Kurt Vonnegut reflects on Barack Obama

Kurt Vonnegut died awhile ago, but a scene from Slaughterhouse 5 came to me as I watched the Concert on the Mall this afternoon and listened to Obama's short talk at the end, tears in my eyes. I don't have a copy of the novel at hand, so I'll have to relate the scene as best I can.

It's in a vitamin factory where the character who represents Vonnegut worked when he was a prisoner of war in World War II (In case you don't know the story, Vonnegut himself was prisoner in Dresden and was in an underground meat storage locker during the famous fire bombing of the city). The factory made a very rich vitamin syrup meant for pregnant women. Vonnegut and his fellow prisoners hid spoons everywhere. When the guards weren't looking, the underfed young prisoners snuck spoonfuls of the nourishing liquid.

I remember Vonnegut describing tears coming to the character's eyes as his body gratefully accepted the nourishment it so desperately needed.

That's how I felt watching the concert. Like I was getting a strong dose of nourishment for a spirit that has been hungry for a moment like this for eight years.