Weblog
09/24/03 11:02 PM: kurt vonnegut
as any educated american knows*, kurt vonnegut is the world reknown author of best sellers such has “cat’s cradle” and “the slaughterhouse five.” his humanist views have made him a figurehead for modern philosophy, and today, more than ever, his anti-war and anti-technological views allow modern readers to associate with his works, as well as readers from the early days of his publications.
mr. vonnegut recently spoke at the university of wisconsin at madison, a three and half hour trek from isu. this did not deter myself and four others from hopping into my ‘91 acura legend and whoring ourselves out to see him speak at the student union.
monday’s speech from vonnegut consisted of a reciting of a speech he gave at the mark twain house in connecticut, in which he detailed his philosophies of life and related them to current events in the government and in the world. vonnegut is a humanist, meaning that he rejects the supernatural in favor of a scientific approach to life. vonnegut holds several degrees, including degrees in anthropology and biochemistry, and uses this background as basis for his theories.
he detailed his beliefs for the first half of his speech, before approaching a chalkboard to his right, where he drew two axis. the vertical was labeled “good/bad” and the horizontal was “beginning/ending.” the two axis intersected in the middle of the vertical axis, and vonnegut drew a sine and cosine curve, explaining that most peoples lives followed this sinusodial curves through life, having good and bad days along the way. he then recounted three stories – the classic children’s story of cinderella, franz kafka’s “metamorphosis ,” and shakespeare’s “hamlet.”
cinderella’s story started halfway down the “bad” half of the vertical axis. if proceeded for a foot or so along that half, to represent her life with her father and stepmother and stepsisters. then, he drew three steps, to represent her fairy godmother’s gifts for her. the line then spiked up, representing the ball, and quickly fell again, after the stroke of midnight. then, it lulled at “bad” for a while before again spiking up, after the prince found her. he sent the line up and off the board, drawing the infinity sign – she was infinately happy.
next was kafka’s classic story. gregor is already having a pretty drab and dull life, hence why his life was classified to be on the “bad” axis. the line dips down off the board, to infinity in the negative direction. why? because he’s a “fucking beetle” (vonnegut’s words, not mine).
lastly was an analysis of “hamlet.” vonnegut explained the plot, and continued to draw a line. the line, however, is completely horizontal, and in the “bad” half of the graph once again. vonnegut explained that hamlet let a very pathetic and mundane life, but since shakespeare was such a brillant playwright, he was able to make hamlet into a hero.
vonnegut then ended his speech by talking about the influences of his life – his family and music, mainly. he talked about how each and every one of us should learn every day, and be creative as well, and to allow ourselves to be moved by simple pleasures. he left us with “swan” lake in the background, dancing off stage in as graceful a manner as his 80 year old self could be.
he was holding a special “question and answer” session for those who were involved with the committees at madison that inviting him to speak. we snuck into this session, where vonnegut was asked a wide range of questions, from what his favorite musician was, to his take on the current events in iraq, to how to keep hope alive, and how to cope with suicide. he was sassy and answered only what he wished, and if he didn’t want to answer, he would quip “i don’t have to explain to you every little thing i do!” the last question he was asked was “what are you afraid of?” after much thought, vonnegut simply replied “stinkin’ up the joint.” and he got up and left us, hanging, in his simple vonnegut way.
caitlin, one of my cohorts on the trip, shouted behind him “want to go to pizza with us!” vonnegut turned and smiled. i will never forgot the look in his eyes.
*none of my non-american friends know of vonnegut, and about eight others who’ve i’ve relayed this information to knew of him, so i just assumed everyone else was uneducated because they do not know of his work.
joey
farid
adrienne
i don’t know why but that illicited so much laughter in my gut that i almost fell out of my chair. it may be the sleep deprivation. more details later.