Preview

Character Analysis Essayof Slaughterhouse Five

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
755 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Character Analysis Essayof Slaughterhouse Five
Character Analysis Essay Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut

Slaughterhouse Five, by Kurt Vonnegut, is a novel that makes no sense in itself; yet, when put into context individually with today's events, or life's events in general, makes more sense then if it were clearly spelled out within the pages. By using the character of Billy Pilgram, Vonnegut conveys his points with Billy's reactions and common characteristics. Billy Pilgram could not be any more a human then if he was actually walking amongst us. With basic characteristics of simplicity, confusion and general common sense, any one can relate to what Billy is and was going through. By successfully portraying this personality of Billy's, Vonnegut creates a complex yet oddly simple character for audiences to follow.

For Billy, it truly is a gift to be simple, especially with every thing he must endure. Simplicity is a common trait that most characters in novels lack. Authors are many times trying to create such a complex character that the audience may become lost or even bored with the character. By making Billy so simple, he can create complex events that surround him. With this, Billy shows his general reactions. Without Billy delving deeply into the events, it in fact leaves room for the audience to have their own interpretation of what Billy may be feeling. A simple character can in turn makes for a more complex novel. Allowing audiences to have a mental interaction of their own will better to help keep them involved in the storyline. Vonnegut is very successful in creating this type of persona in Billy" character. Confusion can in fact be a trait that is truly over looked now. Billy's own confusion helps to clear up the story for the reader, while leaving Billy more confused then he originally was. Creating confusion for the audience and clarity for Billy also works in the same way. Events that may seem like a whirlwind in the audience's train of thought, yet at the same time,

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the 1969 novel, ‘Slaughterhouse Five’, Kurt Vonnegut successfully manipulates traditional narrative devices and literary techniques to position his audience to align with his ideologies of the catastrophic effects of war and the misconception of freewill. Vonnegut establishes his novel to reflect his beliefs and values, and does so through the narrative structure, symbols and motifs, and point of…

    • 60 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    This book gives kids positive message to kids about loyalty, respect, courage etc. It also gives children a positive role model to the children that read the book. And Billy is willing to defy his mother but yet, not break a promise with a dog. This makes Billy a likable person and a great role model for children.…

    • 190 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    One common theme is seen in the characters of Hungry Joe in Catch-22 and Edgar Derby in Slaughterhouse-Five. Both of these characters relate to the casualties that were not caused by direct battle wounds. These motifs relay the authors ' anti-war message. "The picture of war painted by Heller and Vonnegut is highlighted by their utilization of irony. Their careful strokes of irony on the canvas of their novels help to prove one of their numerous shared themes." (Meredith 218)…

    • 1206 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Two men, though part of different stories, travel long journeys to return home. Their paths face many obstacles and trials. How do their stories compare? The main characters are Odysseus, from Homer’s, The Odyssey, and Everett from O Brother Where Art Thou, directed by Ethan and Joel Coen. Though O Brother Where Art Thou, is based on The Odyssey, the two share many similarities and differences, such as the characters’ encounters with others, conflicts faced in the stories, and characteristics of the major characters.…

    • 439 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Starting from the very beginning of this book we see the determination and willpower, when Billy manages to earn enough money to buy his dogs. From berry-picking, crawfish-catching, to coon-treeing and mountain lion-slaying, there isn’t anything he wouldn’t do to get what he wants. This quote from Chapter 3, Paragraph 17, “I caught crawfish with my bare hands [...] I tore my way through the blackberry patches until my feet were scratched raw and red from the thorns,” truth is found in the theme of determination, because once again… he pushed through it all, he always had.…

    • 596 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the novel Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut writes about World War ||. While writing about the reality of war, Vonnegut also writes about Billy Pilgrim's life both before and after the war, and from his travels to the planet Tralfamadore. Billy is able to move both forwards and backwards through his lifetime in an unpredictable cycle of events. Since Slaughterhouse-Five's central topic is the horror of the Dresden bombing, Billy comes across many questions about the meanings of life and death. Throughout the novel, Vonnegut uses irony and understatement to transfer the message that events in life are inevitable. These events may be negative, but it is important to focus on the positive memories instead.…

    • 431 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Slaughterhouse-Five is fictional and not written with many shocking, colorful descriptions of atrocities, which occurred during WWII as Elie Wiesel 's Night. The science fiction parts of the book are over emphasized. One does not get a truthful account of the happenings of WWII from Slaughterhouse-Five. The Tralfamadorian 's science fiction aspects of the novel dull the anti-war theme. Their beliefs coerce Billy to forget about the war; the Tralfamadorians tell Billy, "one thing Earthlings might learn to do, if they tried hard enough: Ignore the awful times, and concentrate on the good ones" (Vonnegut 117). They also tell Billy, "we spend eternity looking at pleasant moments;" they cannot do anything about the awful times, so they ignore them (Vonnegut 117). The climax of the novel is the fire bombing of Dresden; the reader is aware of this from the start, it is stated in the first chapter. The description of the bombing it is short; one could almost miss it. Billy does not travel back to the event nor does he re-live it, like he does many other less important events. The book 's climax is supposed to be the fire bombing of Dresden;…

    • 2683 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    He has the constant presence of his mother watching over him and preventing him from truly experiencing life. When Billy begins to wonder if he will ever escape the clutches of his mother and enjoy life she responds with this, “'Sweetheart, you still have scads of time for things like that. Your whole life is ahead of you.' 'Mother, I'm th-th-thirty-one years old!'” (Kesey 247). She attempts to delude him into believing that he is simply too young to be granted independence. It is a cycle that will never allow Billy to be free. It has reached the point where Billy has convinced himself that he is not able to live on his own and committed himself to the hospital. When McMurphy came into the ward, Billy began to attain a sense of self-reliance. He believed that he could survive on his own. Billy's confidence is seen the morning after his night spent with Candy. Immediately after being caught, Billy has not stutter as he explains the situation to Nurse Ratched. In this moment Billy regained his independence. He was confident in his actions from the night before and did not care what Nurse Ratched thought. But Billy's regained freedom would undermine Nurse Ratched's power in the ward. Therefore,…

    • 1024 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Kilgore Trout Analysis

    • 380 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Billy’s inability to form meaningful relationships is shown throughout most the novel until he met Kilgore Trout. Kilgore Trout was a science fiction author whose stories resembled Billy’s experiences or hallucinations on Tralfamadore. In Trout’s stories, he imagines the world in a new and unique fashion, one that Billy can relate to and one that Billy found comforting. Trout was the only person who understood Billy’s hallucinations and his so called time travels and as a result, he was the only person who connected with Billy. This was shown during Billy’s eighteenth wedding anniversary party. In the middle of the ceremony, Billy suddenly time traveled and started to receive hallucinations of the traumas he experienced in war. His face started…

    • 380 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There were many harsh circumstances that Billy had to face during his journey to become a professional ballet dancer. One of them was the death of his mother, Billy had no support form his family until the end of the film. Billy was very close to his mother and the letter that Billy read to Ms Wilkinson showed that she loved Billy very much. Billy just being himself ,like his mother wrote to him in the letter, was a key factor in his ability to survive the harsh circumstances. It's not the only Billy's characteristics which helps him. Another important characteristic is that Billy was very gutsy.…

    • 768 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    tremendous amount of mental distresses. In article by the ADAA about the symptoms of PTSD it…

    • 1059 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Kramer V Kramer

    • 547 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Billy during the time that his father was not around much was in Piaget’s sensorimotor and preoperational stage. During these two stages is where the child is both extremely egotistical and begin forming a theory of mind. Therefore, Billy noticed the dysfunctional aspects of his parents, especially the father, and was able to understand it in a mild sense. Whenever the mother leaves Billy was in the concrete operational stage. He was able to understand mathematical transformations and conversations. Becoming more able to…

    • 547 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Landlady

    • 515 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The first paragraph of this story has a lot of foreshowing in it. For example, the “air was deadly cold” and “the wind was like a flat blade of ice on his cheeks” (1). The flat blade of ice on his cheek might foreshadow Billy’s death. Also the deadly wind could foreshadow that there will be death later on in the story. Based on this, readers might infer that that Billy will soon meet his end.…

    • 515 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The Landlady by Roald Dahl

    • 1439 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Billy is portrayed as a young and spruce man. This is shown by his new work clothes, "He was wearing a new navy-blue overcoat, a new brown trilby hat, and a new brown suit". The repetition of the word new also emphasises the fact that he is very excited about his new job and has to be very prepared. Roald Dahl also portrays Billy as an ambitious young man. He looks up to the the "big shots up at Head Office" which shows…

    • 1439 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Billy, as a boy, is faced heavily by gender expectation from his community & his family. His family is fairly male dominated as sis mother died when he was younger leading to Billy being more mature than…

    • 846 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays