In this one, the narrator vividly expresses a feeling of hopelessness as he seems to passively experience life, with the people around him making his decisions for him in order to adhere to their notions of social convention. This then sets the stage for him to openly mock the validity of those very societal norms that lead to suppression, depression, and death. Classic Vonnegut absurdism.

The deadpanned tone that simultaneously mocks these absurdities, offers insights into his own defeat and morose self-hate of passively going through the motions. Life happens to him, he is profoundly unhappy, but accepts the status quo as his norm. He is a prisoner in his own life.

"The truth can be very funny in an awful way, especially as it relates to greed and hypocrisy." Funnily enough, a part of this hypocrisy is the narrator's own emotional detachment from the terrible deeds he has committed throughout his life, some of which could and should have landed him in jail.

Ultimately, the bad guy of this novel seems to be power, or rather the imbalanced hierarchical structures systemically rooted in society which allot some people power/agency, while sapping others of their own humanity/agency. But he ultimately does not harbor hate for individuals who abuse power, so much as he bemoans the system that creates these great inequalities. He denotes, "I agree with the great Socialist writer George Orwell, who felt rich people were poor people with money." That said, he himself is a great abuser of power, so this conclusion is likely due to his own detached apathy, rather than the result of deeply thought out empathy.

"Hocus Pocus" is truly great and it will make you think. I laughed like hell.