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| Kurt Vonnegut, satirical genius |
I was extremely disappointed that Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five, one of my favorite books, is not even mentioned in our humanities text throughout the WWII section! Slaughterhouse Five is a satirical anti-war novel whose protagonist, Billy Pilgrim, is drafted in WWII, taken as a POW and placed in a slaughterhouse “safe house” in Dresden, and barely survives the horrendous fire bombings in Dresden. Not to mention, Billy is an awful and clumsy soldier, which makes the story even more satirical because he is not even in the slightest a war hero. Throughout the novel, Billy experiences time warps and is able to observe his whole life unfold before him, even his death. At one point, Billy is abducted by aliens and taken to a planet called Tralfamadore. From the Tralfamadorians, Billy learns that free will is impossible because destiny is already preset and cannot be changed. This theme of free will is mentioned throughout the novel.
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| Fire Bombings in Dresden |
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| Bodies after firebombings by US and British Air Force |
I believe Vonnegut’s main theme of the novel is the destructiveness of war. As the humanities book explains, artists and writers during this time period often wrote about the pointless atrocities of war, and Vonnegut does just the same but in a humorous, clever way. He uses science fiction and flashbacks/forwards throughout Slaughterhouse Five, which keeps the reader entranced, while simultaneously including examples of the worthless violence seen during WWII. One of my favorite examples of this in the story is portrayed after the fire bombings in Dresden occur and a bird is heard chirping “Poo-tee-weet?”. The bird song even has a question mark after it as if to ask why? Why did the firebombing have to occur? What benefit did they have? None. The singing bird reminds us that the brutality of war is futile and useless just like the song, “Poo-tee-weet?”. So, why do we still partake in wars? You think after learning about the hundreds of years of detrimental wars in the past, we would all learn that war is juvenile. Why can’t we live in a world where all nations work together for the betterment of everyone? Will that world ever exist? Hey, I guess if it weren’t for WWII then Vonnegut wouldn’t have made bank.
A quote from slaughterhouse five that stresses the point of the futility of war:
"It is so short and jumbled and jangled, Sam, because there is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre. Everybody is supposed to be dead, to never say anything or want anything ever again. Everything is supposed to be very quiet after a massacre, and it always is, except for the birds. And what do the birds say? All there is to say about a massacre, things like “Poo-tee-weet?”"
I agree with you that war is an atrocity and that in a perfect world there would be no wars. However, the world isn't perfect and so I think there will always be wars. Also, even though I hate to admit it, some positive things can come to be as a result of war like advances in technology. Of course, there is some controversy over whether these advances (for example nuclear bombs) are really a good thing or not. Regardless, war is a very serious thing and I think that countries in general rush into it too quickly.
ReplyDeleteGosh, I love Vonnegut.... He revisits so many of these themes and delves into more in his other novels... May I suggest "God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater" and "The Sirens of Titan" as two you should look in to? I definitely agree with your views on the novel. Vonnegut was obsessed with the futility of war and pushed that message to his end. (One of his most recent collections of short works, "Armageddon In Retrospect," focuses ENTIRELY on these ideas). I guess we're lucky that Kurt himself was one of those stuck in Dresden during the firebombing. His message about war is certainly one of the most interesting, entertaining, and accessible of all that I have read. And, if you delve into it, it's one of the most cutting. Great post!!!
ReplyDeleteI too am very disappointed in the fact that Kurt Vonnegut was not even mentioned in the textbook. I remember reading Slaughterhouse Five in high school and coming away totally baffled, yet having a better understanding of the all-encompassing destructiveness of war. Not only does it damage societies, but as this novel shows, it is damaging to a person's mental well-being. Vonnegut managed to portray this dark subject in a humourous way, and that's what made this a very entertaining read for me. A writer like this should at least be mentioned when talking about Literature during the World Wars.
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