How Does Billy Pilgrim Use Satire In Slaughterhouse Five

816 Words2 Pages

Slaughterhouse Five explores various time points and phases of Billy Pilgrim’s life to express certain viewpoints to his audience. Vonnegut uses the theme of time travel to criticize the societal belief that free will exists. There are many examples of satire and social criticism in the novel Slaughterhouse Five. The first, and therefore the main topic that Vonnegut satirizes is the absurdity of our society and time travel. Absurdity helps validate foolish and immoral/wicked behavior. Kurt Vonnegut is very known as being one of the most eminent satirical writers. In Slaughterhouse Five, guilt of mortality are displayed through the belief in false truths very much like religion. He points out that many things we believe are seemingly not true. Vonnegut wants his …show more content…

Billy as an adult was being forced to go to war against his will which is another demonstration of free will’s futility and meaninglessness. He was drafted against his will, but even as a soldier, a grown man, he was a mischief because of it. An example of absurdity is the significance of time travel. For the duration of the book Billy Pilgrim is traveling. He declares himself as a wise man who knows what is always to come in the future, as a result that he and only him knows infact that time is simple just a circle that is in repetition of itself. Because Tralfamadore grasps the big idea and theory of time Billy is faithfully satisfactory with them. Also seeing the fact they can relate to one another on their beliefs. Tralfamadore are aliens toilet plungers as their heads with five sexes. The repetitive scenes of absurdity convey that society seems to always be engrossed in their regular everyday lives that people don’t see what the idea and theory of life really and truly is. “ Billy Pilgrim had stopped in the forest. He was leaning against a tree with his eyes closed. His head was tilted back and his nostrils were flaring. He was like a poet in the Parthenon. This was when Billy first

Open Document