Reason #1 We Need Stories

We need stories because they are a playground for language. Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five is a prime example of how language can be used satirically in a way that "plays" with the reader's mind. He writes, "Billy is spastic in time, has no control over where he is going next, and the trips aren't necessarily fun. He is in a constant state of stage fright, he says, because he never knows what part of his life he is going to have to act in next" (29). In this context, language is used to create a false reality that seems real, similar to a playground game. This satirical use of language is also seen when the Vonnegut describes horrific deaths. He describes Billy Pilgrim's ironic view of death, "Billy found the afternoon stingingly exciting. There was so much to see--dragon's teeth, killing machines, corpses with bare feet that were blue and ivory. So it goes" (83). Here, death is described nonchalantly and thus characterizes the phrase as a satirical motif. Books like Slaughterhouse Five create the playground for language to play, creating a game that the reader is involved in playing.