https://padlet.com/ebisan7105/8kmaon0nfvu6m0ct Eliot Bisant en-us 2022-02-28 12:37:12 UTC 2022-03-09 03:26:38 UTC hello@padlet.com ebisan7105 https://padlet.com/ebisan7105/8kmaon0nfvu6m0ct/wish/2069383498 Vonnegut's writing depicts characters that do not support the idea of the American Dream. In fact, these characters are manipulated by the wealthy and are unable to achieve their goals as result

1. Vonnegut thinks the American Dream was unfair because it shifts the blame on poor people. 
2. Vonnegut lost faith in America and became disenfranchised.
3. It shows how people in America are not caring for one another and people in America should try to come together and be kind.

]]> 2022-02-28 12:46:44 UTC https://padlet.com/ebisan7105/8kmaon0nfvu6m0ct/wish/2069383498 ebisan7105 https://padlet.com/ebisan7105/8kmaon0nfvu6m0ct/wish/2069400093 This article "Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle Expresses Alienation" describes events which influenced Vonnegut's view point of the American dream. His parents were originally successful. Vonnegut’s dad was an architect and his mother was a heiress. Later Vonnegut’s family started to hurt financially because of the stock market crash that took place in 1929. Vonnegut was taken as a prisoner of the war in Dresden during World War 2. The stock market crash caused his family to lose a lot of money and that made him view the American economy as an unfair system where the American Dream of upward mobility is an illusion. Vonnegut's experiences as a veteran in the war contributed to his depression and other mental health issues. These events contributed to his thoughts on the American Dream and how he thought it does not help everybody. Vonnegut's experiences as a veteran of the war led him to become an anti-war activist and likely also contributed to his view that there were injustices in America that prevented people from achieving the goals of the American Dream. 

]]> 2022-02-28 12:58:09 UTC https://padlet.com/ebisan7105/8kmaon0nfvu6m0ct/wish/2069400093 ebisan7105 https://padlet.com/ebisan7105/8kmaon0nfvu6m0ct/wish/2069401240 His family was unemployed and Vonnegut was young at the time of the Great Depression so it was hard for him and his family to obtain employment and stay successful. “Vonnegut grew up in Indianapolis in a well-to-do family, although his father, an architect, was unemployed during much of the Great Depression” (EB Editors par. 2). Vonnegut’s family's trouble of obtaining employment during the Great Depression encouraged him to question the idea that the American Dream allows people to succeed. His family was trying their best in a rough part of American history and that did not work out for them. 

]]> 2022-02-28 12:59:04 UTC https://padlet.com/ebisan7105/8kmaon0nfvu6m0ct/wish/2069401240 ebisan7105 https://padlet.com/ebisan7105/8kmaon0nfvu6m0ct/wish/2077291549 Kurt Vonnegut was a disenchanted American and he had lost faith in America because he believed that people in society did not seem to care for each other. “Kurt was a disenchanted American. He believed in America. He believed in its ideals. And what he wrote in his books was kind of a disenchantment. He wanted babies to enter a world where they could be treated well, and he wanted to emphasize that people should be kind to one another” (National Public Radio par. 13). Vonnegut believed that people in America are not looking out for each others interest. He wanted children to be born into a world where people are kind. He became disenchanted with the current state of American society because the American Dream was being interpreted as being about selfishness and the pursuit of materialistic goals. 

]]> 2022-03-04 04:31:44 UTC https://padlet.com/ebisan7105/8kmaon0nfvu6m0ct/wish/2077291549 ebisan7105 https://padlet.com/ebisan7105/8kmaon0nfvu6m0ct/wish/2077294644 Kurt Vonnegut's use of social commentary in his writing allowed him to express how he feels about the American Dream. “He blended literature with science fiction and humor, and the absurd with pointed social commentary. Vonnegut created his own unique world in each of his novels and filled them with unusual characters, such as the alien race known as tralfamadorians in Slaughterhouse-Five” (Biography.com Editors, par. 1). Kurt Vonnegut creatively used science fiction and humor to critique the American Dream concept. A good example of this is Billy’s dreams about the alien planet of Tralfamadore. Vonnegut wrote about different fantasies which included success and being able to succeed is a big part of the American Dream. Vonnegut’s characters like Billy usually dreamed about some successes but their successes were not really tied to the reality of the suffering they were experiencing. 

]]> 2022-03-04 04:33:59 UTC https://padlet.com/ebisan7105/8kmaon0nfvu6m0ct/wish/2077294644 ebisan7105 https://padlet.com/ebisan7105/8kmaon0nfvu6m0ct/wish/2085268660 2022-03-09 03:26:38 UTC https://padlet.com/ebisan7105/8kmaon0nfvu6m0ct/wish/2085268660