory. On February 13, 1945, however, allied forces strafed Dresden, killing 135,000 unprotected civilians. Vonnegut and the other POW's survived the bombing as they waited it out deep in the cellar of a slaughterhouse, where they were