Slaughterhouse Five

Slaughterhouse Five is considered by many to be Kurt Vonnegut's definitive work. This novel released in March of 1969 follows the experiences of our narrator, Billy Pilgrim. Billy who shares many experiences Vonnegut himself had, becomes "unstuck in time" meaning that he travels from one period of time to another throughout the book. This is because at one point he is abducted by aliens from a planet called Tralfamadore. While he is here they explain to him that they see time in a different manner than we do, time for them is laid out side by side and they choose which moments to observe rather than experience time in a linear fashion.

Because of this we see one of the motifs of this novel come up, the phrase "So it goes". This phrase is one the Tralfamadorians use when someone dies, this is because they accept the fact that at some moments someone is dead but can still enjoy moments when someone is alive. This could be Vonnegut's way of portraying that death isn't as bad of a thing as we perceive it to be. The way that the Tralfamadorians see time is interesting as well because it brings this idea up that everything is happening and not happening all at once. This brings into question many of the ideas we hold dear, if this is how time works do we really have any free will or is everything pre-destined?

This again is a perfect example of Vonnegut using science fiction elements to discuss things that truly matter to every day people. While also relaying another constant theme of Vonnegut's which is the idea of free will and individuality. The implications of time being laid out for Tralfamadorians to see makes us question if we are just following the path laid out for us, and if we are then how can we have any individuality?

Another theme in this book is the devastating effects war can have on us as a people. At one point in this story Billy Pilgrim is drafted into the war where he finds himself a prisoner of war in Dresden. This is something that actually happened to Vonnegut personally.  Dresden is a German city that was fire bombed during World War II suffering massive civilian casualties. Pilgrim struggles with witnessing this event and surviving through it much like Vonnegut likely did. In a way I would not be surprised if writing Slaughterhouse Five was Vonnegut's way of coping with what he had seen. This makes sense along with the idea of the Tralfamadorians, their way of viewing time allows this tragedy to be seen in a different light. If time is laid out side to side then all the people who were killed during this bombing are still alive but just not at that particular moment, and because of this you can simply say "So it goes" and accept this event. However, this isn't the case for Vonnegut or for Pilgrim. Pilgrim in the book seems to have a case of PTSD as at one point he sees a barbershop quartet which triggers him to relive his experience in Dresden. This could be Vonnegut saying that this is something that has happened to him as well.

In many ways the idea of PTSD is similar to how the Tralfamadorians view time. However unlike the Tralfamadorians who "prefer to look at the good moments" victims of PTSD may become fixated on the bad moments and be unwillingly sent into flashbacks where they relive these experiences.

Another theme present in this novel that can be seen in many of Vonnegut's works is the idea that the "American Dream" won't really make us happy. Billy Pilgrim is portrayed as having everything that we are all told we should desire, he has a wife, children, money, and a nice car. Yet in spite of all of these material possessions he has the thing that was most important to Billy Pilgrim was his experience with the Tralfamadorians and his struggling with what he had seen in the war.

"The formation flew backwards over a German city that was in flames. The bombers opened their bomb bay doors, exerted a miraculous magnetism which shrunk the fires, gathered them into cylindrical steel containers , and lifted the containers into the bellies of the planes. The containers were stored neatly in racks. The Germans below had miraculous devices of their own, which were long steel tubes. They used them to suck more fragments from the crewmen and planes. But there were still a few wounded Americans though and some of the bombers were in bad repair. Over France though, German fighters came up again, made everything and everybody as good as new."

This quote I think is one of the most important parts of the story and is Vonnegut detesting war and the focus put on destruction. The way I interpret this quote and its place in the story is it's Vonnegut reflecting on how much technology has influenced war. War has become more and more deadly over the course of human history because of technological advancements. Governments all over the world spend seemingly endless amounts of money looking for new ways to improve their military strength. I think Vonnegut is trying to make us as readers think about what could have been possible if we had allocated the same time and resources to helping other people rather than finding new ways to kill. This is another common message of Vonnegut's, the idea that technology and advances in technology are not always a good thing and at times can lead to dire consequences for humans. This quote is one of my all time favorites and I find it to be incredibly powerful.

Overall, Slaughterhouse Five is one of my favorite books of all time, and also a great example of Vonnegut using his trademark style. The main difference between this story and his others is how much of himself he injects into the character Billy Pilgrim. Blending together humor, social commentary, and science fiction Vonnegut tells an interesting story that says a lot about society.