Religion in Slaughterhouse Five
Religion in Slaughterhouse Five
Ruihan Guo
2013/11/12
Vonnegut’s contempt for religion manifests itself in Slaughterhouse Five. It is illustrated in the first quotation about the role of religion in Billy Pilgrim’s life and the second quotation absurdly likening the origin of Christianity to “a gift” (139) from an outer space visitor.
In the first quotation, Billy Pilgrim shows how he uses religion as a blind support in his life and an absolute denial of free will that absolves him from responsibility. Billy is “unenthusiastic about living” (77), yet is “keeping going” (77) simply because of his Serenity Prayer. While showing Billy’s absurd reliance on religion, Vonnegut uses sharp irony when the serenity prayer’s optimism and inspiration to change are dismissed by the arbitrary conclusion that “among the things Billy Pilgrim could not change were the past, the present, and the future.” (77) Even more ironically, the “courage” (77) and “wisdom” (77) referenced by the prayer are precious virtues neither of which Billy possesses. Moreover, Billy’s complete acceptance of predestination as described in the quotation also absolves himself from all responsibilities and leads to his consistent indifference to the world, such that he is neither “moved to protest the bombing of North Vietnam” (76) nor “shudder about the hideous things he himself had seen bombing do.” (76) Vonnegut shows strong loathing toward religion through the first quotation by depicting the blindness of the people who follow it and showing how it fosters indifference.
While the first quotation derides religion in a subtle way, the second quotation more directly reveals Vonnegut’s contempt for Christianity. Through the analogy of comparing the origin of Christianity to “the visitor from outer space made a gift to Earth of a new Gospel,” (139) Vonnegut overtly mocks the arbitrariness of God and the absurdity of Christianity. God shows his autocracy by simply “adopting the bum as his son, giving him
Ruihan Guo
2013/11/12
Vonnegut’s contempt for religion manifests itself in Slaughterhouse Five. It is illustrated in the first quotation about the role of religion in Billy Pilgrim’s life and the second quotation absurdly likening the origin of Christianity to “a gift” (139) from an outer space visitor.
In the first quotation, Billy Pilgrim shows how he uses religion as a blind support in his life and an absolute denial of free will that absolves him from responsibility. Billy is “unenthusiastic about living” (77), yet is “keeping going” (77) simply because of his Serenity Prayer. While showing Billy’s absurd reliance on religion, Vonnegut uses sharp irony when the serenity prayer’s optimism and inspiration to change are dismissed by the arbitrary conclusion that “among the things Billy Pilgrim could not change were the past, the present, and the future.” (77) Even more ironically, the “courage” (77) and “wisdom” (77) referenced by the prayer are precious virtues neither of which Billy possesses. Moreover, Billy’s complete acceptance of predestination as described in the quotation also absolves himself from all responsibilities and leads to his consistent indifference to the world, such that he is neither “moved to protest the bombing of North Vietnam” (76) nor “shudder about the hideous things he himself had seen bombing do.” (76) Vonnegut shows strong loathing toward religion through the first quotation by depicting the blindness of the people who follow it and showing how it fosters indifference.
While the first quotation derides religion in a subtle way, the second quotation more directly reveals Vonnegut’s contempt for Christianity. Through the analogy of comparing the origin of Christianity to “the visitor from outer space made a gift to Earth of a new Gospel,” (139) Vonnegut overtly mocks the arbitrariness of God and the absurdity of Christianity. God shows his autocracy by simply “adopting the bum as his son, giving him