Firebombing

In Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Thomas Schell Sr.'s account of the bombing in Dresden gives the reader a clear insight into his behavior and the reasons for it. In one moment, his life was changed forever as he lost everything that was dear to him. As soon as the bombing scene begins, the reader is sent back to Dresden through the deep description of the memory. The brutal description of all of the bodies burning, the fear in Thomas’ heart, and the utter terror all around him could not be

Kurt Vonnegut followed many principles in his writings. He claimed that “people do not realize that they are happy” (PBS NOW Transcript). Feeling that people had the wrong view on war, he felt that he needed to get the facts straight. Vonnegut believed that art can come from awful situations, and that the truth is not always easy to look at. Kurt Vonnegut wrote Slaughterhouse – Five to tell of his experience in the bombing of Dresden, as a prisoner in war and the atrocities that occurred. Vonnegut

In September of 1940 through May of 1941 there was a strategic bombing attack that was lead by the Germans targeted towards London and other cities located in England, this was known as The Blitz. The Germans aimed the bombs mostly at populated cities, dock yards, and factories.      The bombing on London began on September 7, 1940 and lasted for 57 consecutive nights. During these nights of bombing people took shelter in warehouse basements, and in underground

The bombing operations carried out by allied forces against Germany during the Second World War is an important part of the war. The bombings had a dramatic impact on Germany at this time and shaped how the Second World War was fought ultimately future warfare. During the Second World War aerial warfare was still a new concept that had been introduced during the First World War. Bombing was an even newer tactic, that offered the advantage of hastening the defeat of ones own opponent without prolonged

good, you may have to engage in evil,” - Robert McNamara. Robert McNamara was a lieutenant in the the U.S. armed forces during World War 2 and played a key role alongside General Curtis Lemay in the decision to firebomb Japanese civilians. The firebombing of Japan during World War 2 was one of the most deadly attacks during the war, killing about 213,000 people compared to the 80,000 of the atomic bombs. In almost every other situation the decision to order the killing of people by bombing them would

world and describes them in such a way that it disarms and desensitizes the reader to the shock of what they are reading. Slaughterhouse-Five is an excellent example of this. When describing the shock and horror that Billy witnessed during the firebombing of Dresden, Vonnegut takes the time to describe “Weary and Wild Bob and Rumfoord,” characters who “find glory in wholesale death and destruction” (Cox 272). In writing his response to the horrors of war, Vonnegut takes the approach that it is better

To be able to understand how war brings out the worst in people, we need to consider how intentional suffering toward the ‘enemy’ brings out the worst in people and to what extent. Vonnegut uses the protagonist, Billy, as a reflection on the trauma of war experienced by an individual, and the coping mechanisms displayed by Billy, including; time travel and withdrawing from reality into a fantasy world. The author explores post-traumatic stress throughout the text and puts it into use and gives it

seem realistic”(Beidler 5). Vonnegut used his experiences as an advantage while writing the book. He could easily write about this event because he had experienced it first hand. Some of the best parallels are presented during the aftermath of the firebombing of Dresden. For example, Vonnegut writes in Slaughterhouse-Five that, “a new technique was devised. Bodies weren’t brought up any more. They were cremated by soldiers with flamethrowers right where they were”(Vonnegut 214). In an interview Vonnegut

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut appears to be a novel, which not only focuses on World War II, but also on the two major atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the firebombing of Dresden. The author Kurt Vonnegut treats the most horrific massacres in World War II with sarcastic humor while also clearly being antiwar sentiment. The firebombing of Dresden, a city in eastern Germany, on February 13, 1945, lead to the cause of 130,000 civilian’s death. This was also roughly the same number of deaths that

States began conventional bombing of Japan as early as 1942, the mission did not begin in earnest until mid-1944.  Between April 1944 and August, 1945, an estimated 333,000 Japanese people were killed and 473,000 more wounded in air raids.  A single firebombing attack on Tokyo in March