A World Without Beds Essay Research Paper — страница 2

of light . Sign into speech. Will it be so? Let me sleep with you. Let me hear the things you cannot say. In Vonnegut?s story ,sex is not openly praised, however there is an attempt to portray it as a sentimental interaction ( even though one might consider the physical events in the story as rape). I believe Vonnegut?s intent was to show the true nature and need for sex in human discourse. He illustrates the emotional impact of sexual intercourse in the following passages: Billy took the book from the table, opened it. ?His diary tells which poem it was. While we aren?t bride and groom , and while we may not meet again for many years, I?d like to read this poem to you, to have you know I?ve loved you.? Thereafter Billy continues to tell her the poem is the one beginning ?How do

I love thee? Let me count the ways.?, a famous poem freely associated with true love even to this day. The forces at work in both stories can be related to many DIY and grassroots movements of the past. People have come together and endured hardships, and though the alledged suffering in both stories is not as striking or harsh and apparent, it is something which we can relate to oppression in our own history. In Disappearance, the main character presents himself as what might be called one of the sole ?survivors? of the workaholic day and age, however there are other sleepers featured in the story. This can be parallelled with the ?nothinghead? culture in Welcome To The Monkey House . They both show the prevalence of an underground movement trying madly to recapture and awaken

others into realising what has been missing from their lives. Though Nancy, in Welcome to The Monkey House appears to have a dislike for the subversive nothinghead movement , it is revealed in the end that she may have come full circle to appreciate what has been done for her benefit ( her ?deflowering?). So you see, both authors have tried their best to shade the oppressors in each story for their true nature; hinderances to natural human functions. There is a need to name the oppressive force in both stories – the government and society as a whole. The gruff hand of the government is a reality many people have come to realise throughout history and even today people are being forced to live through bad circumstances created by the very system which is supposed to be working

to benefit them. Therefore, it is not hard to grasp the situations in which both main characters are made to live. Each story tells of the rigid and linear rules the citizens are made to live in and clearly demonstrate the strict decorum of the two worlds. In Disappearance, all public areas are designated ?non- sleeping? and all beds at home are required by law to have a personal alarm clock built into the mattress. Getting caught on a mattress with a broken alarm entails a fine and after 3 fines one is disqualified from sleeping for a year. In Welcome To the Monkey House , refusal to take ethical birth control pills resulted in a fine of $10,000 and ten years in jail. Naturally occuring human needs cannot be changed. Meaning there are a few basic things we all need to live as

healthy human beings. Sleep being one of them. While sex cannot be considered truly essential, it can be compared to the likes of parental care. As illustrated in that famous experiment where a monkey was raised in isolation from maternal care, he grew dysfunctional and depressed. Much the same way people could be affected from a lack of any particular kind of positive social behaviour. Both stories serve to show the reader the true human potential to overcome. The main characters in both stories have been set apart, whether willingly or unwillingly. Vonnegut and Winterson have re-inforced the theme shared in both stories stylistically and literally through the plots of both stories. They have shown the enduring qualities in human nature, even in a world without beds. 32f