Kurt Vonneguts Slaughterhouse-Five - Essay Example

? An Explanation of the Narrative in Kurt Vonnegut’s Novel “Slaughterhouse-Five An Oral Exposition Word Count 554 (6 pages) I grew up reading Kurt Vonnegut’s novel “Slaughterhouse-Five” at the tender age of around 9 or 10 years old. This book stayed with me over the years, and, even though I only briefly read or glanced at other Vonnegut books since—this has been the book that always stayed in the back of my mind—this is the book that had dynamic characters and writing techniques, got me interested in World War Two history, and showed me special insights into the human condition. Kurt Vonnegut was a great writer. Basically, “features and characteristics of historiographic metafiction…[were] applied to [his masterpiece] Slaughterhouse-Five.”1 One of the main characters, or protagonists, in the book is named Billy Pilgrim. “Many critics see Billy Pilgrim as a type of Christ figure, an innocent who is dirtied by the sins of humankind, but who delivers a message of salvation.”2 Before he goes off to war, Billy meets an author named Kilgore Trout. “Kilgore Trout [becomes] Billy’s favorite living author, and science fiction [become] the only tales he [can] read.”3 Basically, it is this fiction which saves him, as he creates a fictional world while the prisoners of war (P.O.W.’s) from the Battle of the Bulge hunker down in an old slaughterhouse given the number five—from whence comes the title. “The Allied firebombing of Dresden in the final months of World War II was the largest massacre in European history, and because he was there, and survived it, Kurt Vonnegut felt the witness's duty to testify.”4 Vonnegut tells this tale very masterfully, and the hero, our protagonist Billy, invents an imaginary alien world of Tralfamadore. In fact, he is whisked away—not only from Dresden but from a ‘vapid civilian life,’ pre- and post-war.5 Billy becomes ‘unstuck in time,’ and travels all through various points of his life while in the slaughterhouse, making somewhat of a mockery of his surroundings. “At the age of 46…Billy…realizes that he has been chosen to proclaim Tralfamadorian wisdom to all Earthlings.”6 One of the things one must realize about Slaughterhouse-Five is that it is a novel which changed the face of literature, and is the likes of which no one had seen before or will probably be seen since. Vonnegut’s book flaunts a postmodernist theme, appealing to postwar ideas. Of course, “hindsight is always twenty-twenty,” as the saying goes—the idea that we might have been able to do better when it came to having fought World War Two. Additionally, what Vonnegut does is critique his own work as the book is actually progressing, very often commenting as the narrator of his own book. This is known as “metafiction.” So, not only is Vonnegut’s work a stunning representation of metafictional commentary, but it is postmodern in its style and approach. The postmodernist view often posits that we are all viewing the world from a particular lens, or viewpoint. Everyone may have a different viewpoint but that does not mean any of us are ‘wrong’ to see things this way—we are just distinct pieces of a puzzle which all fit together somehow. So, there is a method to the madness of everyone’s viewpoint—and since everyone views the kaleidoscope differently, we are not to judge anyone’s viewpoint as being untrue, but we must accept everyone’s viewpoint as being part of the puzzle. Once we put all the pieces of the puzzle together, we realize the frailty and beauty of the human condition, because all of our respective pieces create humanity in all its diversity and loveliness. These are some of the ideals that are portrayed in Vonnegut’s novel, which was brilliantly conceived and written. My interest in World War Two history was definitely piqued after having read this book at a very young age, before I read the book again for this IB oral exam. The bombing of Dresden, which occurred at the end of World War Two, was part of the fall of Germany into Allied hands. What was so fascinating about this novel is really part of what fascinated me about World War Two. The problem of poverty amongst all of the characters is evident. The desperation of the Germans, the ensuing cutthroat nature of the prisoners of war, and Billy Pilgrim’s intensifying desire to become ‘unstuck in time.’ This particular latter element is one that should be focused upon. Billy is able to time-travel to the past or future, and also able to go into a time-warp to the Planet Tralfamadore—where he is abducted by the Tralfamadorian aliens and shown what the future will really be like. Kurt Vonnegut’s book Slaughterhouse-Five has made a valuable contribution to society, because it has shown to us many elements that are intrinsic to the human condition. We now know how people react to various situations. War can be a traumatic thing, and in Billy Pilgrim’s case—he finds an acceptable escape, science fiction, which he can use as a safe space as he astral-travels to various points in his life. Through the eyes of Billy and the narrator, Vonnegut, we see that war can be horrible, but that people can use their imaginations to form creative and constructive escapes from reality—a reality which might be more horrific than a nightmare. But in all this, we see Vonnegut as Billy Pilgrim—this poor, poor soul who has fought so valiantly for his country, but unfortunately someone who does not make it past Paul Lazzaro, his nemesis. Lazzaro kills Billy Pilgrim at the end of their encampment in the fifth slaughterhouse, just because Billy is accused of having caused another prisoner’s death. Although there are a variety of characters in the book, Billy’s death exemplifies the fact that many people who fight in wars die needlessly—often at the hands of lesser minds. Kurt Vonnegut’s book Slaughterhouse-Five not only had excellent characters and a good story, but this book got me interested in World War Two history and has connected with audiences because of its long-lasting and universal themes with which many people can identify. Vonnegut’s masterpiece of postmodern metafiction superseded the expectations of success of which possibly even the author might not have conceived. This story resonated so strongly with people in the 1960’s, a time of change and protest, that Slaughterhouse-Five became a national success and later on, a bestseller. Kurt Vonnegut’s tale, a semi-autobiographical account of his own experience as a prisoner of war after having been captured by the Germans in the Battle of the Bulge—Vonnegut recounts with expert testimony the travesties and sadnesses of war to which he was exposed, an unwilling witness to the massacre of an entire German city. However, perhaps what is most important that people take away from the bombing of Dresden is that humanity can survive even in the most unforgiving and horrible conditions. After all, that is what the Allied Forces strove to achieve in liberating people from the concentration camps set up by the Nazis. Many people could identify with the fact that it was not just Jews, but many other ethnic, racial, and social groups that were targeted by the Nazis because they did not necessarily fit the profile which the Nazis wanted to see in all of Germany—and, as such, were eliminated (and slated to be murdered) in the name of convenience. When one looks at the body of historical evidence supporting tales from Vonnegut’s book, we see the breadth of historical scope his book has, and the postmodern ‘lens’ from which he writes. Vonnegut writes what he knows, and writes from a place of passion about the subject that he is writing about because he wants the world to know that war is evil—but in some cases is a necessary evil in order to stop evil people from prevailing. As one person so aptly stated, ‘when good men do nothing, evil prevails.’ Thus, it was very important that the Allied Forces defeated Germany, once and for all declaring victory over the Nazi regime, which threatened to cast the pall of a dark cloud over all of Europe and perhaps even many more countries of the world had the Allies not defeated Germany. It is only to the credit of Vonnegut and other brave souls like him that Germany will remain forever in the minds of many people as having been—at one time—the great oppressor. Thus, the Holocaust taught us many valuable lessons, some of which are evident in Vonnegut’s writing. Obviously, one of the points Vonnegut makes in his book is that war is not only evil, but it is not pretty nor is there anything romantic about it—although this novel is written with a romantic bent. War is not trivialized, but on the other hand nor is it held up as a shining example of how one should act in war. Billy Pilgrim’s dissociation from his surroundings speaks to a greater truth about the horrors of war and how it can actually harm people and their psyches. That is one of the most important lessons that people can take away from this book—is that war is horrible and should be avoided at all costs. Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five is a testament to this lesson—which hopefully will be the takeaway common denominator for which many people will remember this book, in the end. WORKS CITED Bloom, Harold. Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five. US: Infobase Publishing, 2009. Pp. 54. Klinkowitz, Jerome. Kurt Vonnegut’s America. US: University of South Carolina Press, 2009. Pp. 107. Schneider, Markus. Kurt Vonnegut’s "Slaughterhouse-Five" as Historiographic Metafiction. Germany: GRIN Verlag, 2011. Pp. 1. Stuart, Sarah Clarke. Literary Lost: Viewing Television Through the Lens of Literature. US: Continuum International Publishing Group, 2011. Pp. 40. Vonnegut, Kurt. Slaughterhouse-Five. US: Random House Digital, Inc., 1969. Pp. 101. Read More