Vonnegut, Baldwin, and Hannah

Kurt Vonnegut’s “Fates Worse Than Death”

In this work, Vonnegut discusses in a jovial manner war and the inevitable extinction of the human race. I found his beliefs on the unity that television provides interesting. My cable has been out for over a month, and I feel lost without my daily dose of “The Morning Show” or “Good Morning America.” I listened to these shows while getting ready for class. Because I rarely have time to sit down and read the newspaper, I have absolutely no idea what’s going on in the world right now. I agree with Vonnegut’s views that television ignites apathy on wars and violence. Nowadays, it seems as if a vast amount of people believe in alternative and less volatile ways of national progression.


James Baldwin’s “Going to Meet the Man”

The “picnic” description at the end of this story is probably one of the more disturbing things that I’ve read in quite a while. To me, it seems as if Jesse would have been encouraged to form views opposite of his father’s after witnessing such a heinous act. Perhaps, he was so young when he experienced this event that he immediately became numb to it. Baldwin expresses how Jesse imagines himself holding the knife that the white man uses to cut the runaway slave. He screams with excitement when everyone rushes up to beat the black man in unison. This story shows the significant impact that parents have on their children and what they believe.


Barry Hannah’s “Midnight and I’m Not Famous Yet”

Because Hannah does not (or doesn’t seem to) provide much of a plot, I had an extremely hard time focusing on the story. The last few paragraphs seemed the most thought provoking. In these final paragraphs, he describes the negative impact that Vietnam had on the narrator. Unfortunately, this effect is not uncommon with war veterans (especially those who fought in Vietnam). Hannah’s conclusion was quite clever in that he compares the conclusion of a war to that of a football game.