Deer in the Works is a short story by

Kurt Vonnegut Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American writer known for his satirical and darkly humorous novels. In a career spanning over 50 years, he published fourteen novels, three short-story collections, five plays, and ...

. It first appeared in ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...

'' in April 1955, and was anthologized in ''

Welcome to the Monkey House ''Welcome to the Monkey House'' is a collection of 25 short stories written by Kurt Vonnegut, published by Delacorte in August 1968. The stories range from wartime epics to futuristic thrillers, given with satire and Vonnegut's unique edge. The s ...

''. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Vonnegut worked as a writer at the

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...

plant in

Schenectady Schenectady () is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-largest city by population. The city is in eastern New Y ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. Ilium frequently appears in his writings, and is supposed to be the hometown of his character,

Kilgore Trout Kilgore Trout is a fictional character created by author Kurt Vonnegut. In Vonnegut's work, Trout is a notably unsuccessful author of paperback science fiction novels. "Trout" was inspired by the name of the author Theodore Sturgeon (Vonnegut's ...

. In 1980 the story was made into a short film with a running length of 25 minutes. The film stars

Dennis Dugan Dennis Barton Dugan (born September 5, 1946) is an American director, actor, writer, artist and comedian. He is known for his partnership with comedic actor Adam Sandler, for whom he directed the films ''Happy Gilmore'', '' Big Daddy'', ''The Be ...

in the lead role with supporting roles played by

Gordon Jump Alexander Gordon Jump (April 1, 1932 – September 22, 2003) was an American actor best known as the clueless, yet occasionally wise, radio station manager Arthur "Big Guy" Carlson in the TV series ''WKRP in Cincinnati'' and the incompetent Ch ...

, Bob Basso,

Richard Kline Richard Kline (born April 29, 1944) is an American actor and television director. His roles include Larry Dallas on the sitcom ''Three's Company'', Richie in the later seasons of ''It's a Living'' and Jeff Beznick in '' Noah Knows Best''. Early ...

and

Bill Walker Bill Walker may refer to: Australian rules football * Bill A. Walker (1886–1934), Australian rules footballer for Essendon * Bill Walker (Australian footballer, born 1883) (1883–1971), Australian rules footballer for Fitzroy * Bill J. V. Wal ...

. The film was directed by

Ron Underwood Ronald Brian Underwood (born November 6, 1953) is an American film and television director, known for directing such films as ''Tremors (1990 film), Tremors'' (1990), ''City Slickers'' (1991), ''Heart and Souls'' (1993),'' and Mighty Joe Young ...

and the screenplay adaptation was written by

Brent Maddock Brent Maddock is an American screenwriter, producer and film director who has worked with S. S. Wilson on several high-profile projects such as ''Short Circuit'' (1986), ''Batteries Not Included'' (1987), '' Tremors'' (1990) and ''Wild Wild West ...

and

S. S. Wilson Steven Seth Wilson is an American science fiction screenwriter, and is probably best known for writing (and occasionally directing), with writing partner Brent Maddock Brent Maddock is an American screenwriter, producer and film director who ...

. The film was produced by

Barr Films Barr may refer to: Places * Barr (placename element), element of place names meaning 'wooded hill', 'natural barrier' * Barr, Ayrshire, a village in Scotland * Barr Building (Washington, DC), listed on the US National Register of Historic Place ...

Plot

David Potter, owner of a small town weekly

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

, decides to get a more secure job. Despite his wife's misgivings, he applies to be a publicity writer at the mammoth Ilium Works. Although shaken at seeing how the company immediately plans out his entire career, he accepts the position. He is then given his first assignment, recording the capture of a

deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the reindeer ...

that has slipped onto the grounds of the Works. After he and a

photographer A photographer (the Greek language, Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs. Duties and types of photographe ...

finish their jobs the deer will be killed and served at a company dinner. Getting hopelessly lost, Potter views the utter

dehumanization Dehumanization is the denial of full humanness in others and the cruelty and suffering that accompanies it. A practical definition refers to it as the viewing and treatment of other persons as though they lack the mental capacities that are c ...

of the workers. Mistaken for a visiting scientist, he joins a party and has several drinks before finding a skirmish line of employees closing in on the deer. He opens a gate, lets it escape, and then follows it out into the world.

References

Short stories by Kurt Vonnegut 1955 short stories Works originally published in Esquire (magazine) Short stories adapted into films {{1950s-story-stub