An Attack On America :: essays research papers

Vonnegut uses satire, from straightforward innuendo and wit to burlesque, sarcasm and cosmic irony to attack Ameri rat society in the 1950s and 1960s. These forms of satire corporation be seen in dribble Temptation, Welcome to the Monkey nursing home and All the Kings Men. In Miss Temptation, Susannas diabolic beauty (75) or evil beauty mad Puritanism to f completely into such(prenominal) disrepair (75). The innuendo of Vonneguts opening sentence attacks the so-called modern thinkers of the daylight and the ignorance and attitudes of the 1950s conformist people. Vonnegut compares American civilization to that of the Puritans, who were extremely intolerant of anything incompatible and posses the epitome of conformity. Puritans did not even go to plays or shows, and Susanna was an actress (77). The theme of Puritanism and innocent sexual innuendo is carried on throughout the story. Hinkley laments that all of his pleasures are look at what used to be pleasures (81). Hinkley al ong with the rest of the town, find their unaccompanied enjoyment throughout the day is by watching Susannas tink walk around the town. Suppressed by Puritan attitudes, the townspeople can only enjoy Susanna from afar. Wit is also used in Miss Temptation, as Susanna uses it against untouched. Susanna criticizes ladened and the other dumb toots (86) who judge her y her appearance. She could not help it if Fuller wanted to kiss her (86) and asks, whose fault is that? (86). It was not Susannas fault that she was born with feathery hair (75) and black eyes. Fuller hated Susanna merely because she was a girl and supposedly made to a greater extent people unhappy (78) than happy. It was not the town that was unhappy with Susanna, but Fuller who felt that beautiful girls gave him a pain (82). The wit and irony of it all is that Fuller caused Susanna more pain than he ever felt from a girl by excluding her from the hu macrocosm race. Sarcasm is also used in the story. Fuller criticizes American women as being the greatest actresses in the cosmos (77), only to put an ice cube (77) in a mans hand. In Welcome to the Monkey House, Puritan morality and morals are taken a step farther to criminal any pleasure including sex, even for reproduction, thus science and morals go hand in hand (31). Just like Fuller took the humanity out of Susanna because of her sexuality and sensualness, the ethical suicide parlors and ethical suicide anovulatory drug took the humanness out of the society as a whole.