Felix Hoenikker: The Man, The Disorder, The Misperceptions

Post-Planet War II, scientists have been regarded as the heroes of modern society. The nation’s science labs had been heavily mobilized and federal spending on research development was more than twenty occasions what it had been prior to the begin of the war (Hampson). This society is what laid the ground perform for Kurt Vonnegut’s satirical masterpiece Cat’s Cradle. In which, Vonnegut’s principal character, Felix Hoenikker, is effectively known for getting not only the father of the atomic bomb, dropped on Hiroshima, but also an odd man in common. Hoenikker’s subsequent oddness can be explained by Asperger’s syndrome, a disorder initial recognized by Hans Asperger in the mid 1940’s. Hans Asperger studied a group of boys with “autism-like behaviors and issues with social and communication skills in boys who had typical intelligence and language development. Several pros felt Asperger’s syndrome was just a milder type of autism and utilised the term ‘high-functioning autism’ to describe these individuals” (Autism Society). By modern requirements, Dr. Hoenikker’s actions and aptitudes as effectively as his creation of numerous weapons of mass destruction is attributed to Felix obtaining Asperger’s syndrome. Although Asperger’s syndrome wasn’t a effectively-identified phenomenon at the time Dr. Hoenikker did his most prevalent operate, even his boss, Dr. Breed, knew that some thing was diverse about Hoenikker than all his other personnel. For a single, Breed knew he wasn’t genuinely in charge of Felix. When interviewed by the narrator, John, Dr. Breed stated that even he knew he was only Hoenikker’s boss “on paper” (21). He additional described how challenging it was to control Felix saying that “if [he] really supervised Felix, […] then [he’s] ready now to take charge of volcanoes, the tides, and the migration or birds and lemmings” (21). And that Dr. Hoenikker “was a force of nature no mortal could possibly control” (21). The behaviors in this scenario give readers cause to believe that Felix is suffering from Asperger’s due to the fact of his “rigid inflexible behavior” (ASO) and his “problems understanding social cues” (ASO) both of which are characteristics defined by the Asperger’s society of Ontario to be markers for diagnosing a person with Asperger’s syndrome. Furthering the argument that Hoenikker’s Asperger’s are to blame for the destructive weapons developed by Hoenikker is Matt Wallace in his post Dr. Felix Hoenikker in Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle: very good or evil? Wallace builds his argument by making affordable doubt that Felix is accountable for both producing the deadly weapons and the destruction they caused. Rather, Wallace insists that Dr. Hoenikker is more childlike than evil and it is his child like wonder that makes him the pristine scientist he is recognized to be. Additionally, Wallace points out that Felix is incapable of getting a responsible adult. He blames the destruction of Dr. Hoenikker on those who have manipulated his kid like thoughts which can be refocused by recommendations from other individuals. Primarily, Wallace is defending Hoenikker and placing the blame of the atomic bomb and Ice-Nine on those responsible for him and responsible for utilizing his child like thoughts to manipulate him. Even though I think that Wallace’s argument is valid, I also think he is missing essential points that could even additional validate it. Initial, with the theory that Hoenikker has Asperger’s in thoughts, Felix wouldn’t have been capable to comprehend the concept of manipulation simply because of his Asperger’s. Therefore, if the other character had been to manipulate Felix throughout his profession he may never know he was getting manipulated simply because practically nothing in his daily interactions had changed. Secondly, if Felix’s counterparts such as Dr. Breed had been conscious that he was mentally incompetent they would have provided him the ethically debatable “chores”. By doing this, Breed could blame almost everything on Felix becoming mentally incompetent when issues went incorrect or the ethics of the laboratory had been known as into question. Essentially, the individuals in Hoenikker’s life are accountable for his actions and for not guaranteeing his and other folks protection. Above and beyond not becoming able to comprehend the concept of obtaining a boss, Dr. Hoenikker is unable to adapt to both new surroundings and the idea of changing his every day routine. When approached about functioning on the Manhattan project, an honor that anyone else would accept regardless of the stipulations, Felix made it clear that he would not leave Ilium to operate on the project. If they wanted Dr. Hoenikker on the project he would function where he wanted to, how he wanted to (9). This is not the only time Dr. Hoenikker avoided alter or socialization. All through the novel, John tells of occasions when Felix is avoiding make contact with with other people. In an encounter with John, Ms. Faust reminisces that, “Felix ate alone […]in the cafeteria every single day. It was a rule that no 1 was to sit with him, to interrupt his chain of thought” (49). His avoidance of adjust when once again falls below the spectrum of traits possessed by an individual with Asperger’s, as these with Asperger’s syndrome are identified to be avoidant of social contact or events. Additionally, when Felix did interact with others it was typically instances begrudgingly, he never initiated make contact with, and when other folks did initiate speak to it wasn’t uncommon for Felix to just stroll away from them. As he did from his kids, when he “stuck his head out a window, and he looked at Angela and [Newt] rolling on the ground, bawling, and Frank standing over [them], laughing. The old man pulled his head indoors once more, and never asked later what all the fuss had been about.” (17). If Felix couldn’t interact with his young children, his own flesh and blood, there is no other explanation than his lack of interaction with other individuals becoming caused by his Asperger’s. Other than avoidance of adjust and social conflict, an additional trait that is embodied in each Felix Hoenikker and these previously diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome is the inability to comprehend their fillings, and how to connect emotionally with other individuals. In addition to his wife dying from kid birth and becoming left with their 3 kids, Felix’s residence life seems run of the mill. Their family members goes on getaway to Cape Cod in the summers and winters, they go to college and to operate, every thing appears normal. Appears getting the operative word. Even so, these factors weren’t normal to Felix, if something he saw these certain items as a bother. When characters spoke of “intimate items, household issues, really like things” (54). Ms. Faust tells readers that “Dr. Hoenikker had all these factors in his life, the way every living thing has to, but they weren’t the principal issues to him” (54). His perform, and his science have been what he considered the “main issues to him.” (54) From this characterization, readers can establish that individual relationships were of little to no interest to Hoenikker. He focused primarily on the scientific or factual side of life and since relationships weren’t factual Hoenikker couldn’t psychologically comprehend them. This leads to a lot of readers pondering Felix is cold or inept when in actuality his lack of connection to other human beings is a symptom of his Asperger’s. Usually, those with Asperger’s syndrome encounter frustration quicker than those without it, and this coupled with their misunderstanding of social cues lead them to do things that can be perceived as unusual by other folks. Despite the fact that Felix had an intellectually sophisticated thoughts, he was frequently frustrated quickly by basic, daily tasks. Furthermore, socially Hoenikker wasn’t up to par exactly where a standard adult male his age would have been. Dr. breed tells John that “Dr. Hoenikker, as a quite young man, had just abandoned his vehicle in the middle of ilium targeted traffic 1 morning” (30). As most people would tell you, this is an uncommon issue for 1 to do. When a standard individual leaves their automobile in the middle of traffic it is generally for a reason such as they ran out of gas, or the battery failed. In each of these circumstances a single would consider to pull the car off to the side of the road where it would not further impede site visitors. Even so, Hoenikker just left his, in the middle of the road, still operating. With no mechanical failures and no troubles other than he was tired of traffic and frustrated. Although all through the novel Dr. Hoenikker’s characterization brings up clear components relating to Asperger’s and the causes he creates weapons of mass destruction is related to the obsession he has for science, triggered by his Asperger’s syndrome. No one particular is as direct about Felix’s characterization as Ms. Faust. In her declaration, that Dr. Hoenikker was “an uncommon man” (57). Ms. Faust elaborates on her declaration by stating that “maybe in a million years everyone will be as sensible as he [Dr. Hoenikker] was and see factors the way he did. But, compared with the average person of today, he was as distinct as a man from mars” (57). This quotation is one particular of the most essential to characterizing Felix as a person of Asperger’s due to the fact it emphasizes the fact that he is nowhere close to typical and exceptionally wise. Some of the primary positive aspects to getting a individual of Asperger’s consist of “average to superior intelligence, a detail oriented strategy to tasks which may possibly result in missing the ‘bigger picture’, and a preference of technical and factual data over abstract ideas and theories” (ASO). Possessing been compared to those already diagnosed with Asperger’s, it is logical to conclude that Felix Hoenikker also can be diagnosed with this syndrome. From his obsession with science, destructive science, to his emotional detachment to his wife and youngsters, every of Hoenikker’s social and moral taboos can be explained by Asperger’s syndrome. In addition, it can be argued that Dr. Hoenikker’s co-workers took advantage of his circumstance and the weapons of mass destruction that came out of Felix’s time at the science laboratory weren’t his fault. Performs Cited “Asperger’s Syndrome” Autism-society.org. N.d. Net. 1 Jan. 2016. “Common Traits” Aspergers.ca. N.d. Net. 1 Jul. 2016. Hampson, Rick. “70 Years Later: How Planet War II Changed America.” USA Today 19 Jul. 2015. Internet. Vonnegut, Kurt. Cat’s Cradle. Random property publishing group, 1963. Print Wallace, James Mathew. “Dr. Felix Hoenikker in Kurt Vonnegut Cat’s Cradle: Great or Evil?” Diss. University of North Carolina Greensboro, 2006. Print.