Schlenk

Rosalie Schlenk

Dr. Haspel

ENGL 137H

October 10, 2012

Analysis of Kurt Vonnegut’s Cold Turkey

As an author, Kurt Vonnegut has a very distinctive manner of writing. What could be

classified as pessimism is an ongoing attitude throughout Vonnegut’s many works. Although this

negative tendency might seem initially aggressive, it is an essential characteristic of the overall

successful delivery of the intended message. In Cold Turkey, the reader is brought to attention by

the biting remarks and criticism and is therefore more alert to other unique qualities of the

writing. The rhetorical nature of his essay is intrinsic to the purpose of Vonnegut’s writing.

Vonnegut effectively uses rhetorical proofs in Cold Turkey to critique human nature and society.

Cold Turkey was published in In These Times, the website for a progressive, Democratic

magazine. The average readers could be assumed to be liberal and already predisposed to share

at least some basic views with Vonnegut. It is also a valid assumption that whoever is reading

this article wants to hear the opinion of the writer. The reader chose to visit the website and

search for the article; therefore, he or she already have a vested interest in the content. This

tolerant audience allows Vonnegut to take more risks in presenting his opinion. Vonnegut

certainly takes full advantage of the audience he has, utilizing an almost abrasive approach in his

writing. Phrases such as “not a chance in hell” (Vonnegut 2) and “being royally shafted”

(Vonnegut 4) bring a crude nature into Vonnegut’s writing and show his level of comfort level

with his audience. That Vonnegut would use the same language if writing for a conservative

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audience is a likely possibility based on his personality, but with the liberal audience of the

magazine, it is far more certain.

As a published author, Vonnegut already holds a position of professional superiority in

writing and intellect. Even if the reader does not recognize him as a prominent author, his

position as editor of the magazine characterizes him as an intelligent person. Throughout Cold

Turkey, Vonnegut further employs ethos to establish himself and his opinions as worthy of the

readers’ consideration. One tactical approach Vonnegut uses is deliberate and repeated emphasis

on his age. He openly admits to being 81 years old, a badge he presents as an arduously earned

honor. The phrase, “if you get to my age,” insinuates the difficulty in reaching old age and the

respect that should be given to those, such as Vonnegut, who have achieved this milestone

(Vonnegut 3). “Your own children, who are themselves middle aged” again forces the reader to

realize the significant age difference between themselves and the author (Vonnegut 3). As a

society, Americans generally respect elders and view them as wise and honorable. Vonnegut

plays on this natural tendency to give his opinions merit. He specifically reveals his date of birth,

1922, in relation to a different train of thought. This statement, however, subtly reinforces the

ongoing establishment of character. Despite frequent insinuations, Vonnegut never directly states

the idea of his age giving him authority. In fact, Vonnegut cleverly undermines his own standing

by referencing historical figure Eugene Debs, an American union leader and several time

presidential candidate for the Socialist Party of America, who died when Vonnegut “was only 4”

(Vonnegut 10). By proceeding to praise Debs, Vonnegut indirectly indicates he is not by any

means omniscient. This humbling of himself brings Vonnegut closer to the readers and ensures

they are not offended by a perceived dominance in his tone.

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Vonnegut also establishes his character through his frank use of casual and unfiltered

language. The entire essay is riddled with sarcastic comments and the occasional crude

expression. “Not a chance in hell,” is an immediate attention grabber and gives a preview as to

the conversation flow of the essay (Vonnegut 2). Instead of being preached at, the reader is being

spoken to on a level he or she can understand. Perhaps the most abrasive language in the essay is

presented up front: “they, like you, are being royally shafted” (Vonnegut 4). After the initial

shock the reader is forced to appreciate the candid nature of Vonnegut’s writing. It cannot be

said he held anything back. By use of language usually reserved for conversation among friends,

Vonnegut creates a personal bond with the reader at this point in this essay.

Vonnegut also gains the trust of his readers by revealing personal information about

himself and his life. The first personal information given is his age, swiftly followed by the

number of children and adopted children. Specifically pointing out that some of this children are

adopted shows a more compassionate side to Vonnegut and almost serves to soften the blows of

his blunt opinions. This approach also widens his appeal to a larger audience. The next personal

information divulged is the mental breakdown and institutionalization of his eldest son. What

might be considered as an embarrassing family secret, Vonnegut airs in the open almost

immediately. He then proceeds to mention his son’s subsequent graduation from Harvard

Medical School. This both tones down the shock of his son’s “crackup” and shows Vonnegut’s

pride in the turnaround (Vonnegut 5). In one sentence, Vonnegut establishes himself as an

honest, proud father, again making his assertions more palatable to the reader. Towards the end

of the essay, Vonnegut admits that his is “notoriously hooked on cigarettes” (Vonnegut 49). By

admitting his own faults, Vonnegut remains above his own criticism. It removes any power the

knowledge this vice would have given a challenger to his views. As the previous examples show,

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Vonnegut frequently uses ethos as a means to establish his character ad gain the trust of his

readers. By doing this, Vonnegut’s message is more openly perceived by the readers.

While some of Vonnegut’s presumptions may seem outlandish and extreme, he

thoroughly supports his claims with logical reasoning and factual information. Vonnegut’s

writing seeks to overturn various commonplaces in society using logos to convince his readers.

Socialist party candidate Eugene Debs and his political platform are introduced as a means to

attack the commonplace many Americans hold that socialism is evil and oppressive. “Doesn’t

anything socialist make you want o throw up? Like great public schools or health insurance for

all?” (Vonnegut 12). This juxtaposition of the negatively received word socialist and the positive

aspects it has to offer is a clever way to displace the belief of socialism’s perceived evil.

Vonnegut frequently uses this Socratic irony to force his readers to reconsider his beliefs. Again,

further into the essay, Vonnegut again employs irony when discussing the “spreading

democracy” currently happening in the Middle East (Vonnegut 43). He equates the situation to

the introduction of Christianity to the Native Americans by the Europeans. Vonnegut ends this

mockery with the jibe, “How ungrateful they were! How ungrateful are the people of Baghdad

today” (Vonnegut 44). The irony in this statement is meant to create a sense of quilt in the reader

for buying into the phony premise of the war in the Middle East. Through satire and irony,

Vonnegut dissects commonplaces he presumes his readers might hold and exposes the flaws in

their logic.

Vonnegut also appeals to logos through example. He references the famous actor and

director Mel Gibson, denouncing him for making a fortune for his movie The Passion of Christ.

Pointing out this example of the extortion of religion gives proof of Vonnegut’s beliefs on

human nature. Vonnegut also mentions for several famous works of literature to support his

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opinions, stating, “All great literature is about what a bummer it is to be a human being: Moby

Dick, Huckleberry Finn, The Red Badge of Courage, the Iliad and the Odyssey, Crime and

Punishment, the Bible, and The Charge of the Light Brigade” (Vonnegut 29)/ For anyone who

has read these works, it is impossible to disagree, Cold Turkey is riddled with rhetorical appeals

to logos in order for Vonnegut to justify hi opinions to the reader.

Vonnegut’s use of connotative language is a strong contributor his general appeal to

pathos. He uses depreciatory language to ridicule human and society as a whole. The quote,

“human beings are chimpanzees who get crazy drunk on power,” has strong use of connotative

language and derogatory insinuations (Vonnegut 2). Comparing humans to chimpanzees lowers

humanity to the level of animals, a considerable insult to any person priding him or herself on

superior intellect. “Crazy drunk” also uses connotative language to create emotions of disgust

and disapproval (Vonnegut 2). Later Vonnegut describes Mel Gibson as a “devout Catholic”

(Vonnegut 21). While this might seem to be an innocent observation, Vonnegut uses it to

amplify the crimes o profiting from making a movie about Jesus’ torture and death. This

contemptuous job is meant to make the reader agree corruption in humanity is indeed a

legitimate issue. Such pejorative language is a strong contributor to Vonnegut’s appeal to pathos.

In the essay Cold Turkey, Kurt Vonnegut successfully uses rhetorical proofs to evaluate

human nature and society. His caustic writing style and blunt approach are refreshing and

exceedingly different from typical persuasive writing. Vonnegut manages to maintain this style

while seamlessly employing rhetorical proofs in his writing. The effect is a well-composed and

ingeniously provocative essay that engages the reader and requires additional consideration of

arguments.

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Works Cited

Vonnegut, Kurt. "Cold Turkey." In These Times. In These Times, 19 May 2004. Web.

<http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/cold_turkey/>.

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Cold Turkey, labeled as referenced in analysis

Cold Turkey

By: Kurt Vonnegut

1. Many years ago, I was so innocent I still considered it possible that we could become the humane and reasonable America so many members of my generation used to dream of. We dreamed of such an America during the Great Depression, when there were no jobs. And then we fought and often died for that dream during the Second World War, when there was no peace.

2. But I know now that there is not a chance in hell of America’s becoming humane and reasonable.

Because power corrupts us, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Human beings are chimpanzees who get crazy drunk on power. By saying that our leaders are power-drunk chimpanzees, am I in danger of wrecking the morale of our soldiers fighting and dying in the Middle East? Their morale, like so many bodies, is already shot to pieces. They are being treated, as I never was, like toys a rich kid got for Christmas.

————————-3. When you get to my age, if you get to my age, which is 81, and if you have reproduced, you

will find yourself asking your own children, who are themselves middle-aged, what life is all about. I have seven kids, four of them adopted.

4. Many of you reading this are probably the same age as my grandchildren. They, like you, are being royally shafted and lied to by our Baby Boomer corporations and government.

5. I put my big question about life to my biological son Mark. Mark is a pediatrician, and author of a memoir, The Eden Express. It is about his crackup, straightjacket and padded cell stuff, from which he recovered sufficiently to graduate from Harvard Medical School.

6. Dr. Vonnegut said this to his doddering old dad: “Father, we are here to help each other get through this thing, whatever it is.” So I pass that on to you. Write it down, and put it in your computer, so you can forget it.

7. I have to say that’s a pretty good sound bite, almost as good as, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” A lot of people think Jesus said that, because it is so much the sort of thing Jesus liked to say. But it was actually said by Confucius, a Chinese philosopher, 500 years before there was that greatest and most humane of human beings, named Jesus Christ.

8. The Chinese also gave us, via Marco Polo, pasta and the formula for gunpowder. The Chinese were so dumb they only used gunpowder for fireworks. And everybody was so dumb back then that nobody in either hemisphere even knew that there was another one.

9. But back to people, like Confucius and Jesus and my son the doctor, Mark, who’ve said how we could behave more humanely, and maybe make the world a less painful place. One of my favorites is Eugene Debs, from Terre Haute in my native state of Indiana. Get a load of this:

10. Eugene Debs, who died back in 1926, when I was only 4, ran 5 times as the Socialist Party candidate for president, winning 900,000 votes, 6 percent of the popular vote, in 1912, if you can imagine such a ballot. He had this to say while campaigning:

11. As long as there is a lower class, I am in it. As long as there is a criminal element, I’m of it. As long as there is a soul in prison, I am not free.

12. Doesn’t anything socialistic make you want to throw up? Like great public schools or

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health insurance for all?13. How about Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes?

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the Earth.Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. ... And so on

14. Not exactly planks in a Republican platform. Not exactly Donald Rumsfeld or Dick Cheney stuff.

15. For some reason, the most vocal Christians among us never mention the Beatitudes. But, often with tears in their eyes, they demand that the Ten Commandments be posted in public buildings. And of course that’s Moses, not Jesus. I haven’t heard one of them demand that the Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes, be posted anywhere.

16. “Blessed are the merciful” in a courtroom? “Blessed are the peacemakers” in the Pentagon? Give me a break!

————————-17. There is a tragic flaw in our precious Constitution, and I don’t know what can be done to

fix it.This is it: Only nut cases want to be president.18. But, when you stop to think about it, only a nut case would want to be a human being, if he

or she had a choice. Such treacherous, untrustworthy, lying and greedy animals we are!19. I was born a human being in 1922 A.D. What does “A.D.” signify? That commemorates an

inmate of this lunatic asylum we call Earth who was nailed to a wooden cross by a bunch of other inmates. With him still conscious, they hammered spikes through his wrists and insteps, and into the wood. Then they set the cross upright, so he dangled up there where even the shortest person in the crowd could see him writhing this way and that.

20. Can you imagine people doing such a thing to a person?21. No problem. That’s entertainment. Ask the devout Roman Catholic Mel Gibson, who, as

an act of piety, has just made a fortune with a movie about how Jesus was tortured. Never mind what Jesus said.

22. During the reign of King Henry the Eighth, founder of the Church of England, he had a counterfeiter boiled alive in public. Show biz again.

23. Mel Gibson’s next movie should be The Counterfeiter. Box office records will again be broken. 24. One of the few good things about modern times: If you die horribly on television, you will not

have died in vain. You will have entertained us.————————-25. And what did the great British historian Edward Gibbon, 1737-1794 A.D., have to say

about the human record so far? He said, “History is indeed little more than the register of the crimes, follies and misfortunes of mankind.”

26. The same can be said about this morning’s edition of the New York Times.27. The French-Algerian writer Albert Camus, who won a Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957,

wrote, “There is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide.”28. So there’s another barrel of laughs from literature. Camus died in an automobile accident.

His dates? 1913-1960 A.D.29. Listen. All great literature is about what a bummer it is to be a human being: Moby Dick,

Huckleberry Finn, The Red Badge of Courage, the Iliad and the Odyssey, Crime and Punishment, the Bible and The Charge of the Light Brigade.

30. But I have to say this in defense of humankind: No matter in what era in history, including

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the Garden of Eden, everybody just got there. And, except for the Garden of Eden, there were already all these crazy games going on, which could make you act crazy, even if you weren’t crazy to begin with. Some of the games that were already going on when you got here were love and hate, liberalism and conservatism, automobiles and credit cards, golf and girls’ basketball.

31. Even crazier than golf, though, is modern American politics, where, thanks to TV and for the convenience of TV, you can only be one of two kinds of human beings, either a liberal or a conservative.

32. Actually, this same sort of thing happened to the people of England generations ago, and Sir William Gilbert, of the radical team of Gilbert and Sullivan, wrote these words for a song about it back then:

33. I often think it’s comical How nature always does contrive That every boy and every gal That’s born into the world alive Is either a little LiberalOr else a little Conservative.34. Which one are you in this country? It’s practically a law of life that you have to be one or the

other? If you aren’t one or the other, you might as well be a doughnut.35. If some of you still haven’t decided, I’ll make it easy for you.36. If you want to take my guns away from me, and you’re all for murdering fetuses, and love

it when homosexuals marry each other, and want to give them kitchen appliances at their showers, and you’re for the poor, you’re a liberal.

37. If you are against those perversions and for the rich, you’re a conservative.38. What could be simpler?————————-39. My government’s got a war on drugs. But get this: The two most widely abused and

addictive and destructive of all substances are both perfectly legal.40. One, of course, is ethyl alcohol. And President George W. Bush, no less, and by his own

admission, was smashed or tiddley-poo or four sheets to the wind a good deal of the time from when he was 16 until he was 41. When he was 41, he says, Jesus appeared to him and made him knock off the sauce, stop gargling nose paint. 41. Other drunks have seen pink elephants.

42. And do you know why I think he is so pissed off at Arabs? They invented algebra. Arabs also invented the numbers we use, including a symbol for nothing, which nobody else had ever had before. You think Arabs are dumb? Try doing long division with Roman numerals.

43. We’re spreading democracy, are we? Same way European explorers brought Christianity to the Indians, what we now call “Native Americans.”

44. How ungrateful they were! How ungrateful are the people of Baghdad today.45. So let’s give another big tax cut to the super-rich. That’ll teach bin Laden a lesson he won’t

soon forget. Hail to the Chief.46. That chief and his cohorts have as little to do with Democracy as the Europeans had to do

with Christianity. We the people have absolutely no say in whatever they choose to do next. In case you haven’t noticed, they’ve already cleaned out the treasury, passing it out to pals in the war and national security rackets, leaving your generation and the next one with a perfectly enormous debt that you’ll be asked to repay.

47. Nobody let out a peep when they did that to you, because they have disconnected every

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burglar alarm in the Constitution: The House, the Senate, the Supreme Court, the FBI, the free press (which, having been embedded, has forsaken the First Amendment) and We the People.

48. About my own history of foreign substance abuse. I’ve been a coward about heroin and cocaine and LSD and so on, afraid they might put me over the edge. I did smoke a joint of marijuana one time with Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead, just to be sociable. It didn’t seem to do anything to me, one way or the other, so I never did it again. And by the grace of God, or whatever, I am not an alcoholic, largely a matter of genes. I take a couple of drinks now and then, and will do it again tonight. But two is my limit. No problem.

49. I am of course notoriously hooked on cigarettes. I keep hoping the things will kill me. A fire at one end and a fool at the other.

50. But I’ll tell you one thing: I once had a high that not even crack cocaine could match. That was when I got my first driver’s license! Look out, world, here comes Kurt Vonnegut.

51. And my car back then, a Studebaker, as I recall, was powered, as are almost all means of transportation and other machinery today, and electric power plants and furnaces, by the most abused and addictive and destructive drugs of all: fossil fuels.

52. When you got here, even when I got here, the industrialized world was already hopelessly hooked on fossil fuels, and very soon now there won’t be any more of those. Cold turkey.

53. Can I tell you the truth? I mean this isn’t like TV news, is it?54. Here’s what I think the truth is: We are all addicts of fossil fuels in a state of denial, about to

face cold turkey.55. And like so many addicts about to face cold turkey, our leaders are now committing violent

crimes to get what little is left of what we’re hooked on.

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