Use of Literary Elements in Slaughterhouse-Five
Slaughterhouse-Five
1993. "The true test of comedy is that it shall awaken thoughtful laughter." Choose a novel, play, or long poem in which a scene or character awakens "thoughtful laughter" in the reader. Write an essay in which you show why this laughter is "thoughtful" and how it contributes to the meaning of the work.
English author George Meredith wrote, “The true test of comedy is that it shall awaken thoughtful laughter.” Slaughterhouse-Five would have been quite the comedy in Meredith’s eyes, because it is an extremely satirical work. Satire is writing that ridicules human weakness in order to bring about social reform. Ridicule, in this case, is humorous mockery of something, making people thoughtfully laugh about the situations which these characters find themselves in. In the Kurt Vonnegut novel Slaughterhouse-Five, the main character Billy wants only to have a normal American life, but his studies to become an optometrist are interrupted by his being drafted into the army during World War II and, as a prisoner of war, experiences the tragic bombing of Dresden. Then, he begins regular travels to the planet Tralfamadore. He also begins to become “unstuck in time;” he is time traveling. This essay discusses the use of satire in Slaughterhouse-Five to communicate to the reader the themes which are addressed in the book.
In chapter four of Slaughterhouse-Five, satire is used through the comic depiction of a war film depicting the process of dropping bombs, all the way from mining the materials needed to make the bombs, to dropping them, to the planes landing back where they came from (74-75). This film, though, is described as it played backwards, as if somebody is rewinding a VHS cassette. Comic relief is the inclusion of something humorous often to heighten the emotional impact by means of contrast. The war film, when played backwards, conveys a very serious topic, but is lightened by the diverting and comical description of the reverse playing
1993. "The true test of comedy is that it shall awaken thoughtful laughter." Choose a novel, play, or long poem in which a scene or character awakens "thoughtful laughter" in the reader. Write an essay in which you show why this laughter is "thoughtful" and how it contributes to the meaning of the work.
English author George Meredith wrote, “The true test of comedy is that it shall awaken thoughtful laughter.” Slaughterhouse-Five would have been quite the comedy in Meredith’s eyes, because it is an extremely satirical work. Satire is writing that ridicules human weakness in order to bring about social reform. Ridicule, in this case, is humorous mockery of something, making people thoughtfully laugh about the situations which these characters find themselves in. In the Kurt Vonnegut novel Slaughterhouse-Five, the main character Billy wants only to have a normal American life, but his studies to become an optometrist are interrupted by his being drafted into the army during World War II and, as a prisoner of war, experiences the tragic bombing of Dresden. Then, he begins regular travels to the planet Tralfamadore. He also begins to become “unstuck in time;” he is time traveling. This essay discusses the use of satire in Slaughterhouse-Five to communicate to the reader the themes which are addressed in the book.
In chapter four of Slaughterhouse-Five, satire is used through the comic depiction of a war film depicting the process of dropping bombs, all the way from mining the materials needed to make the bombs, to dropping them, to the planes landing back where they came from (74-75). This film, though, is described as it played backwards, as if somebody is rewinding a VHS cassette. Comic relief is the inclusion of something humorous often to heighten the emotional impact by means of contrast. The war film, when played backwards, conveys a very serious topic, but is lightened by the diverting and comical description of the reverse playing