Kurt Vonnegut’s 1999 Agnes Scott College Commencement Speech Analysis

In 1999 Kurt Vonnegut, a known humanist, delivered a commencement speech to Agnes Scott College in Georgia. Instead of giving the graduating class the standard congratulatory celebration of the class’s achievements, he opts to give them a different type of commencement speech. Kurt Vonnegut’s Commencement speech was deliberately written to appeal to his audience’s religion, quoted a wide range of people, and was filled with humor all to establish a relationship to make his speech more enjoyable and fun for these graduates before they begin the harshness of life. Vonnegut lets the graduates laugh a bit before they enter their new responsibilities of life.  

The school Vonnegut is delivering this speech to is Agnes Scott College, an all-girls private Presbyterian school. Being neither female nor Presbyterian, he makes up for his lack of femininity and Christian beliefs by appealing to his audience’s religion with references to the Bible and Christian ethics. During his speech, he addresses what is wrong with the world. He cites the “Code of Hammurabi” that is “echoed in the Old Testament” of the Bible as being the source of bad ethics. This code is the embodiment of pettiness and has been reiterated throughout history, and many people still follow its “eye for an eye” dogma. Vonnegut’s reference to the Bible is a recognizable one for his audience, and for the very few people who aren’t Presbyterian, anyone can recognize the phrase “eye for an eye”(pg.1). It is also noteworthy that Agnes Scott College requires students to pass an applied ethics class before they can graduate, so these should not be unfamiliar terms he references. Giving a name to the doctrine so many people these graduates will meet in life follow he makes it easier to identify and avoid. Vonnegut continues his speech by presenting the contrasting ideals to the Code of Hammurabi he believes these graduates should follow. He cites a prayer these girls have no doubt recited millions of times: “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” (Pg.1). Every single Presbyterian, or Christian for that matter, has that prayer memorized by grade two, so why was it repeated in this context? After saying a phrase a million times the words start to blur together and lose their meaning; he gave those twelve words meaning again. These words are used to defeat the Code of Hammurabi. With that prayer, he is appealing to their Christian morals. Vonnegut himself is a humanist, not a Christian, so when he shows an understanding of their values and prayers, it gives him more credibility to his audience.  Vonnegut does address what he believes, and why he is a humanist before the audience can question his authority more. He tells them that “By being a Humanist, I am honoring my father and mother, which the Bible tells us is a good thing to do.” (Pg.2), using Christian logic to justify his beliefs. By referencing the Bible in his ethical arguments, he is showing an understanding of their beliefs and how they can apply them in their futures.