e·vil/ˈēvəl/

Adjective: morally wrong or bad; immoral; wicked: evil deeds; an evil life



I asked myself the question, "Who is evil?". I went through a list of characters in my head: Lord Voldemort from Harry Potter, Ghostface from the Scream series, Scar from the Lion King. Then I thought of the infamous, evil, Adolf Hitler. The main difference between Hitler and these other evil characters is that he is the real thing, not some character from a blockbuster hit movie. This dictator was the cause of the Holocaust, in which he created "the Final Solution" where all European Jews were to be exterminated. Hitler was ultimately the cause of World War II, where approximately killed 55,000,000 people in total. 


            When Hitler comes to mind, the first word one may think of is “evil”. Kurt Vonnegut plays with the definition of evil with the character Felix Hoenikker. Felix is the reason for the deaths of many, with his invention of the destructive atomic bomb that was used in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but more importantly the destruction of everything living on planet earth. It’s simple and easy to say, Dr. Felix Hoenikker is evil –but that’s the catch. When one would describe Felix, words such as, weird, misunderstood, confused, and genius. With the creation of “ice-nine”, an isotope of water that can be solid at room temperature, he discloses this creation with his children. But of course his children lose what was left of “ice-nice” by their irresponsible decisions. 


By only looking at this chart, it's safe to say that Dr. Felix Hoenikker is "more evil" than Hitler. But, Kurt Vonnegut redefines what it is to be evil by:
  • THIRST FOR KNOWLEDGE
  • DESIRE FOR HAPPINESS
  • BROKEN FAMILY STRUCTURE

THIRST FOR KNOWLEDGE
"Father got so interested in turtles that he stopped working on the atom bomb. Some people from the Manhattan project finally came out to the house to as Angela what to do. She told them to take away Father's turtles. So one night they went into his lab and stole the turtles and the aquarium. He just came to work the next day  and looked for things to play with and think about, and everything there was to play with and think about had to do something with the bomb." (Vonnegut 16)


Dr. Felix Hoenikker was a man who created and was a man wanted to learn. To Hoenikker, the thirst for knowledge was not based on the good nor the bad, but on curiosity. Something as innocent as turtles was interesting to Hoenikker just as much as the fatal atomic bomb. Because of this trait in Hoenikker, this led to the end of humanity with the creation of "ice-nine", an isotope of water that freezes in room temperature, which eventually ends humanity. Killing everyone and everything on Earth is definitely something an "evil" person may do. Even if it isn't intentional, Dr. Felix Hoenikker redefines the term "evil".  

DESIRE FOR HAPPINESS


The desire for happiness changes the definition of evil. Before the death of Dr. Felix Hoenikker, he gave his three children (Angela, Frank, Newt), the ice-nine. The video above is a clip of  John Hughes' Say Anything, where John Cusack professes his love by holding a boombox outside of the love of his life's bedroom window. Angela, Frank, and Newt just wanted to be loved, maybe not as cheesy as the love in a John Hughes film, but at least the kind of love for someone to say they genuinely care about them. Due to unfortunate circumstances, their search for happiness leads to giving away ice-nine, which eventually ends humanity. Something as common as the "search for happiness" redefines the definition of evil. 

BROKEN FAMILY STRUCTURE
"Children from non-intact homes had higher rates of stress, depression, anxiety and low self-esteem, particularly as teenagers"  (Schultz, Gudrun). Without a mother and an attentive father, the Hoenikker children had to take care of themselves. It was ultimately the Hoenikker's that ended everything and everyone that is on Earth. The broken family structure could be to blame for the unfortunate ending of life, because 'family' to the Hoenikker children did not have a great amount of worth. The ice-nine was given to the Hoenikker children by their father right before he passed away, and the fact that they gave it away like there was no sentimental value proves that a proper family structure was not present. Vonnegut uses broken family structures to redefine "evil". 


Work Cited


"World War 2 Death Count." Hitler Historical Museum, n.d. Web. <http://www.hitler.org/ww2-deaths.html>.


Hughes, John, Dir. Say Anything. 1989, Film. <http://youtu.be/-j379JbL-xM>.
Schultz, Gudrun. "Broken Family Structure Leads to Educational Difficulties for Children." Life Style News 16 Jan. 2006: n. pag. Web <http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/archive/ldn/2006/jan/06011605>.


"evil." Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 20 May. 2011. <Dictionary.comhttp://dictionary.reference.com/browse/evil>.


"Turtle." Nation Geographic. Web. <http://animals.nationalgeographic.co.uk/staticfiles/NGS/Shared/StaticFiles/animals/images/primary/hawksbill-turtle.jpg>.


Vonnegut, Kurt. Cat's Cradle. New York, NY: Dell, 1963. Print.

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)