Slaughter House-Five

Alex Bollas


Reidenbaugh


Humanities 9


3/3/08





WWII affected many people's lives in a terrible, sometimes horrific way, not just the soldiers. Slaughter House-Five Shows how the bombing of Dresden wasn't only supposed to kill enemy soldiers, but everyone in the city. Kurt Vonnegut clearly shows his dislike of WWII and the way it was fought in Slaughter House-Five by the way he shows the life of Billy Pilgrim and what he goes through and the way he refers to it as the "children's crusade" on Pg. 15.



Billy Pilgrim was an American soldier during WWII. He was later captured and taken to Dresden. When Dresden was bombed, the war entered the lives of everyone in the city. On pg. 180, it is clear to Billy that "Absolutely everyone in the city is supposed to be dead, regardless of what they were." When the American planes spotted Billy and the other American prisoners, they shot at them without hesitation.



Kurt Vonnegut uses time as a metaphor for what happens during the war. Billy Pilgrim is abducted by aliens and taken to a planet called Tralfamadore. The aliens there have the ability to travel to any period of time they wish. They tell Billy about how free will is a lie and everything that will happen, has happened, and has already happened and will always happen. The way Billy cannot control his future in any way is a metaphor showing that even though he is a part of the war, he has no control over it.



Kurt Vonnegut uses short sentences that are to the point without much detail. He uses a sarcastic sense of humor. His humor is dark and is not meant to be laughed at.



Kurt Vonnegut clearly dislikes war but his main character doesn't mind it (or so he claims). Billy's visit to Trafalmadore shows how Vonnegut doesn't like the lack of control the soldiers have in the war. What Billy takes away from Trafalmadore is that war is not good or bad, but that it must take place, just like everything else in life.