Reimagining Hank Morgan and Billy Pilgrim as American Anti-Heroes : The Dystopian Satire of Mark Twain's A Connecticit Yankee in King Arthur's Court and Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five

Abstract

Many critics have noticed the ties linking the satirical novels of Mark Twain and Kurt Vonnegut. This is not surprising as Twain's influence on Vonnegut's work is virtually inescapable. However, thus far critics have not conducted any rigorous, sustained attempts to analyze the works of both authors together. Comparisons of the authors have thus far been casual, insubstantial references made in passing. This thesis will attempt to link the authors as American satirists and explore where the satire of Twain and Vonnegut overlaps and where it diverges. This discussion of the satirical voice of Twain and Vonnegut leads into a discussion of their protagonists Hank Morgan and Billy Pilgrim. There have been a wide range of interpretations of both authors, ranging from analyses describing the protagonists as heroes while others assume that they were created to ridicule societal problems. This thesis will attempt to shed light on this debate by placing A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court and Slaughterhouse-Five within the tradition of dystopian literature, thereby changing the parameters of the debate and creating a new reading of both novels.