Slaughterhouse Five

Central Quote

"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to always tell the difference" (60).

This quote represents both Billy’s and the Tralfamadorian view on time and destiny. This is actually the physical view of the Tralfamadorians because they can see in the fourth dimension, so they realize that they cannot change events, and that everything is has and always will happen; that time is cyclical. Billy accepts this with tranquility after he becomes unstuck in time and comes to terms with death, war, and free will. He realizes that he cannot control when he will be next and how long he will be there, so he follows the Tralfamadorian philosophy and while he experiences it all he focuses on the good times. This is one of the core human struggles, being unable to change something we wish to. The Tralfamadorians said that on their visits to many other planets, Earth was the only one with any talk of free will. This is one of humanities most important values, believing that we can do anything. This is the major block Billy runs into when he returns to Earth and tries to live a Tralfamadorian life.

Connections

Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy-
Slaughterhouse Five is very similar to Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy in that both the characters are out of their element. They both do not know what it going on and are confused at first, but then come to terms with their situation. In Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy the main character Arthur Dent it taken on a wild space adventure after the Earth is destroyed to make room for a hyperspace highway. He originally is terrified to everything and does not know what is even happening, but then he adopts a serene acceptance, as does Billy in Slaughterhouse Five. When Billy encounters situations in which he does not know where he is or what is happening he adopts the passive stance of the Tralfamadorians, as exemplified by their view on death, where they simply say, “‘So it goes’” (27).

Out of Body Experiences-
Many people have had out of body experiences, these differ from person to person but may include time distortion, or view of themselves in the third person. I myself have had a few strange sensations where it feels like I am remembering what is happening in the present as if I were in the future looking back at the day. I did not have any control of when this happened or when to stop it, and neither did Billy. “Billy is spastic in time, has no control over where he is going next, and the trips aren’t necessarily fun” (23). Yet through his random trips through time he gained a serenity to simply accept whatever might happen next, this is very similar to what monks do through meditation to achieve balance and serenity within.

Schindler’s List-
The overarching event in Slaughterhouse Five is the fire-bombing of Dresden, Vonnegut makes a connection to the reader to relate to them the shock and impact of the bombing. In Schindler’s List, a movie based on a real life German who helped Jews during the Holocaust, they show the shocking events of the Holocaust to relate to the viewer the great deeds Schindler did and the horrors others experienced. In Dresden, “One thing was clear: Absolutely everybody in the city was supposed to be dead, regardless of what they were, and anybody that moved in it represented a flaw in the design.” (180). In Dachau, Hitler sought to do the same to the Jews and other targeted populations as the Allies did to Dresden. Slaughterhouse Five and Schindler’s List both relate horrors of WWII from both viewpoints and caused by both sides.

Visual Representation

This picture represents two major themes of Slaughterhouse Five, the firebombing of Dresden and the phrase “so it goes”. Both themes deal with death, as does most of the book. The Tralfamadorian saying “so it goes” goes with the Tralfamadorian philosophy that when someone is dead they are only dead in that moment, and because they can see in time, that person is quite fine many other moments. So there is no point to fixate on one moment when they are dead but instead focus on the happy moments when they are alive. This pacifism toward death is an alien concept for mankind, where we ritualize death and mourn the lost. Different cultures deal with death differently, Hispanic cultures are much more open about death than Western cultures, Hispanic cultures have The Day of the Dead, celebrating the life’s of those who have passes and rejoicing in them instead of mourning.

Questions

What is Vonnegut’s message?
How can you relate to Billy’s experiences?
What is free will?
Is free will a purely human endeavour?
What do you think about how we (people/cultures/humans) deal with death?

Reflection

I would recommend this book and but I would especially recommend that readers read the book all in one day. Because of the non-linear nature of the book, it is like a Tralfamadorian book, in that it does not make sense until you have read all the parts of the book. I though that use of time as a plot device was very interesting and engaging, but could be very confusing if not read all at once. It is strange to be looking for a quote and have no clue where in the book it is because the plot jumps around from time to time. I also liked that Vonnegut included himself in his book as a character interacting in brief intervals with Billy. The first chapter was particularly interesting, where Vonnegut does a very Shakespearean thing in that he says how the book will begin and end, but knows the reader will still be compelled to follow it through to the end. More than anything I liked the style this book was written in than what it was written about, the disconnectedness and disorientation that happens in war is evident in this book and drives the structure of it. This book is a fast, engaging, yet still deep read, and I thoroughly recommend this book.