Ilium (Kurt Vonnegut) facts for kids
Ilium is a made-up town in eastern New York State. It appears in many books and stories by the famous writer Kurt Vonnegut. Some of these include Player Piano, Cat's Cradle, and Slaughterhouse-Five.
What is Ilium?
Ilium is a very important place in Vonnegut's stories. It's often shown as a town controlled by a huge factory called the Ilium Works. This factory makes amazing scientific things. These inventions can either help people a lot or cause problems. Vonnegut used the Ilium Works to represent big companies that have a lot of power. These companies can even change how people live.
Where is Ilium?
The name "Ilium" might remind you of Troy, New York. This is because "Ilium" was the old Roman name for the ancient city of Troy. However, in some of Vonnegut's books, Troy is mentioned as a separate city.
Ilium is very similar to a real city called Schenectady, New York. The made-up Iroquois River in Ilium is like the real Mohawk River in Schenectady. This river flows through Schenectady. The Ilium Works factory is in about the same spot as the General Electric plant in Schenectady. Kurt Vonnegut actually worked at the General Electric plant as a writer for public relations.
Even though Ilium is like Schenectady, the two cities are different in Vonnegut's books. In Player Piano (1952), Cat's Cradle (1963), and Slaughterhouse-Five (1969), characters talk about Schenectady as a separate place.
A town called Cohoes is also near Ilium. This is where Vonnegut's character Kilgore Trout lived for a long time.
Ilium in Stories
Ilium is the home for many characters and events in Kurt Vonnegut's books.
- In his 1985 book, Galápagos, a character named Mary Hepburn was a high school teacher in Ilium.
- In Cat's Cradle, Ilium was the former home of Dr. Felix Hoenikker. He was one of the scientists who helped create the atomic bomb. The main character visits Ilium to interview Dr. Asa Breed, who used to be Hoenikker's boss.
- Most of the story in Player Piano takes place in Ilium.
- In Slaughterhouse-Five, Ilium is the hometown of the main character, Billy Pilgrim.
- The short story "Ed Luby's Key Club" also happens in Ilium.
