"Slaughterhouse Five"

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that Kurt Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse Five" has been deemed too violent by certain schools to allow children to read it. The author points out that this novel draws upon Vonnegut's own experience in World War Two, when as a very young infantry scout, he was captured in the Battle of the Bulge and quartered in a Dresden slaughterhouse where he witnessed the fire-bombing of Dresden. The paper concludes that Vonnegut keeps on repeating and repeating the theme of the absurdity, stupidity and uselessness of war, which makes understanding this novel even more important. The paper includes several quotations.

From the Paper:

"While the author has experienced a time in his life when violence was a daily occurrence, he, like Billy Pilgrim experiences them sporadically, as those who suffer with Post Traumatic Syndrome do, except that the author has chosen these flashbacks carefully. Some believe the narration is linear, as Billy's life is told in one long line. But the line of narration is broken by the recall of violent events of the war, each time taking up the narrative at the point where the previous war story ended. The war permeates the thought and storyline, in spite of Vonnegut's trying to escape its power."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Brifonski and Mendelson (Eds). Contemporary Literary Criticism vol.8. Detroit: Gale Research Co. 1978.
• Riley, Carolyn (Editor); Contemporary Literary Criticism vol.1. Detroit: Gale Research Co. 1973.
• Riley, Carolyn and Barbara Harte (Editors); Contemporary Literary Criticism vol.2. Detroit: Gale Research Co. 1974.
• Vit, Marek. "The Themes of Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five." Kurt Vonnegut Corner. <http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/4953/themes.html>.<\
• Vonnegut, Kurt Jr.; Slaughterhouse-Five; or Children's Crusade, A Duty Dance with Death. New York: Dell Publishing. 1971

More papers on "Slaughterhouse Five":

• Book Review # 44093 : "Slaughterhouse-Five"
• Analytical Essay # 8389 : "Slaughterhouse-Five"
• Analytical Essay # 27506 : "A Critical Analysis of "Slaughterhouse-Five"."

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