Humor is an almost physiological response to fear

We agree to this statement made by Vonnegut. We can see this in everyday life, when we respond to an irrational fear by laughing it off. We all remember the "ridiculous spell" in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban which was used to turn one's irrational fear into something ridiculous. When we are too tensed, we tend to laugh for no reason just to get that sense of nervousness off our system. Vonnegut has seen a lot througout his life from serving in the military and has surpassed a lot of emotional distress from bankruptcy to the suicide of his mother. All this changed him into someone who laughs and forgets his miseries and sorrows. This elimination of negativity gave Vonnegut his boost to succeed in life and to clear any obstacles presented in his life. As the Atlantic Monthly puts it, "Our finest black-humorist...we laugh in self-defense." Vonnegut should be everyone's role model considering how he looked at the "half-full" version of his life and strived to communicate to the public what war and victory meant to him.


By: Parvathy & Puja