The first moment I had learned our prospective reading assignments, I felt a shadow of doubt intruding on that little cloud of confidence somewhere in my mind. Every year of my high school career, an English teacher has so wholeheartedly and enthusiastically presented a novel to the class that, to anyone who had the privilege of receiving the brunt of their excitement, that novel in particular had to be the most cathartic, astounding, metamorphic novel we could ever hope to lay eyes on. I expected each page to grace my mind with profound knowledge, enlighten with scholarly insight, entertain with the skill of a master artist and performer; and yet, each time my hopes shattered like the windows of a building in an earthquake. The entire foundation, which had been so carefully and devotedly constructed, crumbled within minutes of opening the book. …show more content…
The introduction of Slaughterhouse Five presented a daunting task, as I had heard so many contradicting opinions. One person could swear that it was the absolute worst novel they had ever encountered, that reading it was the equivalent of awaiting a slow, painful death. Yet, another person could describe the novel in intriguing detail with very little prompting and a spark of excitement in their eyes, eager to introduce a new victim to the world of Kurt Vonnegut and swearing that it was of the utmost literary merit and would most definitely live up to any and all expectations. So it is with equal parts trepidation and inquisitive anticipation that I allowed myself to open up to what I would discover to be one of the best novels that has every graced my
Throughout Slaughterhouse-Five, Vonnegut chooses to use special literary techniques that better explain his own encounters in war as well as help his readers bare the horridness of war. Vonnegut adds black humor in his text to benefit readers as well as “an author-as-character” perspective to set barriers and help protect his own memories in the war. Without adding these two specific devices, Vonnegut could possibly have lost reader’s interests in the book or lost his own interest in writing the book.
The approach to the reading of the novel would be varied. It is anticipated that the class study would begin with a shared reading of the opening chapter to foster students' interest. A prepared reading by the teacher is usually much more involving than a hesitant reading-around-the-class activity (Sykes, n.d.). The aim is to motivate each student to read the
Slaughterhouse-Five has two narrators, an impersonal one and a personal one, resulting in a novel not only about Dresden but also about the actual act of writing a novel - in this case a novel about an event that has shaped the author profoundly. The novel's themes of cruelty, innocence, free will, regeneration, survival, time, and war recur throughout Vonnegut's novels, as do some of his characters, which are typically caricatures of ideas with little depth. Another mainstay is his use of historical and fictional sources, and yet another is his preference for description over dialogue. These aspects of Vonnegut's literary style make the adaptation of Vonnegut to the screen all the more difficult. Ironically, many Vonnegut novels flow with a cinematic fluidity. As described in Film Comment, "Vonnegut's literary vocabulary has included the printed page equivalents of jump-cuts, montages, fades, and flashbacks.
It is expected for arguments to arise when writing about controversial topics. Many times the meaning of a book is not as obvious as the author intended, which may lead to problems. Other times, books are challenged because they contain sexual or inappropriate material. When Kurt Vonnegut released Slaughterhouse-Five critics were quick to judge his peculiar way of writing. Although Kurt Vonnegut’s book Slaughterhouse-Five was oftentimes misunderstood, interpreted as inappropriate, and judged for the peculiar point of view, critics seem to appreciate and accept one aspect of it: the structure of the book.
The literary criticism of ‘Slaughterhouse Five’ and the Comforts of Indifference, written by Barry Chabot is a critical essay that explores deeper into the meaning behind the eccentric story of Billy Pilgrim, and its creator Kurt Vonnegut. Billy Pilgrim’s indifference is an extension of Vonnegut attempting to come to terms with the violent nature of man. However this “comfort” is suggested to be “cruelly inadequate” and described to be an “opiate of the terminally weary”, (Chabot n.p.) and that the solace Billy Pilgrim finds in indifference only serves to help accommodate him to the atrocities of the world rather than standing up to them.
War is a tragic experience that can motivate people to do many things. Many people have been inspired to write stories, poems, or songs about war. Many of these examples tend to reflect feelings against war. Kurt Vonnegut is no different and his experience with war inspired him to write a series of novels starting with Slaughter-House Five. It is a unique novel expressing Vonnegut's feelings about war. These strong feeling can be seen in the similarities between characters, information about the Tralfamadorians, dark humor, and the structure of the novel.
Many writers in history have written science fiction novels and had great success with them, but only a few have been as enduring over time as Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five. Slaughterhouse-Five is a personal novel which draws upon Vonnegut's experience's as a scout in World War Two, his capture and becoming a prisoner of war, and his witnessing of the fire bombing of Dresden in February of 1945 (the greatest man-caused massacre in history). The novel is about the life and times of a World War Two veteran named Billy Pilgrim. In Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut uses structure and point of view to portray the theme that time is relative.
Throughout his career, Kurt Vonnegut has used writing as a tool to convey penetrating messages and ominous warnings about our society. He skillfully combines vivid imagery with a distinctly satirical and anecdotal style to explore complex issues such as religion and war. Two of his most well known, and most gripping, novels that embody this subtle talent are Cat's Cradle and Slaughterhouse-Five. Both books represent Vonnegut’s genius for manipulating fiction to reveal glaring, disturbing and occasionally redemptive truths about human nature. On the surface, Cat’s Cradle and Slaughterhouse-Five are dramatically different novels, each with its own characters, symbols,
Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five is a telling work of fiction that blends the author’s experiences with the horror of war with a touch of science fiction and a healthy dose of humor. The novel guides us through the experiences of a man on a journey in both directions of time, through war, and the delusions brought on by the horrors therein. The pilgrimage Billy is on is broken up by milestones that read “so it goes”. The journey is a vessel for Vonnegut to show the reader how war can desensitize a man to death and cause him to recede into coping mechanisms, but that a man cannot be desensitized to suffering.
Kurt Vonnegut was a man of disjointed ideas, as is expressed through the eccentric protagonists that dominate his works. Part cynic and part genius, Kurt Vonnegut’s brilliance as a satirist derives from the deranged nature of the atrocities he had witnessed in his life. The reason Vonnegut’s satire is so popular and works so well is because Vonnegut had personal ties to all the elements that he lambasted in his works. Vonnegut’s experience as a soldier in WWII during firebombing of Dresden corrupted his mind and enabled him to express the chaotic reality of war, violence, obsession, sex and government in a raw and personal manner. Through three works specifically, “Welcome to the Monkey House,” “Harrison Bergeron,” and Slaughterhouse-five,
Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five is described weird, horrible, and shows different types of inexplicable events Billy went through. Vonnegut’s writing is satirical and ironical such as using dark humor. His science fictional dialogues and quick actions he takes making this novel stand out. For example on Chapter 3 almost the whole section it says “The war was nearly over. The locomotives began to move east in late December.
Many people returned from World War II with disturbing images forever stuck in their heads. Others returned and went crazy due to the many hardships and terrors faced. The protagonist in Slaughter-House Five, Billy Pilgrim, has to deal with some of these things along with many other complications in his life. Slaughter House Five (1968), by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., is an anti-war novel about a man’s life before, after and during the time he spent fighting in World War II. While Billy is trying to escape from behind enemy lines, he is captured and imprisoned in a German slaughterhouse. The author tells of Billy’s terrible experiences there. After the war, Billy marries and goes to school to
The inevitable had happened; I, as a small child, was demanded to read. A little antisocial human being launched into a world of, at first, difficult words and lengthy phrases. While words and literacy were forced into my mind, I had reluctantly begun the adventure to enjoy and accept the art of literature. Later however, my hopes and dreams were crushed to pieces by a gruesome teacher with an interesting form of a so called “grading policy.”
This kind-of off the wall opinion can be interpreted as people being physically stuck in this world, that people don't have any choice over what mankind as a whole, do and what people head for. The only thing one can do is think about everything, but it won't affect anything. This idea appears many times throughout the novel. This is one of the examples, when Billy proposes marriage to Valencia:
Kurt Vonnegut’s book, Slaughterhouse-Five, an antiwar book that took 23 years to write, is not what he thought it would be. He explained early on to