Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
"Slaughterhouse-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut is a seminal work of American literature that combines science fiction with the historical realities of World War II. The narrative follows the life of Billy Pilgrim, who becomes "unstuck in time," experiencing moments from his life, including his traumatic experiences as a prisoner of war during the firebombing of Dresden, Germany. The novel explores themes of fatalism, the nature of time, and the absurdity of war, often presenting these concepts through a non-linear storyline that reflects Billy's time-traveling experiences.
Vonnegut himself was a soldier in World War II and witnessed the destruction of Dresden, which profoundly impacted his perspective on war, prompting him to write a book that counters romanticized portrayals of military conflict. The story also introduces characters such as Roland Weary and Edgar Derby, who embody different aspects of the war experience. Central to the narrative are the Tralfamadorians, alien beings who perceive time differently, offering insights into the irrelevance of individual moments in the grand scope of existence. Through its blend of humor and tragedy, "Slaughterhouse-Five" invites readers to reflect on the complexities of human experience, loss, and the often harsh realities of life.
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
First published: 1969
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Historical realism
Time of plot: 1922–76
Locale: Dresden, Germany; Ilium, New York
Principal Characters
Billy Pilgrim , a foot soldier in World War IIValencia , Pilgrim’s wifeBarbara , their daughterRobert , their sonMontana Wildhack , mate to Pilgrim on TralfamadoreKurt Vonnegut , author ofSlaughterhouse-Five Bernard V. O’Hare , Vonnegut’s friend
The Story
Kurt Vonnegut and Bernard V. O’Hare go back to Dresden, Germany, on Guggenheim money in 1967. Before they leave, Vonnegut goes to O’Hare’s house and meets his wife, Mary O’Hare. Mary is mad at Vonnegut; she knows he is going to write a book about World War II, and she is sure he is going to make war look glamorous and fun. Vonnegut insists that he is not going to write a book that makes war look good; he will even subtitle the book “The Children’s Crusade.” This makes her like him, and they become friends.
While in Dresden, Vonnegut and O’Hare meet a taxi driver. He shows them around the city and shows them the slaughterhouse where they were prisoners during World War II.
When Vonnegut returns from the war, he thinks writing a book about Dresden will be easy. He expects a masterpiece that will make him a lot of money. The words, however, come very slowly, and he becomes “an old fart with his memories and his Pall Malls,” before he actually writes the book. He likes to call long-lost friends late at night when his wife is asleep and he is drunk, and he likes to listen to talk-radio programs from Boston or New York. He and O’Hare try to remember things about the war, and they have trouble. Vonnegut suggests the climax of his book will come when Edgar Derby is shot by a firing squad for taking a teapot out of the ruins in Dresden. O’Hare does not know where the climax is supposed to be.
Billy Pilgrim is born in Ilium, New York, in 1922. He is tall and weak as a child and becomes tall and weak as an adult. He dies in Chicago in 1976 and travels back and forth through time frequently between his birth and his death. Pilgrim is in the infantry in Europe in World War II as a chaplain’s assistant. He does not carry a weapon and does not have proper clothing for the climate, which is very cold. He is taken prisoner by the Germans. Before he goes to the war, he is on maneuvers in South Carolina, and he is given an emergency furlough home because his father has died. While in the war, Pilgrim gets lost behind German lines with three other soldiers; one is Roland Weary. Someone shoots at them, and Pilgrim hears the bullet go by. Pilgrim lets the shooter try to hit him again. Weary hates everyone, including Pilgrim; Weary dies in a boxcar on the way to the concentration camp. He had been about to kill or seriously maim Pilgrim when the Germans captured them.
Pilgrim’s father throws Pilgrim into the deep end of a swimming pool when he is very young. Supposedly, he will learn to swim or he will drown. He nearly drowns, but someone saves him instead. In the concentration camp, Pilgrim time-travels often. He goes to the planet Tralfamadore, where the beings there teach him many things about the irrelevance of time and death. On Tralfamadore, he is kept in a zoo. He mates with the beautiful Montana Wildhack, a pornography star who soon comes to love Pilgrim. They have a child together on Tralfamadore.
From the concentration camp, Pilgrim and his company are sent to Dresden, Germany, where they work in a factory that makes a vitamin-enriched malt syrup for pregnant women. Pilgrim and the other prisoners eat it as much as they can because they are malnourished. While Pilgrim is in Dresden, it is firebombed. In the conflagration, 135,000 people die. No one had suspected it would be bombed, because it has no armament factories, and almost no soldiers whatsoever. Pilgrim and the Americans with him are some of the only people in the entire city who survive. Vonnegut and O’Hare are with Pilgrim. They help to clean the wreckage of the city that had been one of the most beautiful in the world and is now like the moon. American fighter planes fly over the city to see if anything is still moving, and they see Pilgrim. They spray machine-gun fire at him but miss.
After the war, Pilgrim is back in Ilium. He finishes the optometry schooling that he had begun before the war, and he marries Valencia Merble, the daughter of an optometrist and a very rich woman. She is also overweight and does not possess an astounding wit or intellect. They have two children, Robert and Barbara. Robert joins the Green Berets to fight in Vietnam. Barbara marries an optometrist and comes to see Pilgrim frequently after Pilgrim has brainsurgery. Valencia dies trying to get to the hospital after Pilgrim is in a plane crash.
Pilgrim has the brain surgery shortly following the wreck of an airplane meant to carry a group of optometrists to a convention. The plane crashes into a mountain in Vermont, killing everyone except Pilgrim and the copilot. Barbara is very concerned about Pilgrim after the crash and the subsequent brain surgery because Pilgrim is writing letters to a newspaper, telling of Tralfamadore and his time-traveling experiences. He goes to New York to be on a talk-radio program, during which he also tells of Tralfamadore.
Bibliography
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