Apocalypse in the Optative Mood: Galápagos, or, Starting Over

  • Robert T. TallyJr.
Chapter
Part of the American Literature Readings in the 21st Century book series (ALTC)

Abstract

The epigraph to Vonnegut’s Galápagos (1985) also reveals the novel’s overall theme, and it marks a subtle shift in the career of one of America’s greatest cynics. “In spite of everything, I still believe people are really good at heart.” (That the line comes from Anne Frank’s diary makes it all the more powerful, because we know exactly what the “everything” refers to.) Galápagos shares with Vonnegut’s other works a poignant critique of the follies of man, a sense of the absurdity of life, but adds an element only hinted at before: hope. In earlier works, undoubtedly, Vonnegut had made gestures in this direction, such as Eliot Rosewater’s volunteer firemen, but more often than not, his faith in humanity was overcome by a form of pessimism that might best be described as hopelessness.1 Galápagos, however, embraces a process both random and superior to any human intelligence, the ultimate laissez-faire philosophy applied to the suprahuman process of natural selection itself.

Keywords

Science Fiction Hopeful Monster Hotel Employee Player Piano Frankfurt Book 
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Copyright information

© David Simmons 2009

Authors and Affiliations

  • Robert T. TallyJr.

There are no affiliations available

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