Irony In Kurt Vonnegut's 'Slaughterhouse Five'
George Gerges
Ms. Worth
AP Language and Comp
30 November 2012
The Combat of Death
In Slaughterhouse Five, Kurt Vonnegut uses irony to demonstrate the destructiveness and depreciations of war. Vonnegut incorporated many cases of irony in his book, and they overall enhance the meaning throughout the passage. One of the prime situations of irony took place with Edgar Derby. This poor man had to endure suffering and pain during the course of the war and the firebombing, only to be executed in the end for a meaningless little crime. Vonnegut reveals a bit of this situation in the beginning of the book when he mentions that the "One guy I knew really was shot in Dresden for taking a teapot that wasn 't his" (1). This shocks the reader because …show more content…
The purpose of Vonnegut to include this in the text was also to give irony more on the personal level. This further allows the reader to connect with Vonnegut and understand the immensity of the irony when it happened to a person that he was very close to. After the reader understands the irony, one can visualize the injustice and slaughter that took place during the war. With Edgar Derby, the audience can also apprehend that those who killed him must have been very torn by the war to be able to kill other innocent people. Ultimately, the irony in Edgar Derby’s death was created by Vonnegut in order to demonstrate some of the injustices of war on a personal level. Additionally, Billy experiences a large part of the war’s destruction within himself. This is revealed to the reader after the firebombing. Billy and the other American prisoners “were riding in a coffin shaped green wagon” (194). The setting in the coffin wagon holds irony because Billy and the prisoners have survived the wrath of the firebombing, yet they sit in a coffin shaped wagon that symbolizes death. Vonnegut is implying that although Billy is alive, a part of him is still dead. The wreckage of the
Ms. Worth
AP Language and Comp
30 November 2012
The Combat of Death
In Slaughterhouse Five, Kurt Vonnegut uses irony to demonstrate the destructiveness and depreciations of war. Vonnegut incorporated many cases of irony in his book, and they overall enhance the meaning throughout the passage. One of the prime situations of irony took place with Edgar Derby. This poor man had to endure suffering and pain during the course of the war and the firebombing, only to be executed in the end for a meaningless little crime. Vonnegut reveals a bit of this situation in the beginning of the book when he mentions that the "One guy I knew really was shot in Dresden for taking a teapot that wasn 't his" (1). This shocks the reader because …show more content…
The purpose of Vonnegut to include this in the text was also to give irony more on the personal level. This further allows the reader to connect with Vonnegut and understand the immensity of the irony when it happened to a person that he was very close to. After the reader understands the irony, one can visualize the injustice and slaughter that took place during the war. With Edgar Derby, the audience can also apprehend that those who killed him must have been very torn by the war to be able to kill other innocent people. Ultimately, the irony in Edgar Derby’s death was created by Vonnegut in order to demonstrate some of the injustices of war on a personal level. Additionally, Billy experiences a large part of the war’s destruction within himself. This is revealed to the reader after the firebombing. Billy and the other American prisoners “were riding in a coffin shaped green wagon” (194). The setting in the coffin wagon holds irony because Billy and the prisoners have survived the wrath of the firebombing, yet they sit in a coffin shaped wagon that symbolizes death. Vonnegut is implying that although Billy is alive, a part of him is still dead. The wreckage of the