A Study On Kurt Vonnegut’s The Sirens Of Titan From The Perspective Of Dystopia

Kurt Vonnegut is one of the most significant and prolific postmodern writers incontemporary American literary arena. Over the past half century, he has published14novels as well as numerous pieces of short fictions, essays and dramas. Relying on hisresourceful imagination and laborious experience, he has successfully expressed hishumanitarian thoughts and blueprint of the postmodern world in his works. Persistently, heattempts various techniques and forms of art aiming to present readers withthought-provoking postmodern literary works. Standing in a future point of view, he hasanalyzed problems in modern society with unique insight. In the context of rapiddevelopment of the world and science and technology, he has put forward his confusionand doubt. Consistently, he thinks profoundly about the meaning of existence and the valueof interpersonal relationships, based on which he has proposed his conception of anidealized society.In The Sirens of Titan, Vonnegut has created a critical dystopian world, where peopleare living under threatens of totalitarianism and wars and indifference between humanbeings are everywhere. Extremely desperate and hopeless, Vonnegut has brought up hiscomprehension of the meaning of existence and a utopian world through the absurdexperience and final awakening of Malachi Constant, the anti-hero in The Sirens of Titan.In his opinion, no matter how advanced the science and technology could be, the meaningof existence depends on love and concern for each other and an authentic utopia existssolely in the boundless and eternal imagination and creativity of human beings. To achievethe goal of utopia, man can depend on nothing but himself. Only through generous spiritand luxuriant imagination as well as constant introspection can human beings overcomethreatens of totalitarianism and obtain genuine freedom and liberation.Analyzing from the dystopian perspective, this thesis is divided into three parts. Tostart with, it depicts totalitarianism in the novel, which has two patterns of manifestation,one is political control through military means at home and another is external invasion.Then it discusses ideology control within the country, which as well includes two forms,first is the control of the minds via religion and the other is through modern science andtechnology. Finally, it puts forward the rebellion and redemption to fight against the dystopian rule. In the dystopian world where science and technology are alienated,Vonnegut has not only pointed out the problems of a centralized society, but also expressedprofound humanistic care. Personages under his pen are in desperate need for freedom,friendship, kinship and affection and attempt to find the meaning of life in infiniteimagination and creation.