Slaughterhouse Five A Warning Against War Essay - 1716 Words

Kurt Vonneguts novel Slaughterhouse-Five; or The Childrens Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death is, as suggested by the title, a novel describing a crusade that stretches beyond the faint boundaries of fiction and crosses over into the depths of defogged reality. This satirical, anti-war piece of literature aims to expose, broadcast and even taunt human ideals that support war and challenge them in light of their folly. However, the reality of war, the destruction, affliction and trauma it encompasses, can only be humanly described by the word â€Å"war† itself. Furthermore, oftentimes this term can only be truly understood by those who have experienced it firsthand. Therefore, in order to explain the unexplainable and humanize one of the most†¦show more content†¦On his feet were cheap, low-cut civilian shoes which he had bought for his fathers funeral. Billy had lost a heel, which made him bob up-and-down, up-and-down. The involuntary dancing, up-and-down, up-and-down, made his hip joints sore. ... He didnt look like a soldier at all. He looked like a filthy flamingo. (33) With this description, Vonnegut vastly distances Billy from the ideal, strong and mighty image of a soldier, yet Billy is a soldier nonetheless. Not only is this weak and ungracious character fighting and representing the honour of his country but also he is one of the few soldiers who survive the war; he outlives many of the other soldiers that could be considered better suited for war. Furthermore, Vonnegut compares Billy to a filthy flamingo, highlighting the distance that exists between societys soldier ideal, graceful and admirable, and the soldiers reality, harsh and rampageous. In short, Billy is so far from what is expected that he â€Å"shouldnt even be in the Army† (51). However, Billy is not the only soldier in this ludicrous predicament. Vonnegut describes the entire Army as chaotic, confused and ludicrous: The eight ridiculous Dresdeners ascertained that these hundred ridiculous creatures really were American fighting men fresh from the front. They smiled, and then they laughed. Their terror evaporated. There was nothing to be afraid of. Here were more crippled human beings, more fools like themselves. Here was lightShow MoreRelatedWelcome to the Monkey House, Harrison Bergeron, and Slaughterhouse-five, by Kurt Vonnegut1233 Words   |  5 Pageslambasted in his works. Vonnegut’s experience as a soldier in WWII during firebombing of Dresden corrupted his mind and enabled him to express the chaotic reality of war, violence, obsession, sex and government in a raw and personal manner. Through three works specifically, â€Å"Welcome to the Monkey House,† â€Å"Harrison Bergeron,† and Slaughterhouse-five, one can see ties to all the chaotic elements of Vonnegut’s life that he routinely satirized. One can also see how Vonnegut’s personal experiences created hisRead MoreSlaughterhouse Five By Kurt Vonnegut Essay1560 Words   |  7 Pagesthe war are found to suffer some sort of psychological issue (NBC). One of these soldiers is Kurt Vonnegut. Vonnegut grew up in Illinois where his family would eventually lose all their money along with his mother (notable biographies). After attending Cornell University Vonnegut enlisted into World War II. His experiences in World War II shaped his anti-war novel Slaughterhouse-Five. Slaughterhouse-Five was published â€Å"during the peak of protest against American involvement in the Vietnam war† (NotableRead MoreSlaughterhouse Five Literary Analysis890 Words   |  4 PagesSimilarly, Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five explores this struggle between free-will and destiny, and illustrates the idea of time in order to demonstrate that there is no free-will in war; it is just destiny. Vonnegut conveys this through irony, symbolism and satire. Time concept is a complex idea that resist full understanding thus we can only percept it and determinism is a belief that is adopted by whose can percept time better than the others. In Slaughterhouse-Five, Billy Pilgrim is kidnappedRead MoreKurt Vonnegut s Slaughterhouse Five 1490 Words   |  6 Pagespublished a variety of works including novels, short stories, plays, and a few works of non-fiction. Kurt Vonnegut explains how war and the experiences that come with it can cause suffering to the minds of people that it affects. In his novel Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut uses his novel to focus on his anti-war stance by showcasing humanity s suffering due to war. Vonnegut reveals this suffering through Billy Pilgrim s experience with the bombing of Dresden, his development of schizophreniaRead MoreThe Childrens Crusade: Innocence, Masculinity, and Humanity1440 Words   |  6 Pages　　Are wars still being fought by children. One could argue â€Å"no†, but others will say â€Å"yes†. Men go into war everyday, but many are not even fully grown. In Kurt Vonneguts Slaughterhouse-Five, he uses some of his own personal experiences to show the realities of war by examples of innocence, masculinity, and humanity through his main character Billy Pilgrim. Billy can supposedly time travel after being kidnapped by aliens from Tralfamadore and uses it to travel to his time in WWII were he experiencedRead MoreSlaughterhouse Five By Kurt Vonnegut860 Words   |  4 PagesThroughout the course of the novel Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut, the reader is walked through the morbid but engaging life of Billy Pilgrim, a character who experiences many dreadful tragedies such as war. The way Vonnegut structures this novel is scattered and not told chronologically because we experience Billy Pilgrim’s life just as he does without suspense or logical order. Shortly after Pilgrim going to war in 1944 he becomes â€Å"unstuck in time† which simply means that he experiences differentRead MoreSlaughterhouse Five By Kurt Vonnegut915 Words   |  4 Pages Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut takes places on two contrasting planets. One is Earth, where war tears apart families and minds, and the other is Tralfamadore, where supernatural alien beings share their extended knowledge of the world. Vonnegut uses the two planets, Earth and Tralfamadore, to show the contrasting ideas of chaos and order, and that human actions have limitations that render them helpless against a meaningless universe. In Slaughterhouse Five, Earth is a grim, war torn placeRead More Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five Essays3848 Words   |  16 PagesKurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five Great artists have the ability to step back from society and see the absurd circus that their world has become. Such satirists use their creative work to reveal the comic elements of an absurd world and incite a change in society; examples include Stanley Kubrick’s film, Dr. Strangelove, and Joseph Heller’s novel, Catch-22. Both works rose above their more serious counterparts to capture the critical voice of a generation dissatisfied with a nation ofRead MoreChanges Since the Sixties916 Words   |  4 Pagesthe schools. There were no grouchy warning labels on the records and no ratings necessary on the movies. And TV shows were acceptable to the whole family. Those were the sixties or at least part of it. Some of the 52 million sixties boomers called it the decade of peace, harmony and love mainly for the movement for peace and the flower power attitude. Others, a little more pessimistic, called it the decade of dissatisfaction because of the protests against the war and the race riots in many citiesRead More Changes Since The Sixties Essay878 Words   |  4 Pagesthe schools. There were no grouchy warning labels on the records and no ratings necessary on the movies. And TV shows were acceptable to the whole family. Those were the sixties or at least part of it. Some of the 52 million sixties’ boomers called it the decade of peace, harmony and love mainly for the movement for peace and the â€Å"flower power† attitude. Others, a little more pessimistic, called it the decade of dissatisfaction because of the protests against the war and the race riots in many cities