Slaughterhouse-Five

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Summary: The True Tale of Kurt Vonnegut
Review: There are few books that contain the events about an author's life in which they are not addressed as autobiographies. Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five; the Children's Crusade is one of those few. This story is of Vonnegut's life, but his life is changed by adding a few fictional plots throughout the novel. However, there are many references to factual events that occurred to him as well. Vonnegut may have done a fine job describing the exciting events of his life, and creating new incidents, but that was not enough to keep my full attention while reading this novel. Quite frankly, this piece of literature was not exactly a 'page turner.' His idea to create his life under the name of someone else, (Billy Pilgrim), was intended to give himself relief from the way he felt about his time in war. Billy Pilgrim was what Vonnegut called "unstuck in time." He travels back and forth to different time periods in his life. In the novel his first occurrence of being "unstuck in time," happens just before he is captured behind German lines. When he once returns from his time travels, he is taken to Dresden where he is kept as a prisoner. During the bombing of Dresden, he hides in an airtight meat locker, and emerges to find a city of annihilation. Vonnegut, also known as Billy, feels guilty for being saved while thousands of others were killed. His whole life from that moment on is full of sorrow and guilt. He cannot get rid of the feeling he could have done something to help the others who died, and he feels he is a horrible person for saving only himself. Vonnegut does not do a high-quality job of venting his true feelings of his time in war. He avoids actually saying directly that Billy Pilgrim feels responsible for many of the other deaths. He tries to get his point across without actually literally saying that he suffers guilt. The way that he addresses it is very indirectly. He goes about it by almost flat out saying that he is insane. He accuses his mentality for the death of the people rather than blaming his decision. Billy Pilgrim, through the entire novel, is a man losing more and more of his wit each day. It is shown in the novel that he is losing his mind for the reason that he claims "toilet plunger shaped aliens" kidnappe him and take him to their planet as a hostage. This is evidence that not only has he lost his psyche, but it also proves that he repeatedly has visions of being taken hostage over and over again. He continually remembers the point in his life where he was held hostage, hence the apparition of the aliens. This confirm that he must think about the event at Dresden all of the time, and must in some way be disturbed by it. After being bombed in Dresden he, meaning Billy or Vonnegut, is not capable of living an enjoyable life. He is tortured by his thoughts. From then on he is doomed to a life of anguish. Therefore, Vonnegut has created this novel to spice up his history to make it seem as though he did not have a poor life. He also created this piece of literature to apologize, in some very strange way, for have only saving himself. Writing this novel produced for him to relieve his feelings of his war time and to show that he not only thought of himself, but the others also involved in the war. I feel that Vonnegut wrote a very confusing and choppy piece of literature. It is not consistent in where he is going through the novel, and many times there are gaps, as too what will happen next. He leaves many things up to the reader to decide what will occur after that. I do respect and give Vonnegut much credit for creating a piece that contains nothing like I have ever read before. This novel contains a lot of fictional experiences tied into true and real life events in history. He has made a story that is supposed to be some what real life, but Vonnegut has added in many things that are difficult to consider. He has created a new genre of literature that I would have to title; "fictional reality." This title is appropriate simply because Vonnegut ties in many of the events of World War Two into his novel, but also includes prophesies and illusory characters into his narrative. There are many stories that I would prefer to read more than this novel. Such as Cat's Cradle, simply because it is better written. I enjoyed this novel much more because it is completely fiction, as apposed to half real life and the other half imaginary. This novel is much more entertaining, since it is easier to picture what is happening, rather than being confused throughout the entire plot. Overall, I perceived Slaughterhouse Five; the Children's Crusade to be somewhat strange and intriguing, yet it did not have enough 'pizzazz' to keep me glued to the novel. Also, it lacked many characteristics and qualities that I look for in a book. Once again, I do want to give credit to Kurt Vonnegut for writing such a creative and unique piece, but to anyone who has not yet read this novel, I do not strongly recommend reading it.

Rating:
Summary: 3 Star classic
Review: Sorry folks. not a big deal here. 3 star on yet another so called brilliant "classic". Thematic parts are good but the main character "billy pilgrim" is boring and this book doesnt seem to be going anywhere even when giving respect to the story and those who perished in Dresden..then it ends. Nothing earth shaking happens in this book in theme, style or story.

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Summary: The Writing of Vonnegut
Review: Throughout the seemingly incoherent plot structure of Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut illustrates not only his subtle outcry against the stupidity of war, but also his cynical views on the meaning of life. Although the novel is based upon the life of Billy Pilgrim, an optometrist correcting the vision of people on Earth, and his experiences leading up to the bombing of Dresden, Germany during World War II, the time-setting fluctuates as Billy comes "unstuck" in time to view his past and future. This fluctuation may confuse the reader at first, but soon becomes clear, revealing the purpose behind the masterfully chosen timeline. The apparent random structure of the tale holds within it Vonnegut's ideas on the circular nature of life and existence of fate. He first hints to this in the first chapter as he quotes a song that continues through infinite, just as a circle. As the story progresses, the Tralfamadorian aliens are introduced, providing the basis for the abnormal writing style. The Tralfamadorians write in such a way that all events of the book are read at once so that the scenes "produce an image of life that is beautiful and surprising and deep" (88). Although his abduction by aliens is only a part of his imagination, forced into existence by the stresses of war and the influences of his favorite science fiction novelist, it plays a major roll in Billy's "so it goes" attitude toward life and causes him to act in such a way that people are eventually repelled by him. Just as the aliens introduce Billy to infinite, they also reveal the nature of fate. Because these creatures can see through time, they already know the outcome of all events, even the one that destroys the universe. Because they know that nothing can change this, they find that the human concept of free will is hilariously preposterous. Vonnegut also includes his anti-war position throughout the whole mess. In the autobiographical first chapter, he even states that this is an anti-war book. This is further supported by his alternate title, The Children's Crusade, referring to the episode during the great Crusades when thousands of children marched to their deaths. The parallel between Billy's capture in Germany and his capture by the aliens also reveals his attitude. Billy asks the aliens why he was chosen out of all the people on Earth. They only respond "Why you? Why us for that matter? Why anything?" (76). When he is captured in Germany, a soldier is asked "Why me?" and he replies "Vy you? Vy anybody?" (91). This connection between the aliens and the war create a sense that war is stupid. His repeated use of "human beings" in his description of the Nazi transport train forces the reader to realize that these are actual people in this terrible environment. Vonnegut's beliefs in life and war can clearly be seen through the workings of Slaughterhouse-Five as he constantly changes the timeline. These beliefs are all very important to the meaning of the book, but none more than his idea that life is meaningless in a structured time.

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful funny and sad book
Review: This is a combination of a lot of different things. It's funny, yet sad, and quick, but deep. It's a fast read, but it will stick with you for a very long time. The protagonist bounces around in time and space and the book follows his confusion as he passively progresses through the story. Time has no meaning, and even when he hasn't been traveling, the days march on without any regard to Billy.

Billy Pilgrim is an observer to everything going on around him. He has no control over the war, he has no control over the zoo he's put in, and he has no control over his own life (he only remembers proposing to his wife in a fit of pseudo-madness). He has no power and no sense of self. He follows along to what others do to him, or simply obeys the orders of those around him. He's become as desensitized to life as he has to death. Every death is closed with a simple "So it goes" and every living person is simply talked about, not interacted with. There's no passion, no anger and no other emotions in his existence. He simply reports what he observes and waits around to see what will happen to him next.

This book is definitely worth reading. Ride along with Billy on his insane voyage through time and space. See if you can discover which is more mad - strange space aliens that kidnap people for their interplanetary zoo, or the human fire-bombings of Dresden and the concentration camps of the Second World War.

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Summary: Vonnegut and his Feelings Toward War
Review: In Kurt Vonnegut's excellent novel, Slaughterhouse-Five, Vonnegut skillfully applies rhetorical strategies such as his unique use of science fiction, reiterated phrases, and a timely use of flashback to convey his repressed but resentful view of war in general and especially his personal experience with the Dresden firebombing. In a separate approach Vonnegut uses the all-seeing Aliens from Tralfamadore to express his view that the best way to live life is by focusing on the positive memories.

Vonnegut begins his novel with a personal memoir explaining the beginnings of his "great" war novel. In a conversation with Mary O'Hare, to whom the book is dedicated, Vonnegut assures her that his war book will not glorify war and that, in fact, he will name the book "The Children's Crusade" to show that war is not fought by grown men but by a younger generation, the children. The focus for the novel is set.

In this memoir Vonnegut chooses to introduce the phrase "so it goes" and the ice motif that will be used throughout the novel. The ice motif begins when Harrison Starr says, "Why don't you write an anti-glacier book instead?" (3) He meant that stopping war is as easy as stopping a glacier. Similar to the meaning of the glacier the words "blue and ivory" are used throughout to describe dead soldiers and the protagonist of the story, Billy Pilgrim "There was so much to see--dragon's teeth, killing machines, corpses with bare feet that were blue and ivory. So it goes."(65) "He looked down at his bare feet. They were ivory and blue." (72) This motif about ice is used throughout the book to represent death and the frailty of man. "So it goes" is the phrase that is used more that anything else in the novel. The actual meaning of the word is introduced as a Tralfamadorian philosophy. Death is inevitable and nothing can be done to prevent it. The best way to cope with it is not to focus on it. Instead of focusing on death focus on life and the enjoyable memories that that come with it. The Tralfamadorian philosophy is also Vonnegut's philosophy and is the philosophy that I believe allowed him to get through the Dresden tragedy.

Science fiction and flashback played great parts in this novel and also served the same purpose. They allow Vonnegut to keep a safe mental distance from the painful Dresden experience. As the first chapter states, Billy Pilgrim has become unstuck in time. Billy's life is basically chopped up and rearranged to fit with his time travel experiences. This distortion of time serves two purposes. First, it shows the reader how war is. War is confusing and disorienting. It can change a man just as it changed Billy Pilgrim. Second, it allows Vonnegut to explain the confusion of war without directly explaining war. The war experience is still very painful to him. Vonnegut uses a flashback instead of Billy's usual time travel to explain the Dresden bombing. "He did not travel in time to the experience. He remembered it shimmeringly..." (177) Like Vonnegut, Billy cannot revisit that experience though he has no problem visiting his own death. Also, the use of the Tralfamadorians could be interpreted as a way to distance him from the reality of war. Through the use of the slightly humorous aliens Vonnegut is able to express his philosophies about death.

This slightly confusing book is full of rich and deep messages for the thoughtful, but is also simple and short enough for the average reader. The disconnected passages keep the reader's attention while at the same time making the reader think and reflect on what has already been said.

Rating:
Summary: What is there to say?
Review: There is little really to be said about this wonderful novel (Vonnegut's one true masterpiece, though "Cat's Cradle" and "Mother Night" are great too)--not that I'd need much to say anyway. Vonnegut's quirkiness, wit, and humanity are honed to perfect pitch in this story of the complacent Billy Pilgrim's random and unhinged journey through time, from the firebombing of Dresden in 1945 ("I was there too. Me. The author of this book.") to his life as an optometrist in Ilium, NY (that is, Schenectady) in the 1960's.

But why should I say anything? This is a unique novel, a great, moving read, & a quick one too--you can read it in one sitting if you want to (I think I did it in 2 or 3 over one weekend). You have little to lose and everyting to gain.

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Summary: A true depiction of the "romance" of war
Review: Kurt Vonnegut was there. Through his experiences we ought to learn that war isn't like what we see on John Wayne. War is the worst thing imaginable. Your friends die, loved ones fear for you. I'm a veteran myself, and believe me, it isn't glamorous. Necessary, sometimes, but never ever glamorous. There is a Billy Pilgrim in us all, and I look forward to becoming unstuck in time as he was.

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Summary: The Style as it Achieves the Purpose in Slaughterhouse Five
Review: Through Vonnegut's use of his incredibly developed satirical style, and the use of motifs, Vonnegut masterfully achieves his main goal for Slaughterhouse Five, to show how horrible is the aftermath emotionally, of war. Vonnegut begins by introducing his main character, Billy Pilgrim. Billy is an already emotionally fragile human being that is forced into an assistant chaplain position in the US Army on the European front of World War II during the Battle of the Bulge. The war eventually causes Billy to go crazy, believing that he is actually time traveling and has encountered and been taken captive by an alien race from trillions of miles away. There is plenty good reason for this, Vonnegut says throughout the book, by offering up several motifs that alone classify war as a horrible thing. For instance, Vonnegut often says that the feet of a dead or dying man are "ivory and blue" (92), colors that connote stiff, cold death. Whenever a character of Vonnegut's is near or approaching death, he notes that his feet are ivory and blue, an image that really hits upon the reader as expressing the horrible nature of war. Another awfully graphic motif is that of "mustard gas and roses" (93), an oxymoron, for sure, one horrible smell grouped with the epitome of good scents. Vonnegut uses this imagery to describe many things, his own breath for one, and also the smell of war. The significance of the author's breath smelling like that of war serves as a constant reminder to him what he had to face during the war and never allows Vonnegut to escape his wartime experiences. Vonnegut also uses a load of often grotesque and horrible, if not odd, similes and metaphors to further his purpose. One instance occurred near the end of the book, not the end of the action, because of the constant variances in the setting of the book, and compared the bombed Dresden to the surface of the moon (230). There is no life on the surface of the moon, and so it was in Dresden after 175,000 of it's inhabitants were killed. Vonnegut is a master of language, and one time compared the smell of old books to "flannel pajamas that hadn't been changed in a month, or Irish stew" (128). These and other odd comparisons contribute to the feeling of overwhelming that accompanied the war. Among other ridiculous comparisons was a very striking comparison. Vonnegut is describing the prisoners of war as compared to their captors, their guards, and writes "here is light opera" (191). The guards, nervous because of their ill preparation and experience find at the opening of the cattle cars in which the captors are transported that these soldiers are worse off then them, a reminder of the innocence of the soldiers of the war. Vonnegut's satiric style played the largest part in his anti-war novel toward this cause. The most profound example of his horrible cynical writing style comes from his repetitive use of the phrase "So it goes", and is used every time anything, no matter how insignificant, or incredibly important, dies. Vonnegut varies the usage of this phrase from the death of lice and bacteria during a delousing, to the death of millions of Jews. This usage displays the dehumanizing nature of the war, and the hopelessness as well by understating the fact that so many died so violently. The reader is so offended by the understatement, that the opposite effect takes place. The reader is able to qualify the deaths of these people more profoundly perhaps, then if Vonnegut did so himself, a masterful writing technique, indeed. Vonnegut must be one of the most under-appreciated, least known masters of literature still alive and writing today. His style, his writing ability, and his masterful uses of innuendo clearly separate him from the Steven Kings, and John Grishams of the more popular writing circles into groups with Fitzgerald, Steinbeck, and Hemingway.

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Summary: The Point of a Seemingly Pointless Novel
Review: Kurt Vonnegut skillfully employs a cunning rhetorical strategy along with the clever utilization of repitition to create poignant anit-war statements and a dark humor which overshadow his novel, Slaughterhouse Five. While reading the sporatic plot structure, one ponders at the point of the unique rhetorical strategy. Along with the simple diction and the intorduction of aliens from a distant planet, the reader begins to discredit the protagonist, Billy Pilrgim. Throughout the course of the novel, the reader must piece together small segments of the novel seperated by time in order to achieve the intended message. This carefully plotted strategy brings about the thought that the novel seems slightly insipid and silly. However, one later realizes that this was Vonnegut's intent. By adding the sporatic rhetorical strategy, the reader realizes the pointlessness and stupidity of war, much as he realizes the complexity of the rhetorical strategy. The incessant repitition of phrases such as "so it goes" along with countless other brief statements also contributes to the novel's message as a whole. As people inevitable die in the war, the phrase "so it goes" is continually associated with their death. The nonchalant attitude towards the death of another being is incorporated on the planet Tralfamadore, Billy's fantasy world. While reading, a dark humor is aroused though the inept actions of Billy and through the almost humerous rhetorical strategy. In conclusion, the novel utilizes rhetorical strategy and repitition rather than a decisive plot, to bring about its powerful conclusion that war is pointless.

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Summary: The Destruction of War in Slaughterhouse-Five
Review: In his superb novel Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut infuses into his writing a cornucopia of rhetorical strategies, including running motifs, the repetition of phrases, and vivid diction, to expose the mental and physical destruction caused by war and ultimately to convey antiwar sentiments.

Throughout his writing, Vonnegut employs a plethora of motifs to present his antiwar position. The colors blue and ivory both play a significant role in painting the picture that depicts the destruction of war. Upon his departure to Dresden, the awkward hero of the novel Billy Pilgrim glances upon the body of a previous acquaintance dead on the cold, solid ground. The man's "bare feet were blue and ivory" (148). At another moment in the novel, Billy looks upon his own feet, only to find that they too "were blue and ivory" (72). Vonnegut's clever choice of cold, impersonal colors invokes images of death, and, by using these descriptions in relation to the men involved in war, illustrates the suffering endured by fighters in the war. Their flesh turns from a healthy, robust, and energetic shade to a stone - cold, remote gray. Vonnegut also includes the motif of a lone dog howling. In the midst of conflict, Vonnegut often inserts this unique motif. On the doorstep of death, Billy Pilgrim can barely continue moving through the woods behind enemy lines. While Pilgrim's companions constantly ridicule his weakness and threaten to desert him, they hear "somewhere the big dog barked" with a voice like a "big bronze gong" (48). The connotation of emptiness conveyed in a lone dog's callings serve to accentuate the loneliness and mental isolation suffered by participants in war. War severs the kinship bonds of men, abandoning and isolating them like the solitary barking dogs.

By utilizing the repetition of distinct phrases, Kurt Vonnegut augments his overall theme of war's destruction and its effects on man. Repeated often throughout the novel, the term "The Children's Crusade" comes to symbolize and parallel World War Two, the war employed as one of the main settings in Slaughterhouse-Five. In chapter one, Vonnegut discusses his own war and post-war experiences in first person. Responding to the bitter remarks of a friend about his novel, Vonnegut replies that he will "call it 'The Children's Crusade'" (15). By using this term in first person, and later in third person through other characters, Vonnegut creates a comparison between two extremely bloody historic events. In both incidents, the youth of the world stepped up to a challenge that appeared valiant and heroic only to discover that their causes would result in bloody carnage and tragedy. The reality hit the young men like a lighting bolt, changing them physically through wounds and mentally through the bloody sights that bred a pessimistic attitude and a disbelief in humanity. The most prominent repeated phrase is the short, simple sentence "so it goes". Vonnegut follows every mention of death in his novel (there are approximately eighty) with these words. In the war, "a lot of people were being wounded or killed. So it goes" (106). This phrase highlights death as a major topic in the novel and accentuates decease as a result of the terrible and ravaging destruction of war. The sentence is presented in a curt and understated tone that adds a dash of irony and ridicules the massive devastation caused by war.

Vivid diction floods the pages of Vonnegut's novel and further compounds the horrendous and ghastly images of war. Vonnegut metaphorically compares the war to a glacier. "There would always be wars" and "they were as easy to stop as glaciers" (3). With this choice of diction, Vonnegut presents war as an inevitable tragedy that will always persist in the world, always on a path of rampage, always leaving immense destruction in its wake. After the bombing of Dresden, Billy Pilgrim and his fellow prisoners of war gaze upon the massive, almost unimaginable, ruin. Vonnegut compares the once beautiful city with the surface of the moon; however, unlike the smooth curves of the moon, Dresden is littered with "treacherous, jagged things - hot to the touch, often unstable" (180). Rather than attempting to romanticize war, Vonnegut uses his blunt descriptions to focus on the hideous reality of war. Utilizing this specific diction, Vonnegut paints a blackened picture of war that emphasizes death and destruction.

Clearly through his skillful employment of rhetorical devices, such as motifs, repetition, and diction, Kurt Vonnegut vividly depicts the devastation caused by war and suffered by man. Vonnegut unmistakably utilizes his novel Slaughterhouse-Five as an antiwar piece of literature that investigates and explores the extend of damage, both mental and physical, endured by the innocent fighters involved in war.