In this novel‚ the author explores some themes that prove to be the main ideas of the story. The main themes include the destructiveness of war‚ the importance of sight‚ and the illusion of free will. In addition‚ these themes are presented in a somewhat camouflaged way. The main character‚ Billy Pilgrim‚ is a successful optometrist who had been in World War II. He struggles to understand his own life and the reason why people cause destruction and war. In the story‚ Pilgrim has flashbacks of when
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great suspense and irony that Shirley Jackson tells the story of a lottery in a small town. The result of the lottery is also left open to be interpreted by the reader. All this could not be done without the use of the third person objective point of view in which the story ‚“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson‚ is told. Shirley Jackson uses situational irony as well as verbal irony to keep the readers on their toes and especially to keep the ending a surprise. Achieving this irony would be very difficult
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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
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John Collier’s “The Chaser” is based on the situational irony of a young man with unreal hope. John Collier creates the short story almost entirely in dialogue between a young man‚ Alan Austen‚ who is head over heels in love and wants to possess his crush to be completely devoted to him‚ and an old man who believes in a life with zero romantic involvement. The situation reflects hidden discontentment that the story may in fact be called cynical. This is made plain by the situation‚ the unnamed old
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Liam O’Flaherty‚ the author of "The Sniper‚" uses situational irony and internal conflict to show how societal conflicts‚ such as a civil war‚ can have a harmful impact on individuals. An example of O’Flaherty emphasizing the impact of the war on an individual is when the sniper succeeds in killing his victim. Rather than having him celebrate his victory‚ the author shows the regret felt by the sniper in this detail‚ "The sniper looked at his enemy falling and he shuddered. The lust of battle died
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The irony is the twist ending to this short story. When the story reached an ending‚ Jim sells his watch to buy combs for Della’s hair‚ but Della cut her hair and sold it to buy a chain for Jim’s watch. This story included a situational irony. I believe the number 3 is referring to the three Magi‚ Balthasar‚ Melchior‚ and Gaspar‚ with three homelands. In the story‚ he mentioned he would love Della no matter condition she is in‚ shows that he is a kind man. The story also mentions the watch has value
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Science Fiction: the Vessel for Fatalism Throughout Slaughterhouse-Five‚ Kurt Vonnegut creates an environment shaped by elements of science fiction. These elements‚ notably time travel and alien contact‚ make the novel "a science fiction that deals with the topic of free will versus fatalism‚" (Isaacs 408). Throughout the novel Billy remains "unstuck in time‚" seeing his whole life flash before his eyes in a random order of events (Vonnegut 15). This random order forces the reader to examine the
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Slaughterhouse Five‚ or The Children’s Crusade: A Dirty Dance With Death was written by Kurt Vonnegut and originally published in March of 1969. It’s a dark humor science fiction story that exactly fits Vonnegut’s writing style: funny‚ astounding and makes you question the human race as a whole. The book follows a the lifespan Billy Pilgrim of Ilium‚ New York. He grew up to be an optometrist‚served his country at war‚ got married‚ had children and aged to an old man. But his life was not ordinary
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Slaughterhouse-Five is a novel written in troubled times about troubled times. It is one of the most compelling anti-war novels in American history. Kurt Vonnegut‚ the writer of this novel‚ uses his own experiences to tell a story about World War II. He was a prisoner of war during the firebombing of Dresden. Dresden is a city in Germany that was firebombed unexpectedly in 1945 as a warning to the Russians. Between 35‚000 and 135‚000 people were killed in the bombing. Vonnegut believes war is bad
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Bernhard V. O’Hare‚ return to Dresden in 1967 with funding from the Guggenheim Foundation. They ride a taxi on the way to the Dresden slaughterhouse that served as their prison. Vonnegut and O’Hare converse with the cab driver about life under communism while on their way. It is to Gerhard Müller‚ and O’Hare’s wife‚ Mary‚ that Vonnegut dedicates Slaughterhouse-Five. Müller later sends O’Hare a Christmas card with
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