Slaughterhouse Five Literary Analysis
Kurt Vonnegut breaks the conventional rules of storytelling in his novel, Slaughterhouse-Five. Vonnegut does so because he was not able to write a standard novel on the bombing of Dresden, which he tried to do many times. Additionally, Vonnegut wants his novel to be an anti-war novel, he wants it to explain the bombing of Dresden and the atrocious things both sides did. His purpose for writing this novel was to have Billy Pilgrim, the main character, accept the bombing because Vonnegut learns to accept it too through Pilgrim. Vonnegut breaks the rules of storytelling to share the bombing of Dresden while also helping himself learn to accept what he survived. A way in which Vonnegut annihilates the rules of storytelling in Slaughterhouse-Five,
a novel about aliens, time traveling, and one of the worst bombings in history, is by inserting himself into the novel as a character, as well as using additional characters as surrogates for himself. Authors commonly use the main character as a surrogate for themselves, but Vonnegut differentiates himself by using the main character plus an unknown author, Kilgore Trout, and himself. When using Trout as a representation for himself Vonnegut admits that he is an unpopular author which most people have not heard of. As an author, judging oneself is not simple or common, but Vonnegut is able to point out his flaws through the character Trout. Additionally, Vonnegut uses Billy Pilgrim, a time traveling man who survives the bombing of Dresden, to represent his life after the war. Pilgrim has difficulty reliving Dresden, which the audience can assume is the same for Vonnegut due to a form of PTSD. Furthermore, Vonnegut includes himself as a character in this novel. Vonnegut sporadically pops in and out of the novel, mentioning he was with Billy Pilgrim on his journey to Dresden. By inserting himself into the novel as a narrator, Vonnegut messes up the Vonnegut messes with the chronology of events in this book by using time travel as a way to tell the story. Billy Pilgrim’s life is explained in little snippets of information given in a delinear order due to him time traveling through events in his life. For example, the audience learns about Billy’s death midway through the novel whereas a majority of books share it at the end. Vonnegut also disrupts the rules of storytelling when he tells the audience the climax of the book in the first chapter. Vonnegut then goes on to fool the readers, by changing the climax to when Billy starts to accept the horrors of Dresden. Before the climax, Billy would travel to a “safe” time in his life every time he came across something dangerous, such as Dresden. After Billy accepts the fate of Dresden and the terrible things that happened there, he continues to lead the audience through the obscene events, without bouncing around in time.
a novel about aliens, time traveling, and one of the worst bombings in history, is by inserting himself into the novel as a character, as well as using additional characters as surrogates for himself. Authors commonly use the main character as a surrogate for themselves, but Vonnegut differentiates himself by using the main character plus an unknown author, Kilgore Trout, and himself. When using Trout as a representation for himself Vonnegut admits that he is an unpopular author which most people have not heard of. As an author, judging oneself is not simple or common, but Vonnegut is able to point out his flaws through the character Trout. Additionally, Vonnegut uses Billy Pilgrim, a time traveling man who survives the bombing of Dresden, to represent his life after the war. Pilgrim has difficulty reliving Dresden, which the audience can assume is the same for Vonnegut due to a form of PTSD. Furthermore, Vonnegut includes himself as a character in this novel. Vonnegut sporadically pops in and out of the novel, mentioning he was with Billy Pilgrim on his journey to Dresden. By inserting himself into the novel as a narrator, Vonnegut messes up the Vonnegut messes with the chronology of events in this book by using time travel as a way to tell the story. Billy Pilgrim’s life is explained in little snippets of information given in a delinear order due to him time traveling through events in his life. For example, the audience learns about Billy’s death midway through the novel whereas a majority of books share it at the end. Vonnegut also disrupts the rules of storytelling when he tells the audience the climax of the book in the first chapter. Vonnegut then goes on to fool the readers, by changing the climax to when Billy starts to accept the horrors of Dresden. Before the climax, Billy would travel to a “safe” time in his life every time he came across something dangerous, such as Dresden. After Billy accepts the fate of Dresden and the terrible things that happened there, he continues to lead the audience through the obscene events, without bouncing around in time.