'We Are What We Pretend to Be': Existential Angst in Vonnegut’s Mother Night

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dc.contributor.authorTally, Robert T., Jr.
dc.date.accessioned2009-09-19T10:19:18Z
dc.date.available2012-02-24T10:19:18Z
dc.date.issued2009-04
dc.description.abstractThe moral of Vonnegut’s third novel, stated in its opening pages, is “We are what we pretend to be.” Vonnegut’s most directly existentialist novel, Mother Night introduces the related themes of alienation, identity, and authenticity in order to carefully analyze the delusions and self-delusions of a man who believes himself to be good while involved in the most hideous of crimes. Vonnegut’s critique of identity thus undergirds his exploration of morality. In this essay, Tally reads Vonnegut's novel in relation to its dramatization of existential angst and the crisis of authenticity.
dc.description.departmentEnglish
dc.formatText
dc.format.extent22 pages
dc.format.medium1 file (.pdf)
dc.identifier.citationTally, R. T. (2009). 'We are what we pretend to be': Existential Angst in Vonnegut’s Mother Night. Teaching American Literature: A Journal of Theory and Practice, 2(4), pp. 94-115.
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10877/3919
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherCentral Piedmont Community College
dc.sourceTeaching American Literature: A Journal of Theory and Practice, Spring 2009. Charlotte, NC: Central Piedmont Community College. Vol. 2, No. 4, pp. 94-115.
dc.subjectexistentialism
dc.subjectVonnegut
dc.subjectphilosophy
dc.subjectAmerican literature
dc.subjectabsurd
dc.subjectauthenticity
dc.subjectanxiety
dc.title'We Are What We Pretend to Be': Existential Angst in Vonnegut’s Mother Night
dc.typeArticle

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