Major Themes of Slaughter House by Kurt Vonnegut Essay

In Slaughterhouse-Five, the author, Kurt Vonnegut, did an excellent job to narrate the life story of Billy Pilgrim, a man who could travel between his past and future back and forth. And as readers went through the novel, there were two major themes that would stick in their mind, which were the condemnation of war, and the attitude towards life. The central event of the book, the bombing of Dresden, has caught the readers’ attention to the power of a war. The unnecessary war attack brought 135,000 German civilians to death, and hundreds of artistic and historical buildings were destroyed -â€Å"Dresden was like the moon now nothing but minerals† (81). Furthermore, as the book mentioned two times that during World War II in Germany, candles and†¦show more content†¦Throughout the comparison between a slaughterhouse and human’s world, Vonnegut successfully exposed the anti-war theme in this novel. Moreover, Vonnegut stated his hatred toward any kinds of killing at the beginning of the chapter, â€Å"I had [have] told my sons that they were [are] not under any circumstances to take part in massacres, and that the news of massacres of enemies was [is] not to fill them with satisfaction or glee† (13). On the other hand, the reason Vonnegut only talked about the life story of Billy on Tralfamadore was because he wanted to present his unique point of view about time and free will. There, the Tralfamadorians taught Billy that they did not want to make any changes or to do anything, since they already believed that everything had been determine, no matter in past, present, or future. In their point of view, they thought every single event would always happen, and they could not make any changes to it, so that they tried to â€Å"Ignore the awful times, and concentrate on the good ones† (55). Through this philosophy, it helped Bill felt better toward deaths and the awful things he had experienced in his past life. In addition, there was a very deep poetry in the novel: â€Å"GOD GRANT ME THE SERENITY TO ACCEPT THE THINGS I CANNOT CHANGE, COURAGE TO CHANGE THE THINGS I CAN, AND WISDOM ALWAYS TO TELL THE DIFFERENCE† (95). This poetry presented a very objectiveShow MoreRelatedThe Slaughter House Five Centers1944 Words   |  8 Pages Slaughter House Five centers around how Billy Pilgrim is affected after experiencing the bombing of Dresden during his service in World War II. Pilgrim s journey through the war impacted the rest of his life, arguably ruining it, and causing him to have PTSD. The creation of the aliens in Pilgrim s head caused him to look at the world differently, and allowed him to be absolved from most of his guilt. The way Pilgrim reacts to the deaths that surround him also shows his new perspective on lifeRead More Themes of Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt vonnegut and Catch 22 by Joseph Heller1421 Words   |  6 PagesThemes of Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt vonnegut and Catch 22 by Joseph Heller In the books, Slaughter House 5 by Kurt Vonnegut and Catch 22 by Joseph Heller there are many themes that at first don’t appear to be related but once given a closer look have striking similarities. Both books are about one mans experience through World War II, one being a fighter pilot and another being a soldier. Each man is known as an anti-war hero. They do not agree with the war and do not find it appropriate toRead More The Thought-experiments in Kurt Vonneguts Slaughterhouse Five or the Childrens Crusade: A Duty Da3375 Words   |  14 PagesThought-experiments in Kurt Vonneguts Slaughterhouse Five or the Childrens Crusade: A Duty Dance With Death In 1945 Kurt Vonnegut witnessed a horrific series of bombings that led to the destruction of the German city of Dresden, where he was taken as a prisoner of war. The controversial fire-storm raid, carried out by bombers of the Royal Air Force and US Air Force, took casualties of up to a quarter million people (Klinkowitz x-xi). As a prisoner of war, Vonnegut was forced to participateRead MoreBrief Survey of American Literature3339 Words   |  14 Pagesthe cause of independence,, and aided Jefferson in writing the Declaration of Independence. Practical yet idealistic, hard working and enormously successful. the Scottish philosopher David Hume called him Americas first great man of letters†. Major Works Franklin’s place in literature owes much to his almanac and autobiography: Poor Richard’s Almanac (1732) ï ¼Ë†Ã§ © ·Ã§ â€ Ã¦Å¸ ¥Ã¦   ¼Ã¨ ¨â‚¬Ã¥Å½â€ Ã¤ ¹ ¦Ã¯ ¼â€° Published from 1732 to 1758 under the name of Richard Saunders Full of proverbs which teach people thrift, carefulness, and