Religion and Belief in An Afterlife
Vonnegut does not believe that traditional religions can cure loneliness or provide significant comfort. His take on belief in the afterlife is satirical. In his novel he describes a Church of Jesus Christ the Kidnapped which becomes a dominant American religion in the post-apocalyptic world of the novel . Vonnegut finds the church followers' behavior comical:
He was jerking his head around in what then seemed an eccentric manner, as though hoping to catch someone peering out at him from behind a potted palm tree or an easy chair, or even from directly overhead, from the crystal chandelier.
Read more about this topic: Slapstick (novel)
Famous quotes containing the words religion and, religion, belief and/or afterlife:
“Whereas Freud was for the most part concerned with the morbid effects of unconscious repression, Jung was more interested in the manifestations of unconscious expression, first in the dream and eventually in all the more orderly products of religion and art and morals.”
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“An unlicked bear”
—Trans. by Johanna Prins.
Dutch expression meaning “a boor”: from the old belief that bear cubs are licked into shape by their mothers.
“Continued traveling is far from productive. It begins with wearing away the soles of the shoes, and making the feet sore, and ere long it will wear a man clean up, after making his heart sore into the bargain. I have observed that the afterlife of those who have traveled much is very pathetic.”
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