Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow

"Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow" (Originally titled "The Big Trip Up Yonder") is a science fiction short story by Kurt Vonnegut. It depicts a world in which the people have began taking a drug called "Anti-gerasone". This drug is intended to stop the aging process and make its users become more identical. This drug also is apparently in widespread use in this story with nearly everyone taking it. The problem arises when Vonnegut points out that because of this drug the world has become increasingly over populated and resources are non existent. Vonnegut uses his classic sense of humor blended with science fiction elements to sell this story and get his point across. Here we see themes commonly used by Vonnegut; overpopulation, an overbearing government, and a loss of individuality.

Firstly, overpopulation is probably the most readily apparent theme in this story.In particular, there seems to be an overpopulation of older citizens in this depiction of the country. This leads to many problems for the average citizen. The first major problem being that resources are scarce, the main characters reminisce of times where they could simply go to the store and buy objects like a bed or a chair. This problem is brought to the forefront by making this an issue in their everyday lives.Even their apartment is overpopulated, with many of the family members sleeping in the hallway and only Cramps, the oldest member of the family, having the privacy of his own room. This can be seen as a metaphor for what the rest of the world must be like when  the population is out of control like this.

Second,we see an all powerful overbearing government which is another theme Vonnegut explores in many of his stories. In this case there is another problem with the government, the older generation maintains a large portion of the vote and because of this change that they oppose cannot come. This is Vonnegut directly commenting on the world around him, and this is a problem that we still see today. While there are many issues that younger generations almost entirely agree upon if the older generation who is still in power opposes them there is little the younger generation can do.

Lastly, there is the issue of losing ones individuality. This can be seen directly with how the family interacts with one another. There is little to no difference between any of them the only differentiating factor is their age.In addition to this, towards the end of the story Cramps sees an advertisement for a newer drug called "Super-anti-gerasone".

"Wouldn't you pay $5,000 to be indistinguishable from everyone else?"

The way that this advertisement is worded says a lot about how the characters in this world are conditioned to think. The implication here is that individuality is something that they have been trained to think is bad for them. This one small quote alone conveys a lot of the message about losing individuality that Vonnegut is concerned about.

Overall this story is a very interesting look into what could happen when we are faced with drastic overpopulation. In this case science fiction elements are used in order to quickly explain how this happened while still describing a very real problem that we face today in the world. This is something that Vonnegut is truly a master of, creating real commentary on the world around him using science fiction elements to exaggerate problems.