Response to Quote (Gynter)

1492. As children we were taught to memorize this year with pride and joy as the year people began living full and imaginative lives on the continent of North America. Actually, people had been living full and imaginative lives on the continent of North America for hundreds of years before that. 1492 was simply the year sea pirates began to rob, cheat, and kill them.

This quote is a perfect representation of Vonnegut’s character. Vonnegut is man of bravery, courage, and integrity, who will stand up for the rights of unprivileged people in society, even if it means unpopularity and harsh criticism. In this case Vonnegut is defending the rights of Native Americans, who have been oppressed for centuries by the white man, specifically white Americans. The psyche and national mythology of the United States of America is built on the battles American settlers have fought with the natives. However, no American ever bothers to think what became of the natives after these wars. They were killed and forcefully moved from their lands that they inhabited for thousands of years. What Americans did to the natives can be considered almost genocidal.   Vonnegut has seen firsthand accounts of civilians being slaughtered by the American government in the name of national ideals, so he can vividly imagine what the poor Natives had to suffer through. World War II, just like the slaughtering of Native Americans, has also become a source of extreme national pride for the American people. Vonnegut criticizes this in his book, claiming that on both sides there were civilians that were dying. Just because an event is propagated so much by the American government, Vonnegut tells people that they do not have to blindly accept it, and should openly criticize it if innocent people were slaughtered.

I also really enjoy the blunt language that Vonnegut uses in this quote, as he calls the early explorers sea pirates that robbed, cheated, and killed the Natives. Vonnegut is very capable of using intricate language, but simpler vocabulary in order to make his message more effective. This writing style is also seen in the novel Slaughterhouse Five, as he frequently uses the simple phrase “So it goes” to engage his reader.

Vonnegut is a man of justice, and not justice only when it is convenient for American nationalism. Truth be told, Americans have committed atrocities towards many other unprivileged groups  (Africans, Natives etc…), and only now are they starting to own up to it. Vonnegut is a big reason for this. He urges Americans to critically look at their past, take responsibility for the actions they committed, and turn a blind eye to these atrocities. They should criticize such past history, not glamorize. According to Vonnegut, Americans have to realize that 1492 is a year of morning for Native Americans, as their millennium-old lifestyle was destroyed.