Smith 1

Alyssa Smith
Ms. Dearing
English 106
10 April 2015
Audio Essay
Today I will be reviewing the short story 2BR02B by Kurt Vonnegut. It is a classic
example of a dystopian novel where readers can easily relate to the main message. In this review
we will discuss the underlying theme of population control by government mandates and how
readers can relate this to our society today.
Vonnegut begins his gruesome tale in the waiting room of the delivery ward at the local
hospital. We are introduced to Mr. Wehling, who is waiting for his wife to deliver triplets. On a
day where any first time father should be bursting with joy, Mr. Wehling is morose, dreading his
situation. In Vonneguts futuristic society, the world he created has found a cure for aging. No
one dies of disease or old age, they are eternally young. Now, this sounds like a wonderful world
to live in, but, one must think, if no one is dying, there must be strict population control so the
world does not become overpopulated. In order to accomplish this, every time a new soul is to be
born, someone must sacrifice their own life by volunteering to die. In order for Mr. Wehling to
have all three of his children, he must find three volunteers, otherwise his childrens lives will be
terminated. He has found one volunteer so far, his own grandfather. He is faced with the
impossible problem of deciding which of his children get to live. Sounds like a set up for a pretty
horrifying story if I do say so myself.
In Vonneguts story, he stresses the negative effects of population control. The law said
that no newborn child could survive unless the parents of the child could find someone who
would volunteer to die, (Vonnegut 11). (Thats a direct quote from the story). Since everyone in
this society has the ability to live forever, it would extremely hard to find willing volunteers to
sacrifice themselves in order for someone else to have children. In this particular instance, Mr.
Wehling can only find one volunteer for his three newborn babies, his grandfather. Not only

Smith 2
would he lose someone dear to him, he would not even be able to save all of his children.
Therefore, he must choose which two babies would be sacrificed as well.
Vonnegut does a good job of displaying the negative effects in 2BR02B, but shows
how they only affect the general public, not the people higher up in society like doctors or those
in charge of terminating the volunteers. Those people justify themselves and their actions by
stating, Without population control, human beings would now be packed on this surface of this
old planet like drupelets on a blackberry! (Vonnegut 12). Doctors and Hostesses of the Bureau
believe that since they discovered the cure for aging, if they did not use population control,
people would continue to multiply until they used up all of the worlds resources and eventually
destroyed themselves. It is easy for them to point these fingers because they know they are not
the ones who will have to sacrifice themselves because there is a sense of urgency for them,
unlike other people like Mr. Wehling.
Although Vonneguts story is a little bit exaggerated, because as you know, we do not
have the cure for aging, he raises issues that readers can relate to. Population control and
government regulations are something our society has in common with Vonneguts dystopia,
although it is not as extreme. I believe this short story was well written and opened my eyes to
problems we face in our own society that I did not previously give much thought to. For those
reasons, I believe this is an extremely successful piece of writing that will continue to be relevant
for many decades to come.
Works Cited
Piano Music, CrusaderBeach. Dramatic Piano Instrumental Background Music Online video
clip. YouTube. YouTube, 11 Aug. 2013. Web. 17 Apr. 2015.
Vonnegut, Kurt. 2BR02B. Auckland: Floating, 1962. Print.