I'm back again with another quick Kurt Vonnegut short-story review! "Adam" is certainly much more polished and emotionally impactful than the previous story I reviewed here today.
Heinz Knechtmann and his wife Avchen barely escaped the Nazi concentration camps but the rest of his family were not so lucky. The Jewish couple immigrates to Chicago and Avchen is about to have a baby in the hospital. Heinz is over the moon with the birth of this child because it means that the Knechtmaan family name and legacy will live on through the next generation. An inherent sense of loss and death permeates the story. For Heinz, this new baby represents both the tragic past and hope for the future. However, there seems to be some complications with the birth and this is where the reader can feel a palpable sense of dread for what terrible tragedy might happen next for this couple that has already been through hell and back.
While Vonnegut could have easily steered the narrative towards more gloom and doom, I admire his choice to avoid piling on the misery. Instead, he sprinkles in some light comedy, particularly when he encounters another rambunctious man in the hospital who is upset that his wife can only produce girls or when Knechtmann's last name is humorously mispronounced as Netman by almost everyone. This comedic effect is twofold: highlighting the pervasive anti-Semitism of American society and underscoring the ongoing significance of preserving Jewish family history.
Also, I have no idea why this story is called Adam.
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