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Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five

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“Slaughterhouse Five” by Kurt Vonnegut is historical and science fiction novel about a man named BIlly Pilgrim and his life, mostly focusing on the time he spent in Dresden during World War II. The book takes place all throughout the 1900’s. Slaughterhouse is written in both first and third person, it goes back and forth from New York and Germany. Billy Pilgrim the antagonist the protagonist is this story because he is fighting against himself. The major conflict in this book is Billy trying to get over his first hand experience in Dresden, with that said the mood is an emotional back story of his life. The plot is about Billy and how he was abducted by Tralfamadore and the time he spent in WWII. He talks about his life before and after the …show more content…

The setting and the mood go hand in hand, depression and pain in time of the war but back at home laugher and joy. The setting goes perfectly with the plot it explains what is happening and leaves little room for confusion. The author uses both first and third person for example: “ Billy’s smile as he came out of the shrubbery was at least as peculiar as Mona Lisa’s, for he was simultaneously on foot in Germany in 1944 and riding his Cadillac in 1967.” (56). In this quote he is speaking in third person explaining what Billy is doing at that moment. Kurt uses these points of view to express what Billy is feeling and to interpret some of his own feelings. Everything is known about Billy down to the tiniest detail for instance “ Now he was in bed with Valencia in a delightful studio apartment which was built on the end of wharf on Cape Ann, Massachusetts.” (112). He goes into more detail after that explaining what Billy is doing. Kurt explains what happened to Billy after he had a plane crash and when he was in the war. Nothing about Billy is left out, the decisions Billy makes throughout the book make him seem like a wonderful person. He doesn’t describe much of Billy’s …show more content…

It doesn’t go by the rules, it keeps the reader on his or her toes. The author doesn’t stay on the same subject for too long, and he brings in things normally not seen in books for example: “ The real Iron Maiden was a medieval torture instrument, a sort of boiler which is shaped like a woman on the outside-and lined with spikes.”(34). Before this quote Billy was being told about about Roland Weary, a man that was in the war with him. The resolution of this book is satisfying, all of the conflicts were resolved excepted one or two. In this book the theme seems to be on the lack of free will such as: “‘ When a Tralfamadorian sees a corpse, all he thinks is that the dead person is in a bad condition in that particular moment, but that the same person is just fine in plenty of other moments.’” (26). This quote is an example of the amount of free will people pursue. People are taught that there is only one world and one time frame, that thinking outside the box is wrong. Mr. Vonnegut explains that this is not always the case, being random and free is ok. Free will should not be taken away from anyone. Everyone has a choice to do whatever they want weather is be beneficial or

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