Bluebeard by Kurt Vonnegut; Modern Society Analysis

What does it take to be the best? The modern world has diluted the true nature of talent; the “gifted” individuals of our world crush the dreams and talents of everyone else. Kurt Vonnegut’s Bluebeard draws the issues of a large, regulated society to light. He uses Kabo Karabekian to illustrate these problems through his autobiographical passages, and his present opinions.

Vonnegut explains another reason behind this modern talentless society. “...what was a painter’s apprentice supposed to do in modern times, when paints and brushes and so on no longer had to be made right in the painter’s workplace?”(Vonnegut 87) There is simply no need for the old apprentice-master relationship now; the master does not get any benefit. This is because all of the “dirty work” is mass produced in modern factories. How does one become the best if the best will not teach? One could go to college, yet graduate on the same plane as numerous others. The only way to stand out is to gain an edge on the competition. This extra education comes from the (now dead) master-apprentice relationships.

Vonnegut believes that today's society is not as futuristic as we’d like to think. He elaborates on this idea with Circe Berman’s interjection during dinner. “‘...we’re doomed to repeat the past no matter what. That’s what it is to be alive’”(Vonnegut 91). Adaption from mistakes is the basis of all intelligence; however, it is accepted that conflict will always exist. So are we really intelligent as a race? Times of war and destruction in our history are just as plentiful as peace and prosperity. Unless the human element of the world is removed, there will never be true progress towards an entirely peaceful society.

Censorship through media is another problem in modern society. “All that has changed in my opinion, is that, thanks to television, we can hide a Great Depression. We may even be hiding a Third World War”(Vonnegut 84). Karabekian’s hatred of the modern world is evident. The power of technology in society is immense. Through mediums such as television, governments can easily hide information from the public eye, and at the same time produce propaganda to effectively brainwash their citizens. Deception and greed are the fundamental concepts of human instinct. These elements repeat throughout world history.

Vonnegut also states that new generations are defiantly taking advantage of new technology and convenience:

Mrs. Berman has just told me that my cook has has not just one abortion, like Marilee Kemp, but three—and not in Switzerland but in a doctor’s office in Southampton. This wearied me, but then almost everything about the modern world wearies me.

(Vonnegut 52)

Karabekian writes in his autobiography that the world has lost it’s original value. Morals like abstinence until marriage simply do not exist like they used to. The future culture has adapted to an unfortunate reality where parents, hospitals, and governments take responsibilities for careless actions.

The knowledge of new generations is also lacking. “I complained to Slazinger and Mrs. Berman at supper last night that the young people of today seemed to be trying to get through life with as little information as possible”(Vonnegut 91). Kabo consistently asks the young people at his house trivial questions, and he is just as consistently shocked by their lack of common knowledge. Vonnegut illustrates a strong relationship between modernization and laziness. Convenience comes with the price of habit; people are drawn towards the easy way out of life. He suggests that before this time of laziness, the world was much better off. Opportunities did not exist in the manifold variety as they do today, so the habit of ignoring them was also nonexistent.

The world is filled with news of our problems, yet these problems such as obesity, global warming, and viral epidemics are self-inflicted. Why did the future turn from promising to threatening? Vonnegut’s Bluebeard suggests that we need only to look in the mirror. It’s not any single individual that will be the problem in the riddled society of the future. Rather, it’s the collective result of our need to be superior. The real problem is that society spends too much time pointing fingers at each other, and not enough of it finding solutions.