Analysis Of Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five
The novel Slaughterhouse Five written by Kurt Vonnegut is a book about the bombing of Dresden, Germany during World War II. However, this novel is far from the conventional war story, as author Kurt Vonnegut bends and breaks the standard rules of storytelling. As the bombing of Dresden was far from conventional Vonnegut wrote an unconventional story to go along with it. The novel is not written in chronological order and skips around to different times. Since the main character Billy Pilgrim is “unstuck in time” he is constantly thrown into different times throughout his life with no control. This along with the Tralfamadorian idea that everyone is alive at one point in time, death is not seen to be something tragic.This comforting philosophy
allows Billy Pilgrim to look pass all the deaths around him and move on. Furthermore after each death in the book no matter how large of a scale such as the bombing of Dresden or so insignificant as a dead bottle of champagne everyone is followed by the phrase “so it goes”. Moreover, Vonnegut puts himself into the novel in various ways. For example, Billy Pilgrim, is obviously a surrogate for Vonnegut himself considering many events that happen to Billy happened to him as well. Although there are also other characters that represent Vonnegut throughout the novel. For example, Vonnegut himself who appears multiple times as a prisoner of war along with Billy Pilgrim. Furthermore Vonnegut also takes the role as the narrator of the story. In both the first and last chapter Vonnegut fully takes control of the story while other parts are written in third person point of view. From the very beginning of the story Vonnegut tell the readers what the climax of the story is going to be. Poor old Edgar Derby was to be shot down by a firing squad for stealing a teapot after the bombing of Dresden. Furthermore he also tells the readers how to book begin and how it will end. However although the book begins and ends how he said it would the climax was not Edgar Derby being shot. Instead the climax is at Billy’s anniversary when he breaks down because of the barbershop quartet. Billy life is outlined from the very beginning eliminating the sense of foreshadowing as everything is said outright. By ignoring and twisting the standard rules of storytelling Vonnegut wrote a humorous novel with a much darker undertone. This story explores the cruelties of war and many other topics and since the bombing of Dresden was not something easily written for Vonnegut it was written in an unconventional manner.
allows Billy Pilgrim to look pass all the deaths around him and move on. Furthermore after each death in the book no matter how large of a scale such as the bombing of Dresden or so insignificant as a dead bottle of champagne everyone is followed by the phrase “so it goes”. Moreover, Vonnegut puts himself into the novel in various ways. For example, Billy Pilgrim, is obviously a surrogate for Vonnegut himself considering many events that happen to Billy happened to him as well. Although there are also other characters that represent Vonnegut throughout the novel. For example, Vonnegut himself who appears multiple times as a prisoner of war along with Billy Pilgrim. Furthermore Vonnegut also takes the role as the narrator of the story. In both the first and last chapter Vonnegut fully takes control of the story while other parts are written in third person point of view. From the very beginning of the story Vonnegut tell the readers what the climax of the story is going to be. Poor old Edgar Derby was to be shot down by a firing squad for stealing a teapot after the bombing of Dresden. Furthermore he also tells the readers how to book begin and how it will end. However although the book begins and ends how he said it would the climax was not Edgar Derby being shot. Instead the climax is at Billy’s anniversary when he breaks down because of the barbershop quartet. Billy life is outlined from the very beginning eliminating the sense of foreshadowing as everything is said outright. By ignoring and twisting the standard rules of storytelling Vonnegut wrote a humorous novel with a much darker undertone. This story explores the cruelties of war and many other topics and since the bombing of Dresden was not something easily written for Vonnegut it was written in an unconventional manner.