Innocence And Paradise In Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughter

Within “Slaughterhouse Five,” innocence and paradise are used to juxtapose apathy and violence. The two types of emotions complement one another; they accentuate the places where the other lacks. Innocence and paradise implies a sense of naivety, as seen by the constant reference to children within the novel. While, apathy and violence implies ignorance, which is apparent every time Billy Pilgrim seeks answers about the nature of his world from the Tralfamadorians. Nonetheless, Vonnegut illustrates how although opposites, each part is connected to another, and without naivety there could be no ignorance, without violence there could be no paradise.
Kurt Vonnegut also utilizes character archetypes to supplement the themes within “Slaughterhouse