| Scope and method of study. The purpose of the study is to show that Kurt Vonnegut's seemingly conflicting thematic concerns can be unified through an examination of Vonnegut's use of "character," rationality, and deterministic reality. The study is restricted to Vonnegut's early novels, Player Piano to Slapstick, and to his fiction in general.;Findings and conclusions. Vonnegut's characters lose their identity to a deterministic system and regain only part of it through a brief rebellion against the system. Vonnegut also seems to undermine the concept of rationality in its three connotations of reasoning, sanity, and wisdom. Moreover, the subject of deterministic reality covers not only the determinism of Vonnegut's universe but also the responses his characters have toward determinism. |
