Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughter House 5
This entire page is dedicated to our analyses and take on this incredible war and sci-fi based novel.
Slaughter House Five takes place in World War II and tells the story of the firebombing of Dresden in a unique manner. The novel follows the main character Billy as he time travels to several important parts of his life. Billy mainly time travels to 3 parts of his life: post-war, Prior to the war, and In war. During the war, Billy is captured with Weary (another soldier) by the Germans and kept in a slaughter house. Post-war Billy is in a plane crash and loses his wife to monoxide poisoning. Billy even gets abducted by aliens called, Tralfamadorians, in his post-war era. Billy learns from the Tralfamadorians a different perspective on time. Prior to the war, Billy was described as a knowledgeable but weak boy. This all points to the fact that Billy wasn't capable of serving in a war. The book places emphasis on the Dresden bombings, and the harsh reality of war.
Slaughter house 5 summary
Chapter 2-3 (By: Amber)
"Billy was born in 1922 in Ilium, New York, the only child of a barber there. He was a funny-looking child who became a funny-looking youth--tall and weak, and shaped like a bottle of Coca-Cola. He graduated from Ilium High School in the upper third of his class and attended night sessions at the Ilium School of Optometry for one semester before being drafted for military service in the Second World War. His father died in a hunting accident during the war. So it goes."
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From this paragraph, we can tell Billy isn't a hands-on person, nor mentally or physically capable to be in the military. This incapability is pointed out several times but emphasized when the author described how people perceived Billy as "weak" growing up. We could also assume Billy is knowledgeable/smart, considering he graduated in the upper third of his class and was planning to study to become an optometrist. Overall, this paragraph gave us insight as to who Billy is, and mentions that he is knowledgeable and considered weak.
Chapter 4-5 (By: Nasya)
"That is a very Earthling question to ask, Mr. Pilgrim. Why you? Why us for that matter? Why anything? Because this moment simply is. Have you ever seen bugs trapped in amber? . . . Well, here we are, Mr. Pilgrim, trapped in the amber of this moment. There is no why. I am a Tralfamadorian, seeing all time as you might see a stretch of the Rocky Mountains. All time is all time. It does not change. It does not lend itself to warnings or explanations. It simply is. Take it moment by moment, and you will find that we are all, as I've said before, bugs in amber."
This scene takes place the night before Billy's daughter's wedding, once he was kidnapped by the Tralfamadorians and taken to their aircraft. Once there, Billy asks the alien why did they choose him; to which the creature responds what is written above. This paragraph begins to show Billy's gradual loss of sanity; yet in his fantasies he analyzes the war and humans in general. As someone whos grandmother is slowly loosing touch with reality, I can relate to how the family around must feel seeing him act this way. Though, on the other hand, despite Billy loosing his grip on reality, we see in these two chapters that through his fantasies, he begins to question as to what free will is; if it's real or if our fate is concrete. And as the alien stated, questioning things and asking why shows how "limited" humans are. The Tralfamadorians would never do so, so that is why they are able to progress through life. I was taught a life without free will is a life without joy and desire; we were given free will and that is what gives us humanity. Yet, in the novel, Billy rationalizes the lack of questioning anything and free will as the evolution of life since everything is sealed in our pre-written fate. We are like mere "bugs trapped in amber", forever unchanging not by choice but by fate.
Chapter 6-7 (By: Ruth)
"At the time of his death, he says, he is in Chicago to address a large crowd on the subject of flying saucers and the true nature of time. His home is still in Ilium. He has had to cross three international boundaries in order to reach Chicago. The United States of America has been Balkanized, has been divided into twenty petty nations so that it will never again be a threat to world peace. Chicago has been hydrogen-bombed by Angry Chinamen. So it goes. It is all brand new."
This paragraph is similar to Jesus Christ. Billy Pilgrim preaches to his followers, the same way Jesus preached in Parables. Billy traveled to the United States, similar to Jesus traveling to Judea, and neighboring cities. He tells his followers, that he will die. Similar to the way Jesus tells his disciples that he will be crucified.
Chapter 8-9 (By: Jessica)
"There in the hospital, Billy was having an adventure very common among people without power in time of war. He was trying to prove to willfully deaf and blind enemy that he was interesting to hear and see. He kept silent until the lights went out at night, and then, when there had been a long period of silence containing nothing to echo, he said to Rumfoord, "I was in Dresden when it was bombed. I was a prisoner of war."
This paragraph comes together with the story. It has the whole he was in Dresden and the things he imagines in the whole story. He was fighting the mental war to while being in the hospital. His way of writing we can not expect what would come next. He shows us that Billy is not confused and he is believing everything he sees and imagines.