Kurt Vonnegut's Welcome To The Monkey House

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In January of 1968, Kurt Vonnegut Jr.’s “Welcome to the Monkey House”, was published in Playboy magazine, garnering much attention for its parodical interpretation of the morality of contraceptives. The short story depicts a futuristic American society in which pleasurable sex is forbidden; individuals are bound by law to routinely ingest pills which cause them to feel numb from the waist downwards. This policy is intended to discourage ‘immoral’ or casual sex within the community, while enabling citizens to continue engaging in sex and reproducing. Whereas the numbing pills are considered proper and ethical, birth control pills, failure to take the numbing pills, or enjoyment in sex are perceived as sinful and corrupt. The government additionally encourages reductions in the population by creating ‘Ethical Suicide Parlors’ or clinics in which civilians may voluntarily consent to assisted suicide; each suicide parlor is supervised by hypersexualized, charismatic virgin women or ‘Hostesses’.…show more content…
In a series of adept manipulations and infraction, Billy manages to abduct Nancy and lead her to the Kennedy Compound of Hyannis Port on Cape Cod, where he ultimately rapes Nancy after her numbing pills wear off for the day. After Billy explains to Nancy the reasoning behind his criminal activity, he leaves her with birth control pills, unrestricted to take part in (illegal) pleasurable sex and without the worry of a pregnancy. With the use of various rhetorical techniques and the employment of conventions of dystopian fiction, Kurt Vonnegut demonstrates he is in support of methods of birth control, most especially with the introduction of oral contraceptives in the
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