Symbolism In Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five

Slaughterhouse Five tells the story of Billy Pilgrim who has become “unstuck in time.” Young Billy is born and raised in Ilium, New York, he is "tall and weak, and shaped like a bottle of Coca-Cola," and studying to be an optometrist. He is drafted into the U.S. military and despite his scrawny, weak build, he is sent to Europe to fight. While fighting in Germany, Billy is all of a sudden sent to 1968, where the plane he was on has crashed into the mountains of Vermont. He becomes aware that we possesses the ability to travel uncontrollably through time, as he skips around all different events in his lifetime, from being a prisoner of war in Dresden during World War II, to being abducted by Tralfamadorians, an alien race on the planet Tralfamadore
Vonnegut talks about the massacre of Dresden, saying; “Everything is supposed to be very quiet after a massacre, and it is, except for the birds. And what do the birds say? All there is to say are things like “Poo-tee-weet?” (Vonnegut, 1972, 19). The birds symbolize the lack of anything intelligent or anything at all to say after a massacre. The birds say “Poo-tee-weet?” because what else can be said about the Dresden firebombing? What else can be said about such a terrible event? The birds say “Poo-tee-weet?” as a question, but we are unable to give them an answer about the destruction of war and violence. The phrase “so it goes” first shown on Page 2 after Vonnegut talks about the death of the cab driver’s wife in Dresden and appears after every death in the story. This equalizes all deaths in the novel and shows that no matter what, death is inevitable. Vonnegut’s bias against war is clear as it tracks the number of the deaths war and violence creates. By using these phrases in the novel, Vonnegut shows that because death is inevitable and uncontrollable, focusing on the positive moments in a lifetime is better than focusing on negative moments
In chapter four, as Billy is captured by the Tralfamadorians on the night of his daughter Barbara’s wedding, he is immediately educated on their beliefs, mainly on free will. He is told that free will simply does not exist and that everything that happens in a person’s life is predestined and unchangeable. As the novel continues, Billy learns to accept the idea of free will being nonexistent. All of the events in his life are simply uncontrollable and he is able to travel throughout various events in his life with ease. He is never sure when it will take place, where he will go, or how long he will be there. He knows how he’s going to die, when he’s going to be in a plane crash in Vermont, and when the firebombing of Dresden is going to happen. He accepts the fact that all these things are going to happen but they’re unavoidable and cannot be changed. This relates back to Vonnegut’s main thesis that life is full of uncontrollable, inevitable events as Billy, and all others (both humans and fictional alien races), do not have the power to control their life. This concept is helpful to Billy as he must cope with all of the death and destruction that occurred around him; the death of his wife Valencia, father, fellow American soldiers/prisoners of war. It offers him a sense of comfort to have the knowledge that even though