Summary Of Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five

Throughout Slaughterhouse-Five, author Kurt Vonnegut provides an unusual story experience. His novel creatively tells the story of Billy Pilgrim, revolving around the firebombing of Dresden during World War Two, a horrific topic, but does it a way that is unconventional and quite humorous. Kurt Vonnegut bends the conventional rules of storytelling by providing twists to the standard tools of literature. Kurt Vonnegut provides an unconventional and inconspicuous narration of the story of Billy Pilgrim. The first chapter of the novel is clearly from the first person of Kurt Vonnegut as he tells the backstory of the book's creation. When the story of Billy Pilgrim begins in the second chapter, it seems to the reader that the narration of the story switches to a third person point of view. In the third
Billy Pilgrim is able to jump through time, experiencing moments from all over his life. One minute, Billy is being abducted by aliens and then the next minute he is age twelve at the Grand Canyon with his family. Vonnegut even jumps to Billy’s death some thirty years after the previous moment. The order of the novel is unconventional but it allows Vonnegut to slow down the pacing of the novel and take some stress off of the reader. Right before his horrid description of the firebombing of Dresden, Vonnegut jumps forward in time to include the humorous character, Kilgore Trout. This is a device unable to be utilized in a chronological story. Vonnegut’s elimination of chronology memorably characterizes the novel. Unquestionably, author Kurt Vonnegut’s provides a unique take on the rules of storytelling within Slaughterhouse-Five. Vonnegut’s take on storytelling manages to effectively describe the horrific Dresden bombings while including humor and intriguing story features. Aspects such as chronology and narration are eliminated and bent, providing a unique and quality