Symbolism In Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five

In the novel Slaughterhouse-Five, free will is an important theme throughout the story of Billy Pilgrim. Vonnegut suggests that free will doesn’t exist and that humans can not control what happens in their life. He also presents the idea that predestination will guide you to where you are supposed to be in life and when humans choose what to do it’s not really them deciding, it is what’s supposed to happen. With that, he displays a contrast on how free will can exist. Free will can become difficult to understand, but Vonnegut’s use of it as a significant theme will help readers to further understand the novel and how free will contributes to the story.

On page 85 the Tralfamadorians say “Trapped in another blob of amber, Mr. Pilgrim. We are where we have to be just now.” The tralfamadorians are saying that if Billy were anywhere else the moment would be different and wrong. It is important that he is where he is.

Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., is the tale of a gawky World War II veteran/soldier, Billy Pilgrim. His wartime experiences and their effects lead him to the ultimate conclusion that war is unexplainable. To portray this effectively, Vonnegut presents the story in two dimensions: historical and science-fiction. The irrationality of war is emphasized in each dimension by contrasts in its comic and tragic elements. The historical seriousness of the Battle of the Bulge and the bombing of Dresden are contrasted by many ironies and dark humor; the fantastical, science-fiction-type place of Tralfamadore is, in truth, an outlet for Vonnegut to show his incredibly serious fatalistic views. The surprising variations of the seriousness

Critics often suggest that Kurt Vonnegut’s novels represent a man’s desperate, yet, futile search for meaning in a senseless existence.  Vonnegut’s novel, Slaughterhouse-Five, displays this theme.  Kurt Vonnegut uses a narrator, which is different from the main character.  He uses this technique for several reasons.

This suggest that Billy’s experiences in the war can change and form experiences that are not necessary true. Billy thinks that his trip to Tralfamadore is true but it could be his way to escape his reality. Vonnegut and Billy could have compromise and try to make the novel more interesting. In the article How’s America’s leading Science fictions authors are shaping your future, explain how authors uses science fictions of all kind to explain the type of future we might or might not have. The article explains, “Every author who meticulously examines the latest developments in physics or computing, there are other authors who invent “impossible” technology to serve as a plot device”(2). Vonnegut uses the idea of time traveling with Billy who learn it from the Tralfamadorians. Vonnegut uses the impossible technology such as time travel to use in Billy’s experiences in the planet in

“A piece a cake,” this is a phrase commonly used unlike the phrase “so it goes.” In the novel Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut the phrase “so it goes” is used 106 times. This three worded phrase does not seem like it has more meaning than the four worded phrase, “a piece a cake,” but it actually plays an important part in the novel. The phrase “so it goes” is specifically used after a person has died in the book, which occurs frequently. Vonnegut uses this phrase to demonstrate that whatever happens in life happens and so it goes.

In the novel Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut, the author's tone exists with a strong presence. His tone, the general attitude of a piece of writing, emphasises certain parts of the book when he wants to get a message across, as well as revealing the themes of the illusion of free will through acceptance and indifference, and the destructiveness of war through realism.

Additionally, Billy has gone through so much physical change from fighting in the war, to being an optometrist, to living on the planet of Tralfamadore; that life seems to have no simple path and he could live in one of these places at any point. His convoluted life continues to mess with Billy’s head, and simplicity and relaxation in his life are nonexistent. Billy’s distraught past continues to flow into the present, therefore, it is very hard for him to “keep going” (Page

In Slaughterhouse-Five, Billy Pilgrim is abducted by aliens to a planet called Tralfamadore. On this planet he was programmed to believe that life will proceed as it always has and he has no power to change any outcome. This viewpoint completely altered Billy’s perception of life. In this quote, Billy is explaining his new belief to Rumfoord in the hospital after the war, “Everything is all right, and everybody has to do exactly what he does. I learned that on Tralfamadore” (Slaughterhouse 254). People have no control over any moment in time. It is set and will always happen the same way; there is no point in challenging it. Tralfamadorians put this nihilistic idea into Billy’s head and are forcing him to believe it. With this viewpoint, Billy will never challenge any wrongdoings he sees and will just let everything happen in front of him. By believing that he has no free will to change anything, he will allow violence to occur and just accept it. This is Vonnegut’s way of satirizing anybody who believes that he cannot change the world. In another situation in Slaughterhouse-Five, Billy shows how the Tralfamadorians have further desensitized him into not caring when people die because that is just how it happens, “Now when I myself hear that somebody is dead, I simply shrug and say what the Tralfamadorians say about dead people, which is

As the readers read the story chronologically, they find themselves moving randomly through time with Billy. This allows the reader to experience the feeling of having little control, or free will, over their lives. Also, Billy has no control over where he is going next; he has not control over his life, showing his lack of free will. Vonnegut uses Billy

A war veteran, Kurt Vonnegut wrote Slaughterhouse-Five as a response to the horrors he was subjected to as a soldier in WWII. Many authors are hesitant to dwell on depressing subject matters, but it was clearly very important to Vonnegut that people were not jaded by the media in regards to the violence and brutality he and millions of other soldiers experienced firsthand. It is possible that Vonnegut wanted people to question the point of warfare, and

This leaves an uneasy feeling for the reader, as it is somewhat choppy with all the quick starts and stops. The manner in which Vonnegut begins his books makes a huge impact too, as this novel begins with, “Nothing in this book is true” (Vonnegut, Cat’s Cradle Prologue). Likewise, Slaughterhouse Five also creates an uneasy feeling due to the choppiness of the writing. However, this is created through the use of a non-linear plot line. In the first chapter Vonnegut states, “It’s so short and jumbled and jangled…because there is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre” (Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse Five 24).

Mr. Ivey assigns his tenth grade Honors English class a project in the fourth quarter of the semester each year. The project consists of a powerpoint presentation on an assigned book and a paper on the book containing a summary, a historical analysis, several scholarly analyses, and a personal opinion, among some other requirements. By chance, I selected the book Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut from our list of options. With Slaughterhouse-Five’s quirky and ambiguous title, I was not sure what to expect and was pleasantly surprised by the impactful story that brought to light many social issues of war, such as PTSD. Vonnegut’s work amazed me with its disorderly structure and ability to fit into many genres. Mr. Ivey’s English project provided me a new appreciation for literature in which I learned to use authorial context, historical context, and personal context to develop my own meaning for a piece of literature.

Slaughterhouse Five is a book that employs heavy themes to make the reader to not only delve into a realm of thought but also into belief. The themes that the book seems to point to appear to be free will, and human nature. The book seems to portray the idea that we are all destined for something, and that no matter what choices we make it will always end the same. Due to this, Kurt litters the book with religious messages, catholic prayers, inferences to the old and new testament in the bible, and a very straightforward idea of a greater power (in this case the tralfamadorians), in order to make the reader question if there is in fact destiny, free will.

We all know that, world war II, was a hard  disastrous time in history but, in the story slaughterhouse-five we learn from another perspective of the author who was sent in for the battle of the bulge and witnessed the bombing of Dresden. The author had many experiences from which he had with world war II, he shows of what happened and could have been his thoughts throughout the narrator billy pilgrim.  First, Slaughterhouse five says different themes and how they relate to war. Secondly, there's many events from when the author Kurt Vonnegut’s life that made him feel this way about war. Lastly, the attitude of vonnegut  towards war and how it affected the narrator. This novel of Vonnegut’s seemed to help him with his experiences through his