Human Race In Kurt Vonnegut's 'Slaughterhouse-Five'
Bountouraby Sylla
Mr. Buonadonna
Honors English 1/ Period 9
May 13, 2014
The Human Race Humans believe that they are the highest species and that everything follows. Due to that belief, they think that every thing should be handed to them and that they should not try hard enough in what they choose to accomplish. In Slaughterhouse-five written by Kurt Vonnegut in 1969 focuses on the life of a man born in New York. This man goes by the name of Billy Pilgrim and at the age of 19 is drafted into World War II, after his years of being a prisoner of war he is captured by aliens, the Tralfamadorians and begins to travel within his lifespan. The antagonist in Mark Twain’s “The Mysterious Stranger” states that the human race is “…always claiming virtues which it hasn’t got’”; the content of Slaughter-house-five supports this claim by evidence of humans expecting everything being handed to them, how the captured soldiers …show more content…
The Americans were the ones the novel focused on (considering it was about an American man) and they were captured by the Germans. Those prisoners of war were usually mistreated mainly because they were the enemy. While being taken captives a scenery including Weary was saw by Billy, he noted that, “Ronald Weary died of gangrene that had started in his mangled feet.”(Vonnegut 100). The German soldiers stole his shoes so that he could be caused more pain and so that they could make more fun of the enemy. The other reason for such a mistreating of the humans was because the Germans wanted to prove their authority over them. This not only makes the soldier pathetic but apathetic as well. They knew and saw the pain they were putting the Americans through but chose to ignore it and laugh at it, because the Americans were the “enemy”. Not only were the soldiers mistreated, but the Jews taken by the Germans were used as fat for
Mr. Buonadonna
Honors English 1/ Period 9
May 13, 2014
The Human Race Humans believe that they are the highest species and that everything follows. Due to that belief, they think that every thing should be handed to them and that they should not try hard enough in what they choose to accomplish. In Slaughterhouse-five written by Kurt Vonnegut in 1969 focuses on the life of a man born in New York. This man goes by the name of Billy Pilgrim and at the age of 19 is drafted into World War II, after his years of being a prisoner of war he is captured by aliens, the Tralfamadorians and begins to travel within his lifespan. The antagonist in Mark Twain’s “The Mysterious Stranger” states that the human race is “…always claiming virtues which it hasn’t got’”; the content of Slaughter-house-five supports this claim by evidence of humans expecting everything being handed to them, how the captured soldiers …show more content…
The Americans were the ones the novel focused on (considering it was about an American man) and they were captured by the Germans. Those prisoners of war were usually mistreated mainly because they were the enemy. While being taken captives a scenery including Weary was saw by Billy, he noted that, “Ronald Weary died of gangrene that had started in his mangled feet.”(Vonnegut 100). The German soldiers stole his shoes so that he could be caused more pain and so that they could make more fun of the enemy. The other reason for such a mistreating of the humans was because the Germans wanted to prove their authority over them. This not only makes the soldier pathetic but apathetic as well. They knew and saw the pain they were putting the Americans through but chose to ignore it and laugh at it, because the Americans were the “enemy”. Not only were the soldiers mistreated, but the Jews taken by the Germans were used as fat for