Research Paper
Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five is one of the most frequently banned books in the United States, and the reasons for its banning are quite apparent. The novel's offenses include explicit sexual scenes and language, frequent profanity, and rather gruesome depictions of violence and disease; however, the book is more often banned for condemning war, question the actions of the American government and military, and being generally "unpatriotic" (Schmidt 417). The novel commits these "crimes" in an obscene manner, not to offend the reader, or even the government, but to shock readers into awareness of their country's actions, and to encourage said readers to think independently. Because the novel encourages independent thinking,
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Requests to ban the book have been made at least eighteen times, with such a request even going to the Supreme Court on one occasion (Morais). The book is often banned by judges who are ignorant of the book's content. One school board declared that the novel should be removed from the school and burned, when not a single one of the judges had actually read it. In this case, the decision to ban the book was made due to a single complaint from a student who found the book’s “unnecessary language” offensive. In this particular case, none of the four judges had actually read the book. This uninformed decision demonstrates quite clearly the ignorance of those who made it; however, the decision in question is merely one out of eighteen …show more content…
As the director of the Vonnegut library stated in response to the book’s banning, “it is shocking and unfortunate that those young adults and citizens would not be considered mature enough to handle the important topics raised by Kurt Vonnegut” (AUSCS). According to the same director, one of the reasons for which Vonnegut wrote the novel was to "impress upon readers that we keep making the same mistake and it doesn’t have to be that way" (Morais). The mistake Vonnegut was specifically referring to when he wrote Slaughterhouse-Five was most likely war and violence in general; however the moral could easily be applied to the banning of Slaughterhouse-Five. Because the book provides insight into an atrocious act committed by the United States, something that is often sidestepped by classes in school, arguments could be made that banning the novel masks the truth from the curious eyes of readers. By preventing this information from coming to light, those who ban the book essentially making children less intelligent by blinding them to
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut is an anti-war novel. The reason it is an anti-war novel is because it was stated many times throughout the book. Also, Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. is an anti-war novel because the way Billy Pilgrim has to cope with psychotic
This controversial book has been challenged in countless states for many years. In 1997 the Elgin, Illinois school district banned the book from middle school libraries. Catherine explained that the book was banned because “talk of masturbation, birth control, and disobedience to parents occurred”
Kurt Vonnegut is an outstanding author who addresses problems he has with others in very concentrated ways. The disrespect of his book Slaughterhouse-Five at Drake High School by principal Charles McCarthy caused Vonnegut to assert his opinion on the situation. The school did not like the unappealing style of Vonnegut's writing resulting in the destruction of all his books by fire. Vonnegut uses rhetorical strategies such as anaphora, didactic, and invective language portraying his message to never judge a book by it's cover, all writers have the right to express their opinion.
Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five as an Antiwar Novel. War can affect and inspire people to many degrees. Kurt Vonnegut was inspired by war to write Slaughterhouse Five. which is a unique book referred to sometimes as a science fiction or semi-autobiographical novel.
...ves to be on the banned books list because of its level of violence. One that wants this book off the banned books list could say that violence is everywhere, why should one book be banned for showing something that is everywhere in todays society. I think this book shows a good concept of war. It could open ones mind to the idea of war and how one is forced to fight for themself and even their country. In the book they fight for themself and their district but relating it to the readers life he or she can think of it as fighting for themselves and their country. Which I believe is a good concept for young teenagers to be exposed to. I think this book should be off the banned books list because there are many reasons The Hunger Games can be considered a “good” book, it portrays many good themes throughout the novel and it can be translated into modern day war.
Books are banned for many reasons but more times than not it is because of the sensitive information found within the novel that agitates the reader. As long as people have been able to develop their own opinions, others have sought to prevent them from sharing. At some point in time, every idea has ultimately become objectionable to someone. The most frequently challenged and most visible targets of such objection are the very books found in classrooms and public libraries. These controversial novels teach lessons that sometimes can be very sensitive to some but there is much more to challenged books than a controversial topic. What lies within these pages is a wealth of knowledge, such as new perspectives for readers, twisting plots, and expressions that are found nowhere else. For example, To Kill A Mockingbird, contains references to rape, racial content, and profanity that have caused many to challenge the novel in the first place. The book was banned from countless
Slaughterhouse Five is not a book that should be glanced over and discarded away like a dirty rag. Slaughterhouse Five is a book that should be carefully analyzed and be seen as an inspiration to further improve the well-being of mankind. Vonnegut makes it clear that an easy way to improve mankind is to see war not as a place where legends are born, but rather, an event to be avoided. Intelligent readers and critics alike should recognize Vonnegut’s work and see to it that they make an effort to understand the complexities behind the human condition that lead us to war.
'The novel has long ignited disapproval, and it was the most frequently banned book in schools between 1966 and 1975. Even before that time,
Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five features numerous characters, some of which are major, and others minor. Primarily, the major characters, in no particular order, starts off with Billy Pilgrim, arguably the main character and hero of the book itself. Billy Pilgrim is almost like a funny looking, ragdoll or tool-like character during the course of the book. He becomes unstuck in time, and uncontrollably is able to travel throughout time from his early years of life to his days as a prisoner of the Germans during World War II, his abduction by the Tralfamadorians, all
For a novel to be considered a Great American Novel, it must contain a theme that is uniquely American, a hero that is the essence of a great American, or relevance to the American people. Others argue, however, that the Great American Novel may never exist. They say that America and her image are constantly changing and therefore, there will never be a novel that can represent the country in its entirety. In his novel, Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut writes about war and its destructiveness. Vonnegut tells the story of Billy Pilgrim, an unlikely hero, mentally scarred by World War Two. Kurt Vonnegut explains how war is so devastating it can ruin a person forever. These are topics that are reoccurring in American history and have a relevance to the American people thus making Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five a Great American Novel.
Kurt Vonnegut was one of the best known science fiction writers in America. Some of his great works are “Slaughterhouse-Five”, “Welcome to Monkey House”, “A Man Without A Country” and “Harrison Bergeron”. Indeed, all four are related by author and genre, but they are also related by topic: government. Although they are science fiction stories, readers are still able to recognize how Kurt Vonnegut feels about America and his political views. In “Slaughterhouse-Five” Vonnegut became “a hero of the anti-Vietnam War Movement” (MLM 1387). “Welcome to Monkey House”, “solidified his [Kurt Vonnegut’s] iconic status in America’s counterculture as a comic genius with an urgent moral vision” (MLM 1387). In “A Man Without A Country” Vonnegut “focuses his
The children are the real losers because they are the ones that are not able to read the classic works of literature, which are the backbone of classroom discussions all across the United States. The American Association of School Administrators (AASA) defines censorship as: “The removal, suppression, or restricted circulation of literary, artistic, or educational materials. of images, ideas, and information.on the grounds that these are morally or otherwise objectionable in light of standards applied by the censor” (Miner 1998). In schools there are three types of censorship, one type is a “parent” who doesn’t want their child to read a particular book. Another is a parent, teacher, administrator, or school board member who argues that no one in the class, or school, should read the book in dispute.
In conclusion, Slaughterhouse-Five is an anti-war novel because Vonnegut, the character, says it is in the first chapter, the terrible damage it left on Billy, and how it exposes war's horrifying practices. Knowing these elements, one might wonder why people still have wars. Although these anti-war novels cannot completely stop wars, they are important. The role that such novels play is one of raising awareness of war's actions and wrongdoings. Since the role of the novels is important, authors should continue to write them to keep people informed and educated about a problem of such a huge magnitude.
"In Slaughterhouse Five, -- Or the Children's Crusade, Vonnegut delivers a complete treatise on the World War II bombing of Dresden. The main character, Billy Pilgrim, is a very young infantry scout* who is captured in the Battle of the Bulge and quartered in a Dresden slaughterhouse where he and other prisoners are employed in the production of a vitamin supplement for pregnant women. During the February 13, 1945, firebombing by Allied aircraft, the prisoners take shelter in an underground meat locker. When they emerge, the city has been levelled and they are forced to dig corpses out of the rubble. The story of Billy Pilgrim is the story of Kurt Vonnegut who was captured and survived the firestorm in which 135,000 German civilians perished, more than the number of deaths in the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined. Robert Scholes sums up the theme of Slaughterhouse Five in the New York Times Book Review, writing: 'Be kind. Don't hurt. Death is coming for all of us anyway, and it is better to be Lot's wife looking back through salty eyes than the Deity that destroyed those cities of the plain in order to save them.' The reviewer concludes that 'Slaughterhouse Five is an extraordinary success. It is a book we need to read, and to reread.' "The popularity of Slaughterhouse Five is due, in part, to its timeliness; it deals with many issues that were vital to the late sixties: war, ecology, overpopulation, and consumerism. Klinkowitz, writing in Literary Subversions.New American Fiction and the Practice of Criticism, sees larger reasons for the book's success: 'Kurt Vonnegut's fiction of the 1960s is the popular artifact which may be the fairest example of American cultural change. . . . Shunned as distastefully low-brow . . . and insufficiently commercial to suit the exploitative tastes of high-power publishers, Vonnegut's fiction limped along for years on the genuinely democratic basis of family magazine and pulp paperback circulation. Then in the late 1960s, as the culture as a whole exploded, Vonnegut was able to write and publish a novel, Slaughterhouse Five, which so perfectly caught America's transformative mood that its story and structure became best-selling metaphors for the new age. '"Writing in Critique, Wayne D. McGinnis comments that in Slaughterhouse Five, Vonnegut 'avoids framing his story in linear narration, choosing a circular structure.
War veterans wrote Slaughterhouse-Five and The Things They Carried. Some parts of the book are made for readers to believe and the other parts give realistic examples of war. The authors introduce their plots as truth-based on purpose. In the chapter “Notes”, O’Brien admits: “that part of the story is my own.” (O’Brien 151). In the first chapter of Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut begins with: “All this happened, more or less.” (Vonnegut 1). The authors create a picture for the reader on their past experiences to make their stories real. Even the parts that are fiction are not lies, because the writers have the knowledge to be able to generalize, shorten, and produce events in the book. O’Brien writes: “story-truth is truer sometimes than happening-truth.” (O’Brien 172). It seemed as if Vonnegut and O’Brien used fiction to make the story more exciting. They write abo...