Kurt Vonnegut Writing Style Analysis
Every piece of literature has something about it that makes unique, most of which has to do with the author. As a writer develops their style, they learn to incorporate this style in all of their writings. Kurt Vonnegut has developed a very unique style using irony and symbolism along with multiple other rhetorical devices to introduce all of his, somewhat related, themes throughout his novels. The novels Cat’s Cradle and Slaughterhouse Five are exceptional examples of the consistency in Kurt Vonnegut’s writing. He leaves a mark on all of the texts he uses by using his unique style of black humor to get his point across. Slaughterhouse Five is a novel written in third person about a man named Billy Pilgrim. Billy has had a multitude of life
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No damn cat, and no damn cradle” (Cradle Vonnegut 28-30). The concept of symbolism is heavily used throughout both Slaughterhouse Five and Cat’s Cradle. On multiple occasions throughout the novel Slaughterhouse Five, the colors blue and ivory are used to describe some part of the scene when Billy seems to be on the verge of death. During chapter four, when Billy is about to kidnapped by the flying saucer, “ He looked down at his bare feet. They were ivory and blue” (Slaughterhouse Vonnegut 72). These colors are very dull and deathly, which leads us to believe that Vonnegut was trying to illustrate the state of mind that Billy is in during these moments.
Another example of symbolism in Slaughterhouse Five is the phrase “Poo-Tee-Weet” which is repeated several times throughout the war scenes in this novel. Vonnegut explains this through Billy’s following thought process:
“It is so short and jumbled and jangled, Sam, because there is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre. Everybody is supposed to be dead, to never say anything or want anything ever again. Everything is supposed to be very quiet after a massacre, and it always is, except for the birds. And what do the birds say? All there is to say about a massacre, things like “Poo-tee-weet?” (Slaughterhouse Vonnegut
No damn cat, and no damn cradle” (Cradle Vonnegut 28-30). The concept of symbolism is heavily used throughout both Slaughterhouse Five and Cat’s Cradle. On multiple occasions throughout the novel Slaughterhouse Five, the colors blue and ivory are used to describe some part of the scene when Billy seems to be on the verge of death. During chapter four, when Billy is about to kidnapped by the flying saucer, “ He looked down at his bare feet. They were ivory and blue” (Slaughterhouse Vonnegut 72). These colors are very dull and deathly, which leads us to believe that Vonnegut was trying to illustrate the state of mind that Billy is in during these moments.
Another example of symbolism in Slaughterhouse Five is the phrase “Poo-Tee-Weet” which is repeated several times throughout the war scenes in this novel. Vonnegut explains this through Billy’s following thought process:
“It is so short and jumbled and jangled, Sam, because there is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre. Everybody is supposed to be dead, to never say anything or want anything ever again. Everything is supposed to be very quiet after a massacre, and it always is, except for the birds. And what do the birds say? All there is to say about a massacre, things like “Poo-tee-weet?” (Slaughterhouse Vonnegut