The Themes of Slaughterhouse-Five

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The Themes of Slaughterhouse-Five

The moral of "Slaughterhouse-Five" is whatever you want it to be. That is the beauty of the book. However, in his typically dark, sarcastic way, Kurt Vonnegut gives us several possible themes to explore. One of the themes relates to the way in which Mr. Vonnegut presents the human life span. Through his writing, Mr. Vonnegut poses an ancient question: Are we masters of our destiny, or are we simply pawns of fate? The medium through which Mr. Vonnegut presents this riddle is death. Death is the central point to which all action in the book connects. The story is primarily about the death of 135,000 German civilians in the bombing of Dresden. The story is also about Billy Pilgrim, a man who experiences death from every viewpoint, a man who survives many life-altering experiences, and does not change at all. Through death, Mr. Vonnegut examines free will, and refutes it. He shows death as meaningless. The casual treatment of death demonstrates the futility of free will in human life.

The first mention of death occurs in the third sentence of the book. This same event is mentioned repeatedly throughout the book. Technically, the event occurs several times. Edgar Derby, a man that the main character, Billy Pilgrim, and Mr. Vonnegut both know, is caught taking a teapot out of the rubble of Dresden. The three men's captives, the Nazi Germany Army, execute Mr. Derby. This happens after the bombing of Dresden. 135,000 German civilians, who had no real involvement with the war, were massacred all at once. Then one man is executed for taking a teapot. This kind of irony is the principal tool of Mr. Vonnegut.

The phrase "So it goes," is perhaps the most famous aspect of "Slaughterhouse-Five." Each time a death occurs, "So it goes" is repeated. The phrased is used indiscriminately, without regards to the importance of or the number involved in the death. When Mr. Vonnegut mentions that Billy's father was killed in a hunting accident, it warrants no more attention than a random Pole that Billy saw hanged while he was in Dresden. The death of the 135,000 Dresden citizens calls for no more consideration than the death of a single hobo with whom Billy shares a train car as they and other prisoners of war ride to a prison camp.

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