Slaughterhouse-Five

Kurt Vonnegut

Kurt Vonnegut was born November 11th, 1922, in Indiana, and died April 11th, 2007, in New York. Vonnegut has always been a writer since high school, writing for his newspaper. When he was at Cornell University he got enlisted in U.S. Army. When he was fighting in WWll he got captured by the Germans. After WWll he started making short stories and the popular book Slaughterhouse-Five and so much more.

Historical Background

Although Slaughterhouse-Five takes place during World War 2 the book was published on March 31, 1969, during the mights of the Vietnam War. Because of the time the novel was released many people had many things to say about it. In many schools and cities, the book was banned. An article by The Atlantic states that it's "anti-American, anti-Christian, and-Semi, and just plain filthy".

Watch this video to see what a prisoner of war might have gone true!

Propaganda poster such as the one of Uncle Sam was used to recruit people during World War 1 and later on used in World War 2.

As the popularity of this novel continued to grow, Ryan North and Albert Monterey presented the graphic novel interpretation of Slaughterhouse-Five to Kurt Vonnegut. On September 15, 2020, the book got released to the public and became a great sensation. Click the link to watch the official graphic novel trailer!

Themes and Tone

The main theme in Slaughterhouse-five is the destructiveness of war. One way this is conveyed is by the bombing of Dresden in World War II.

The main tone in slaughterhouse-five is resigned. There are many examples of a somewhat acceptance of death. For example, each time someone dies or there is a tragic incident the author repeats "so it goes"

Devices and Techniques

Motif: In the book " so it goes" is something that is said after someone death. The repetition of thes word makes motif.

Final Thoughts

This book does a great job of conveying what a war veteran might go through. Our main character, Billy Pilgrim, is suffering from PTSD and could have a mental illness that affects his perspective on life. This is also what many war veterans suffer from every day. Billy copes by creating a different reality where he can escape in times of stress. This is commonly done by those who suffer from Delusional Disorder and Schizophrenia. Delusional disorder is a mental health condition in which a patient who suffers can't tell what's real and what's imagined. Schizophrenia is a serious mental health disorder in which a person interprets reality abnormally. In many cases, they have hallucinations and claim to hear voices. The controversy from this book relise is in my opinion uncalled and unjustified. As I explained, what happened to Billy happens to war veterans that suffer from mental health disorders every day. We should spread this book and spread awareness about the mental health conditions war veterans suffer with.

Paragraphs

Chapter 9

Paragraph 27

The advocates of nuclear disarmament seem to believe that, if they could achieve their aim, the war would become tolerable and decent. They would do well to read this book and ponder the fate of Dresden, where 135,000 people died as a result of an air attack with conventional weapons.

-Yadira Rojas

Page 3

Paragraph 2

I think it's not very related to the book since it's about war and time travel. However, it can be very relatable to real-life situations. For example, "highlight/underline the things that are important to you in this text". In this text, he has many colors, and he underlines the main characters in the wallpaper. Additionally, tells us in specific detail where he underlines and with what color.

-Maryce Silva

Chapter 3

Paragraph 34

The speaker at the Lions Club meeting was a major in the Marines. He said that Americans had no choice but to keep fighting in Vietnam until they achieved victory or until the Communists realized that they could not force their way of life on weak countries. The major had been there on two separate tours of duty. He told of many terrible and many wonderful things he had seen. He was in favor of increased bombings, of bombing North Vietnam back into the Stone Age if it refused to see reason.

-Alex Chavez

Chapter 2

Paragraph 5

Billy is spastic in time, has no control over where he is going next, and the trips aren’t necessarily fun. He is in a constant state of stage fright, he says, because he never knows what part of his life he is going to have to act in next.

-Fernando Villanueva

References

"Uncle Sam: 1814." Ben's Guide, bensguide.gpo.gov/j-uncle-sam#:~:text=The%20most%20famous%20picture%20of,again%20in%20World%20War%20II.

"Slaughterhouse-five: The Graphic Novel ." Amazon, www.amazon.com/Slaughterhouse-Five-Ryan-North/dp/1684156254.

Tikkanen, Amy. “Kurt Vonnegut.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., https://www.britannica.com/biography/Kurt-Vonnegut.

"Banned Book: Slaughterhouse-Five ." Politics and Prose, www.politics-prose.com/book-notes/banned-book-slaughterhouse-five.

"The Neverendingly Campaign to Ban "Slaughterhouse Five" ." the Atlantic, www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/08/the-neverending-campaign-to-ban-slaughterhouse-five/243525/.

https://literarydevices.net/slaughterhouse-five-themes/#:~:text=The%20destructiveness%20of%20war%20is,devastation%20caused%20by%20the%20war.

https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/slaughter/tone/#:~:text=Overall%2C%20the%20tone%20of%20Slaughterhouse,is%20familiar%20and%20self%2Ddeprecating.

"Delusional Disorder." Cleveland Clinic, my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/9599-delusional-disorder.

"Factoriong Disorders ." Cleveland Clinic, my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/9599-delusional-disorder.

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