Dramatic Irony In Slaughterhouse Five

In the novel Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut we meet the main character, Billy,

and follow him in his adventures for the majority of the story, but as the novel goes on there are

many other interesting characters that don’t get the spotlight as much. Four examples of such

characters are Montana Wildhack, Paul Lazzaro, Edgar Derby, and Eliot Rosewater. Each plays

a significant role in the novel, but is only thought of in the moment of comprehension. Looking

back at these characters reveals how much they contribute to the overall plot.

Montana Wildhack is a porn star abducted by the Tralmadorians shortly after Billy to be

his companion. Over their time together they fall in love and have a child before Billy is sent

back to earth to relive his past or

He has a cynical view on life and tends to experiment with things such as calling

people “dear” and: “experimenting with being ardently sympathetic with everybody he met”

(130). This proves that despite his cynical and alcoholic exterior he is trying to better himself and

his universe.

Edgar Derby was also an inherently nice person. Derby’s death is also one of the better

examples of dramatic irony in the novel. Edgar Derby is introduced when Billy is in the prison

camp hospital after being on the train. He is an idealistic high school teacher, slightly older than

the average American soldier and ends up being elected head of the American prisoners. He

dreams of letters to write to his wife and generally cares about the people around him. His death

in the novel is a good example of dramatic irony because he survives the bombing of the city of

Dresden only to be executed for a trite crime: “One guy I knew really was shot in Dresden for

taking a teapot that wasn’t his” (1). His death is mentioned on the first page of the novel as proof

that the majority of it