Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five Essays - 3848 Words

Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five Great artists have the ability to step back from society and see the absurd circus that their world has become. Such satirists use their creative work to reveal the comic elements of an absurd world and incite a change in society; examples include Stanley Kubrick’s film, Dr. Strangelove, and Joseph Heller’s novel, Catch-22. Both works rose above their more serious counterparts to capture the critical voice of a generation dissatisfied with a nation of warmongers. Completing this triumvirate of anti-war classics is Kurt Vonnegut’s novel, Slaughterhouse-Five. Infusing his social commentary with science fiction, satire, bizarre characters, and the problem of death, Vonnegut creates one of the†¦show more content†¦This experience, above all other wartime horrors, changed the writer-to-be’s perspective on warfare and the human condition that causes it. Vonnegut returned home from the war and worked with General Electric before striking success with his writing. Throughout the 50s and 60s he published such classic novels as Player Piano, The Sirens of Titan, and Cat’s Cradle. His work landed him moderate success and a three-book contract, as well as a Guggenheim Fellowship that gave Vonnegut the time and money to revisit his nightmares in Dresden. Writing with his typical mix of the morbid and mundane Vonnegut says, â€Å"[Dresden] looked a lot like Dayton, Ohio, more open spaces†¦there must be tons of human bone meal in the ground† (Slaughterhouse-Five 1). Vonnegut later addressed the English responsible with a more vindictive passion: â€Å"You guys burnt that place down, turned it into a single column of flame. More people died there in that firestorm, in that one big flame, than died in Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined† (qtd. in Rense). Vonnegut saw a â€Å"mountain of dead people† in Dresden. â€Å"That makes you thoughtful,† he said; â€Å"It†¦made†¦you think about†¦death† (qtd. in Roloff). Years passed during which Vonnegut grappled with these thoughts of the Dresden problem and the fact that â€Å"there is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre† (Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five 24). Finally, in 1969 Vonnegut published his anti-war masterpiece under the title of his prison address inShow MoreRelatedKurt Vonneguts Slaughterhouse-Five Essay1311 Words   |  6 PagesI. Author- Kurt Vonnegut’s background had an endless influence upon his writing. In his early years, Vonnegut was a private in the 106th infantry division in World War II. He and five scouts were caught behind enemy lines, and then captured. They were held POWs and were beaten on various occasions. In 1945, they witnessed the fire-bombing of Dresden, Germany. Kept during this time in a slaughterhouse, this is part of the inspiration for Slaughterhouse-five. After being released from the SlaughterhouseRead MoreEssay on Kurt Vonneguts Slaughterhouse-Five2118 Words   |  9 PagesSlaughterhousefive Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., was written as a general statement against all wars. Vonnegut focuses on the shock and outrage over the havoc and destruction man is capable of wreaking in the name of what he labels a worthy cause, while learning to understand and accept these horrors and ones feelings about them. Through his character, Billy Pilgrim, he conveys not only these feelings and emotions, but also the message that we must exercise our free will to alterRead MoreMorality Of The Youth In Kurt Vonneguts Slaughterhouse-Five1088 Words   |  5 Pagesthat goal is equality, both of the genders and of the races. Kurt Vonnegut writes about the youth in Slaughterhouse-Five and their mission. Yet these motivational sources differ a large amount from those of the current day. Their task, war. The youth in Vonnegut’s novel are naive children, sheep following their shepherd. Without these misguided young adults, the machinery of war would grind to a halt. In Kurt Vo nnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five youth such as Billy Pilgrim, the protagonist, make up theRead More Kurt Vonneguts Slaughterhouse-Five and Breakfast of Champions3313 Words   |  14 PagesKurt Vonneguts Slaughterhouse-Five and Breakfast of Champions Who would have ever thought the way a radioactive particle decays would relate to whether or not we have bad attitudes towards life? Who would have ever suspected that the structure of space-time would be so closely linked to whether or not we would marry rich wives? And who indeed would have ever expected that the properties of light might affect whether or not we go on homicidal rampages? Perhaps Kurt Vonnegut did. Could itRead MoreA Sardonic Novel, Kurt Vonnegut’s â€Å"Slaughterhouse Five736 Words   |  3 PagesKurt Vonnegut’s â€Å"Slaughterhouse Five† is a sardonic novel chronicling the experiences of Billy Pilgrim, a World War II veteran, survivor of the Dresden firebombing, and protagonist of the novel. Billy is a very unreliable narrator who has become â€Å"unstuck in time†. Billy is constantly journeying through time; at one moment he’s a flourishing optometrist and the next he’s a prisoner of war in Germany. Billy is forced to deal with an existential crisis presented forth by the great destruction he witnessesRead MoreEssay on Coping Mechanisms in Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five1679 Words   |  7 Pages People react differently to tragedies: some mourn, some speak up, and some avoid the sorrow. In Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut suggests the danger and inhumanity of turning away from the discomfort by introducing Billy Pilgrim as someone who is badly affected by the aftermath of the Dresden bombing, and the Tralfamadorians as the aliens who provide an easy solution to Billy. It is simpler to avoid something as tragic as death, but Vonnegut stresses the importance of confronting it. VonnegutRead MoreKurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five -- A Great American Novel1383 Words   |  6 Pagesentirety. In his novel, Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut writes about war and its destructiveness. Vonnegut tells the story of Billy Pilgrim, an unlikely hero, mentally scarred by World War Two. Kurt Vonnegut explains how war is so devastating it can ruin a person forever. These are topics that are reoccurring in American history and have a relevance to the American people thus making K urt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five a Great American Novel. After serving in World War Two, Kurt Vonnegut wrote Slaughterhouse-FiveRead More War and Heroism in Kurt Vonneguts Slaughterhouse Five Essay768 Words   |  4 Pagesnations.† War, can also be viewed with romantic ideals where heroes and legends are born. Even the most intelligent of us hold some rather naà ¯ve notions of war. Upon reading Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five, intelligent readers have been divested of any romantic notions regarding war they may have harboured. In Slaughterhouse Five the reader is encouraged to show contempt for war and to abandon all hopes of thinking war as a place where deeds of heroism are and bravery are performed. A characterRead MoreFate in Kurt Vonnegut’s Novel, Slaughterhouse-Five Essay522 Words   |  3 Pagesâ€Å"Fate is a misconception, its only a cover-up for the fact you dont have control over your own life.† –Anonymous. In Kurt Vonnegut’s novel, Slaughterhouse-five, an optometrist named Billy Pilgrim becomes unstuck in time uncontrollably and constantly travels between his past, present, and future. Since Pilgrim is unable to control his time warps, he is forced to re-live agonizing moments such as watching his wartime friend Edgar Derby executed for stealing or going through the Dresden bombing repeatedlyRead More Comic and Tragic Elements in Kurt Vonneguts Slaughterhouse Five1485 Words   |  6 PagesComic and Tragic Elements in Slaughterhouse Five    Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., is the tale of a World War II soldier, Billy Pilgrim. His wartime experiences and their effects lead him to the ultimate conclusion that war is unexplainable. To portray this effectively, Vonnegut presents the story in two dimensions: historical and science-fiction. The irrationality of war is emphasized in each dimension by contrasts in its comic and tragic elements. The historical seriousness