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Hero vs. Villain
We are used to books and stories having hero and villain
character. When reading Vonnegut these two poles are not easy to
identify. You could even say that the stories have no hero
characters and no villain characters. Ranly notes this:
"Vonnegut's father once complained that his stories had no
villains. Not even the great book about the fire-bombing of
Dresden could uncover a villain. But then, Vonnegut has no heroes
either." Maureen Howard comes with a definition of a Vonnegut
hero: "a vaguely dissatisfied dupe in a flabby society" (Howard).
If a main character can be automatically considered to be a hero,
then her definition is correct. Most 'heroes' in Vonnegut's books
fit this description. However, I doubt that such a character can
be called a hero. Peter J. Reed seems to find the reason for the
lack of these characters:
The lack of real villains and heroes seems an
almost inevitable consequence of the vision of the world
Vonnegut creates. It is hard to conceive of men
achieving true heroic or villainous stature in a world
where they are so nearly pawns, so little in control of
their destinies and where their actions are so often
subject to chance or merely 'the way the moment is
structured.' There exists no place for 'tragic flaw' in
such a world. (Reed)
If it is not possible to find a hero or a villain in an
individual human being, let's again move one step higher and get
back to considering Humanity and Divinity to be literary
characters.
The Villain
I will attempt to identify the villain character first. This
essay has shown that Vonnegut's Humanity is a horrible character.
People treat each other terribly, they are destroying their
beautiful planet etc. This could mean that Humanity as a whole is
the villain in Vonnegut's books. However, it is not so. As has
been shown, Humanity cannot be held responsible for its actions.
It is a slave to 'enormous forces' (SH5:164). It is a subject to
forces it cannot control, forces it must obey. If it is true that
Humanity's actions are far beyond its control, it cannot be
considered to be the villain, no matter how bad the actions are.
Therefore we have to look for a character who is the slaver, the
master, the one who makes people behave as they do. Divinity has
been identified to be this kind of character. In Gal pagos, the
oversize human brain is identified as the only real villain of
the book (GAL:270). We may, analogically, induce that the Big
Brain of Humanity, that is Divinity, is the only real villain of
Vonnegut's books.
The Hero
Since Divinity is the villain, the post for a hero rightfully
belongs to Humanity. However, how can a 'listless plaything' be
a hero? How can a puppet be a hero? Since it is thoroughly
controlled by the villain, how can it be labeled as 'the hero'?
It would work if 'hero' was simply someone who is badly treated.
If people are machines or robots, as Vonnegut implies, they
cannot be considered to be the heroes. Hero is mostly someone who
defeats the villain, who wins in the end. Does Humanity defeat
Divinity? Does it win? The answer is: Yes.
Humanity does not conquer Divinity physically. It cannot do
it. It is not capable of being set free from the bonds Divinity
set on it. However, Vonnegut's Humanity does manage to outwit
Divinity. Even though it is physically unable to be set free, it
manages to be liberate itself. When I dealt with people being
machines, one aspect did not really fit and it is crucial in this
moment: human imagination. It is something that is not under
Divinity's control. It is something people are free to use at any
time, at times when they are otherwise controlled by the
'enormous forces'. Bryant points out that Vonnegut's Humanity "is
a complex combination of nobility and meanness, knowledge and
ignorance, grandeur and ignomity." (Bryant) It is a complex of
good and bad qualities. The bad qualities (meanness, ignorance
and ignomity) can be ascribed to Divinity, because Humanity
cannot be blamed for them. It is not able to suppress them. If we
scratch the bad qualities (which are mostly in majority), the
good ones will remain. Benjamin DeMott complains that Vonnegut's
Humanity "serves evil too openly and good too secretly" (DeMott)
and is right in saying so. The outside of a Humanity is
controlled by Divinity, the villain, therefore Humanity appears
to be evil. What happens 'inside' Humanity is what's beyond the
villains power. That's what makes Humanity a good character. It
does serve good above all things. Evil things are beyond its
control.
The novel Bluebeard emphasizes the difference between 'meat'
and 'soul'. "My soul knows my meat is doing bad things,"
(BLU:246). Soul is good. Meat is evil. Kilgore Trout also agrees
with this: "Our awareness is all that is alive and maybe sacred
in any of us. Everything else about us is dead machinery"
(BOC:221). Vonnegut, indeed manages to make the awareness
a sacred component of a human being. If people did not possess
it, they would really be simple machines or puppets.
Most of Vonnegut's novels also deal with the meaning of life,
seeking its purpose. Ranly says that "Vonnegut employs only
a scientific, mechanistic meaning for purpose and fails to find
a reasonable purpose in either the universe or in man." (Ranly)
Humans, therefore find a meaning in themselves. If they seem to
have been created for some pathetic reason, they can surely
invent a purpose inside them. The main character of Sirens of
Titan discovers this kind of answer at the end of the novel: "It
took us that long to realize that a purpose of human life, no
matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be
loved." (TIT:220) Samuels notices this as well: "life passes
human understanding but not our powers of enjoyment" (Samuels).
It is this alternative that can be found in the heart of Humanity
that is the means by which it outwits Divinity. If Divinity
"wants to write about somebody who suffers all the time"
(BOC:241 ), Humanity's only way of winning is not to suffer.
This chapter has shown that there are no real villains or
heroes in Vonnegut's books. These characters can be found only
when Humanity and Divinity are considered to be literary
characters. Humanity was proved not to be the villain, despite
all the vile things it does. It is led into doing them by
Divinity and that is why Divinity is the villain. Humanity,
however, could not be considered to be the hero if there was no
additional aspect of its character to being the puppet. This
aspect has been found in Humanity's awareness, its imagination,
the capability of discovering its own answers. This becomes a way
for outwitting Divinity, a way of winning over it. Therefore,
Humanity can be considered to be the hero.
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