Boys as Men

" 'I do not say that children at war do not die like men, if they have to die. To their everlasting honor and our everlasting shame, they do die like men, thus making possible the manly jubilation of patriotic holidays.'

'But they are murdered children all the same' (Cat's Cradle pg. 248)."

Vonnegut wrote this around 20 years after the Second World War. Twenty years is enough time to recover from the war and maybe not see as many effects; but twenty years is also short enough to remember everything that happened. I wondered what made Vonnegut write this, my first instinct was that he knew someone that was shipped off to war and died a "child." After some researching, I found out that he, himself, enlisted in the Army and was sent off to fight in the Second World War. He was a "child" when he enlisted; chances are he knew many men that were merely boys...chances are some of those boys never made it back.

Many join the army as boys, but most leave as men. However, when they leave, are they going back to their family or are they going to see the Lord? The way they died, the way they fought for our country they deserve to be called men. Vonnegut wants us to know that the men that died for us, in reality are just boys. They still had a life to live, but they gave it up so we could continue our lives. Had they not done that, they might not have died as a child.

Vonnegut also wants us to think about the causes for war. He states that the children were murdered. In a sense that is true. They chose to fight for our country, but why do they have to fight, what caused the war? Was it our selfishness?  Their death isn't just the fault of the enemies that killed them, their death also lies on our hands.

Vonnegut writes in a unique way. Having read "Cat's Cradle" without any back round information, I felt as though it was just a story. After I read his biography, I realized that he put many aspects of his life in the story. It lets the reader relate to the story without thinking they are relating to the actual writer.

What made me pick this quote? I never gave the Army much thought, then 4 of my friends enlisted in the National Guard and 1 in the Marines. It was then that I realized that any one of them could die for our country. This passage made me wonder what I would think if one (or all) of them died. Would I consider my friends as boys and not men?