Slaughterhouse Five Literary Analysis
“We had been foolish virgins in the war, right at the end of childhood.”
The novel Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut depicts different periods of main character Billy Pilgrim’s life. Throughout the novel the reader follows Billy through his time as a soldier in WWII, life after, and the period where Billy thinks he lived on the planet Tralfamadore. These periods show the destructiveness of war on a person and its long-term effects after. Vonnegut actually fought in WWII and while at his war buddy’s house his wife talks about how Vonnegut and her husband were just children when they were sent to war. Vonnegut’s statement in the book, “We had been foolish virgins in the war, right at the end of childhood,” captures the quintessential idea …show more content…
On the train to the German prisoner of war camp a dying Weary says Billy Pilgrim killed him even though he dies of gangrene because of the clogs the German soldiers make him wear. When Paul Lazzaro, who is a stranger to Weary and Pilgrim, hears that Pilgrim was at fault for Weary’s death, he makes it his mission to one-day kill Pilgrim. Lazzaro wanting to kill Billy Pilgrim displays his immaturity because he is getting involved in a situation that didn’t even apply to him. He doesn’t even know the full story and decides to take drastic actions. Lazzaro like many other soldiers were thrown into the war as babies and this stunted their personal growth and decision-making, and would even affect them when they were older. Soldiers being young and therefore lacking maturity is a recurring main idea in the novel, especially in the scene where Lazarro wants to kill Pilgrim even though he has no place to be involve in the issue nor does he know the true story.
Vonnegut crafts the essence of Slaughterhouse Five to be about how so many soldiers in WWII were extremely young and had the time to grow up taken away from them. Weary beating up already hurt Pilgrim over a trivial incident was extremely immature. Lazarro threatening to kill Pilgrim when he has no place getting involved in the issue is childish. Slaughterhouse Five challenges the reader to think about the devastating effects war has on the young soldiers and how it pauses their national transition into adulthood, and how this affects them for the rest of their
The novel Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut depicts different periods of main character Billy Pilgrim’s life. Throughout the novel the reader follows Billy through his time as a soldier in WWII, life after, and the period where Billy thinks he lived on the planet Tralfamadore. These periods show the destructiveness of war on a person and its long-term effects after. Vonnegut actually fought in WWII and while at his war buddy’s house his wife talks about how Vonnegut and her husband were just children when they were sent to war. Vonnegut’s statement in the book, “We had been foolish virgins in the war, right at the end of childhood,” captures the quintessential idea …show more content…
On the train to the German prisoner of war camp a dying Weary says Billy Pilgrim killed him even though he dies of gangrene because of the clogs the German soldiers make him wear. When Paul Lazzaro, who is a stranger to Weary and Pilgrim, hears that Pilgrim was at fault for Weary’s death, he makes it his mission to one-day kill Pilgrim. Lazzaro wanting to kill Billy Pilgrim displays his immaturity because he is getting involved in a situation that didn’t even apply to him. He doesn’t even know the full story and decides to take drastic actions. Lazzaro like many other soldiers were thrown into the war as babies and this stunted their personal growth and decision-making, and would even affect them when they were older. Soldiers being young and therefore lacking maturity is a recurring main idea in the novel, especially in the scene where Lazarro wants to kill Pilgrim even though he has no place to be involve in the issue nor does he know the true story.
Vonnegut crafts the essence of Slaughterhouse Five to be about how so many soldiers in WWII were extremely young and had the time to grow up taken away from them. Weary beating up already hurt Pilgrim over a trivial incident was extremely immature. Lazarro threatening to kill Pilgrim when he has no place getting involved in the issue is childish. Slaughterhouse Five challenges the reader to think about the devastating effects war has on the young soldiers and how it pauses their national transition into adulthood, and how this affects them for the rest of their