Historical Criticism In Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five
Historical Criticism in Slaughterhouse-Five
In the middle of the Vietnam War, Kurt Vonnegut published Slaughterhouse-Five. The book is considered a piece of fiction by many, yet there are several parallels between the main character, Billy Pilgrim, and the author himself. Vonnegut enlisted in the United States Army in 1942 and later fought in the Battle of the Bulge (Biography). Vonnegut’s personally experienced the horrors of war leading to him having an anti-war view which brought meaning to his novel.
Vonnegut’s life had a tremendous impact on the plot of Slaughterhouse-Five. The first few sentence in the book are “ All this happened, more or less. The war parts, anyway, are pretty much true, One guy I knew really was shot in Dresden for taking a teapot that wasn’t his. Another guy I knew really did threaten to have his personal enemies killed by hired gunmen after the war. I’ve changed all the names” (Vonnegut 1). Theses first sentences inform the reader right away …show more content…
Towards the beginning of the novel, Vonnegut stated “ Everyone is supposed to be dead, to never say anything or want anything ever again. Everything is supposed to be very quiet after a massacre, and it always is, except for the birds. And what do the birds say? All there is to say about a massacre, things like Poo-tee-weet” (Vonnegut 19)? Vonnegut established a powerful idea right off the bat with a long description of the moments after a massacre. This along with the time period the book was written, during the height of the Vietnam War, demonstrated his anti-war views. Vonnegut also used the repetitive phrase, so it goes, when anyone died. This repetition also emphasizes the amount of death in the war and leads the reader to believe that nothing good can come from war. With over 130,000 deaths alone in the bombing of Dresden which Vonnegut experienced personally, he should have an anti-war
In the middle of the Vietnam War, Kurt Vonnegut published Slaughterhouse-Five. The book is considered a piece of fiction by many, yet there are several parallels between the main character, Billy Pilgrim, and the author himself. Vonnegut enlisted in the United States Army in 1942 and later fought in the Battle of the Bulge (Biography). Vonnegut’s personally experienced the horrors of war leading to him having an anti-war view which brought meaning to his novel.
Vonnegut’s life had a tremendous impact on the plot of Slaughterhouse-Five. The first few sentence in the book are “ All this happened, more or less. The war parts, anyway, are pretty much true, One guy I knew really was shot in Dresden for taking a teapot that wasn’t his. Another guy I knew really did threaten to have his personal enemies killed by hired gunmen after the war. I’ve changed all the names” (Vonnegut 1). Theses first sentences inform the reader right away …show more content…
Towards the beginning of the novel, Vonnegut stated “ Everyone is supposed to be dead, to never say anything or want anything ever again. Everything is supposed to be very quiet after a massacre, and it always is, except for the birds. And what do the birds say? All there is to say about a massacre, things like Poo-tee-weet” (Vonnegut 19)? Vonnegut established a powerful idea right off the bat with a long description of the moments after a massacre. This along with the time period the book was written, during the height of the Vietnam War, demonstrated his anti-war views. Vonnegut also used the repetitive phrase, so it goes, when anyone died. This repetition also emphasizes the amount of death in the war and leads the reader to believe that nothing good can come from war. With over 130,000 deaths alone in the bombing of Dresden which Vonnegut experienced personally, he should have an anti-war