Mother Night by Kurt Vonnecut
“We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.”
Mother Night is a work of gothic melange of stygian ideologies. When most readers think of the author Kurt Vonnegut, his work such as Cat’s Cradle and Slaugherhouse-Fiveand directly surface to mind. As for Mother Night, it is a vastly underrated piece of black comedy. Perhaps, the subject of Holocaust is too sensitive, that one wouldn’t risk reading any sick jokes about it. Yet, I for one appreciate this novel as it embodies Vonnegut’s dark humor and philosophical introspections regarding the nature of moral ambiguity and what ideals we sacrifice on the altar of war.
Howard W. Campbell Jr. is an American Nazi who grew up in Germany and became a traitor to his home country by becoming a Nazi radio propagandist, broadcasting virulent anti-Semitic propaganda to the English speaking countries. He was the voice that millions of Jews have heard in the extermination camp in Auschwitz before they were slaughtered. He is now awaiting trial in Israel for the evil crimes he committed during WWII. He is a moron who is guilty of high treason.
Or is he?
As the details of Campbell’s life in Germany unravels, his motives were revealed. Howard had actually been recruited prior to the war as an American agent, ciphering his racist broadcasts to leak important messages out of Berlin to the Allies. He is an American hero, erroneously accused and indeed, deserves complete exemption.
Or is he?
Does pretending to be evil in order to serve a good cause still make you evil? What about the unquantifiable lives that sacrificed along the way? Who’s going to be responsible for that? Can one simply place the blame on war? His lilywhite neck was spared several times as he was an American agent, but in his mind, his butcher hands remain stained as he fomented the Nazi propaganda, precipitated the death of millions.
“This is the only story of mine whose moral I know. I don’t think it’s a marvelous moral; I simply happen to know what it is: We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.”
Eventually, Howard finds himself guilty. What crime? You ask.
He is guilty from merely being part of the world as it is.
Vonnegut delivered his story with surprising twist one after another, leaving readers in aghast, and challenging our thoughts about morality. Vonnegut believes that human are very much cruel and shitty, but still have some empathy to look for scraps of dignity.
