A Critical Analysis of "Slaughterhouse-Five".

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses Kurt Vonnegut's motivation behind writing his novel as well as the aspects of war. The paper also directly links the main character of Slaughterhouse-Five to Vonnegut himself. It shows how Vonnegut uses the protagonist, Billy Pilgrim, as a mask for himself. From behind this mask, Vonnegut discusses the destructiveness, inevitability, and absurdity of war and also reveals that people should accept the events in their lives and concentrate solely on the positive moments.

From the Paper:

"The themes of Slaughterhouse-Five do not revolve solely around the institution of war, however. In addition to its war-related themes, acceptance is another major theme that emerges from his novel. Vonnegut reveals this theme in a number of ways. When he twice includes the Serenity prayer in his novel, for example, "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" (209). According to William Bly, Billy Pilgrim finds comfort in the Tralfamadorian belief that people who are dead in one moment are alive and well in many other moments and, Bly further states, that this concept of life can be interpreted as Vonnegut telling his readers that they, too, should be consoled when someone dies, because the dead live on in people's memories (27). The theme of acceptance is further evidenced when Vonnegut writes, after every mention of death in the novel, the phrase, "So it goes" (214). This phrase appears one hundred and six times throughout the novel and gives it a cyclical quality that implies that life goes on. Reflect on the happy moments in life, Vonnegut teaches, and all will be well. "

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