‘Happy Birthday, 1951’ by Kurt Vonnegut Essay

Happy Birthday, 1951 is a short twaddle written by Kurt Vonnegut. The story takes place in Dresden in Ger gentle troopss gentle homoy. The story is essentially intimately an doddery man that constantly tries to teach a six year out of date son, how he believe the world should be worry. The title Happy Birthday, 1951 refers to 24 October 1951 where the U. S. President Harry Truman decl bes that the fight with Germany is officially over. That also elucidate why the s darkenediers are leaving the city. During the World War II, Dresden was bombarded by British and Ameri raft aircraft and the whole city was completely destroyed. That explains why the senior man and the son live in the ruins in Dresden. At that time people tusht live in the city without documents, since the male child doesnt generate documents the disused man asks him when he wants his birthday to be, the boy answers that he wants it to be tomorrow.The old man decides to give him a memorable present for birthday , as a birthday present he decides that they are going to a peaceful place without fight. At his birthday they go to the forest, while they are trying to find a place to sit, the boy suddenly sees a rusted tank, the tank gets the boys interest ,and he asks the old man if he can go to it. The old man refuses and consequently they go deeper into the forest. Eventually they find an exceptional place to sit, and they lay knock off for a nap. In a while after the old man wakes up alone, the boy isnt there. The old man panics. In the give the axe the old man finds the boy who was in the tank playing soldier.The main characters in this story are the old man and the boy. The old man feels guilty because he hasnt been a good father for the boy, he expresses that several times in the story for example in I dealnt been a good father You are supposititious to get presents. (7. 30 32). Even thought the old man isnt the parent to the child, he still undertakes the responsibility for non giving him a birthday. The old man hates the war and everything that has something to do with it. Every time the boy mentions something thats related to the war, the old man gets upset and panicky. This is also illustrated in this quote. He thin out the sentence short You shouldnt be idea about. (9. 85 87)The old man compares the war with chaos and misery. Its not directly written but its seen between the story lines. The old man is traumatized by thewar. He compares the forest with Eden, and he describes the forest idyllic, this is evident in this quote. There And what do you think of this? Eden You can progress to it.The story indicates that the old man has experienced a various war through his life. Its not directly written but its seen through the story lines. I can remember He cut the sentence short. This shows that He has experienced the war, and he also has a vast knowledge of soldiers, due to that the readers can assume that he whitethorn have been a soldier in the pas t. They boy doesnt have an identity, since he was abandoned by his biological mother and left in care of an old man. Therefore the boy spends his time with the old man, unlike the old man the boy is fascinated by the war and soldiers. The boy has a difficult with understanding the problem with war and soldiers.He doesnt realize the beauty of the birthday present, because he finds the forest to be unaccompanied and boring, Its very quit, Its lonely, I like better in the city, with the soldiers and-. The boy has also been studying the soldiers, Black and bolshie is the engineers Military police (9. 87-90). This quote clarifies his passion for soldiers, which also is characteristic for a boy in his age. The boy also respects the soldiers allot that is illustrated in this quote. The old man stepped To let him pass. (8. 77 79). Based on these evidences we can conclude that since the boy was raised in that environment, it has had an impact on his learning of soldiers and war.The sto ry ends abruptly, the boy disappears and the old man finds him playing soldier in the tank. The author clarifies the whole storys message by let it end like that. The general message is that no guinea pig how trying you try to convince a child about how terrible war is, they will not be able to understand it in the identical way as you, because it requires experience and interest.In the end of the story the old man gets upset, when he discovers that the boy is missing. He gets upset because he worries about him, he loves him and he also wants the best for him. Therefore the old man tries to be his usage model. But the boy doesnt recognize him as his region model. He looks up to the soldiers instead. In that way a contradict arises between them.It is extremely chief(prenominal) to have a role model, a role model you feel comfortable with. Role models are important for us mentally, they guide us through life during our development. We look up to our role models for inspiration and we use this inspiration to know how we should behave.Most of us have a role model, some of us have more than one. For some people it is important to have more than one role model, and for some it is not. The most important thing is to have your own role model and not imitate other people and it doesnt matter how many role models you have. 1 . http//www.history.com/this-day-in-history/truman-declares-war-with-germany-officially-over 2 . http//militaryhistory.about.com/od/aerialcampaigns/p/World-War-Ii-Bombing-Of-Dresden.htm