... cab driver about life under communism. It is to this man, Gerhard Muller, as well as to O'Hare's wife Mary, that Vonnegut dedicates Slaughterhouse-Five. Muller later sends O'Hare a Christmas card with wishes for world peace. Vonnegut relates his unsuccessful attempts to write about Dresden in the twenty- ... Crusade and the earlier bombing of Dresden in 1760. While teaching at the Iowa Writer's Workshop, Vonnegut lands a three-book contract, of which Slaughterhouse-Five is the first. It is so short and jumbled, he explains, because there is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre. O...

• Word Count: 5323
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• Grade Level: High School

Many writers in history have written science fiction novels and had great success with them, but only a few have been as enduring over time as Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five. Slaughterhouse-Five is a personal novel which draws upon Vonnegut's experience's as a scout in World War Two, his capture and becoming a prisoner of war, and his witnessing of the fire bombing of Dresden ... death ,birth, and all the events in between are nothing more than peaks in a range of mountains, irremovable and able to be visited numerous times. The point of view that Slaughterhouse-Five is written from als...

• Word Count: 1028
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• Grade Level: High School

"Slaughterhouse Five" Kurt Vonnegut Jr. is a novel involving the character Billy Pilgrim. Billy is a WWII veteran, German prisoner of war, and survivor of the bombing of ... become stuck in time, driving him to the edge of sanity. This causes him to time-travel throughout the events in his own life. In fact, "Slaughterhouse Five" was not published until 23 years after the end of the war; 23 years of desolation and internal angst for Vonnegut. Why in fact did it take ... novel, "So it goes," summarizing his emotions. Throughout the novel, the parallels between Vonneguts personal life and Billy...

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... Hare's kids. The men could not think of any particularly good memories or stories, and the narrator noticed that Mary, Bernard's wife (to whom Slaughterhouse Five is dedicated), seemed very angry about something. Finally, she confronted him: the narrator and Bernard were just babies when they fought. Mary was angry ... begin. MY COMMENTS: I've read several Kurt Vonnegut books in the past, including this one. It has been a couple of years since I first read Slaughterhouse Five, and I'm glad I got the chance to read it again. Vonnegut, in my opinion, is one of the greatest humanist writers ...

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... matter what. We are going to face hard times in life, but we have to accept that and move forward without looking back and regretting the past. Slaughterhouse Five gives us three views of moving forward: the Tralfamadorian's, Kurt Vonnegut's and poor Billy's view who is stuck in the middle. As we are comparing these ... in his life, but since Billy is human, this concept, to him, brings challenge. First, let us take a look at Kurt Vonnegut, the author of Slaughterhouse Five. As part of being human, we have temptations and emotions. We feel sympathy for those around us and feel the need t...

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Slaughterhouse Five is the story of a small, timid man named Billy Pilgrim. Billy attended optometry school before being drafted into the United States army during ... . 135,000 people - German (civilian and military), Americans, and other allied prisoners of war - were killed. So it goes. The different forms of imagery in Slaughterhouse Five are one of Vonnegut's primary tools for bringing this nonlinear story together. For example, when the pitifully dressed American prisoners of war are being marched through Germany, there ... via train, Vonnegut describes the entire train as if it were ...

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... order to "escape from the concept of linear time, just as their novels are an escape from linear narration- (McGinnis 3). The Tralfamadorian books are written in just the style that Slaughterhouse-five uses. Each clump of symbols is a brief, urgent message- describing a situation, a scene. We Tralfamadorians read them all at once, not one after the other. There isn't any particular relationship ... and deep. There is no beginning, no middle, no end, no suspense, no moral, no causes, no effects (Vonnegut 88). Vonnegut wrote his book in basically the same manner. Slaughterhouse-Five is a...

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Is the Future Known? (Revision) The book Slaughterhouse-Five is an effort by the author Kurt Vonnegut to try to deglamorize war. He tried to tell people that World War II was not a battle of heroic ... time it does not change. It does not lend its self to warning or explanation. It simply is. Take it moment by moment." (86) Vonnegut wrote the book Slaughterhouse-Five as if it was written for a Trafamadorian. The importance is not put on the middle or the end but in "The depths of many marvelous moments seen all at ... Vonnegut writes this book to impress upon the reader that while it is silly...

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Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut I.Character List Billy Pilgrim - The main character of the novel. A weak soldier in World War II, Billy learns how to time travel, ... from her point of view. She inspires Billy to name his book The Children's Crusade. Gernard Muller - The friendly cab driver who brought Bernard and Billy to the slaughterhouse in which they were held prisoner in. Paul Lazzaro - An American Soldier, also a prisoner, who befriends Roland Weary. He promises Roland that he will avenge his death ... at Billy's eighteenth anniversary party, and on the plane that crashes, where ...

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... a new world called Tralfamadore where all is better. He believes he can time travel and sees how events will be played out and how he will die. In the novel Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut portrays how events shape a person's mindset by exploring the past, imaginary, and current world of the life of Billy Pilgrim. The past life of Billy Pilgrim set up ... and never gets to see his old life again. Billy loses his judgment to see what is real and what is not and slips further into insanity. In the novel Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut portrays how events shape a person's mindset by ...

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... story are true, more or less, and that Vonnegut experienced the Dresden bombings firsthand. The jumbled narrative structure is Vonnegut's way of telling his story of Dresden. The setting of Slaughterhouse-Five is wide-ranged, each place having a significant effect on Vonnegut's story through the life of Billy Pilgrim. The three most important places are Germany during world war two; Ilium, New ... ...

• Word Count: 521
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... are many dynamic communities in the book Slaughterhouse Five. The main character, Billy Pilgrim, is a member of several of these communities and plays a drastically different role in each one. In his hometown of Ilium, New York, Billy is seen ... ...

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... Vonnegut's prophetic vision of time and travel reveals his philosophical view toward free will. Throughout Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut argues that the loss of free will is affected by a parallel of controllable and uncontrollable events that occur in the life of the protagonist, Billy Pilgrim. Vonnegut argues ... ...

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Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut appears to be a simplistic story of a man's experiences in World War II. To many people a may be just that. When the plot is looked at closer and ... because of the fact that war is so useless. But war just kind of happens or "so it goes". The idea of that leaves you feeling a little hopeless. The book Slaughterhouse Five is certainly excellently written work. This book is honest and it paints no glorious or great picture of war nor does it make war seem at all necessary. It gives ... ...

• Word Count: 679
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Kurt Vonnegut tells the story of Billy Pilgrim in Slaughterhouse-Five; His uncontrollable time traveling takes Billy back to his experiences in World War II and on the planet which is called Traflamadore. Throughout this novel Vonnegut blatantly disobeys the conventional ... New York City and is on a talk show with literary critics. Here he tells them about Tralfamadore and everything that has happened to him. Tralfamadorian novels have a similar description to Slaughterhouse-5 itself. Both have stories that do not seem to relate to each other while reading it. When they are put together the...

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In Kurt Vonnegut's novel Slaughterhouse Five he presents the Tralfamadorians as an influence on Billy for the belief of the idea that fate and free will doesn't exist but the existence of the Tralfamadorians is questionable, ... and how life started. Thus Kurt Vonnegut displays fate and no free will to be just as imaginary as Tralfamadorians. Humor in Humans and World War II In the novel Slaughterhouse 5, Kurt Vonnegut uses black humor to reveal the darker side of humans and World War II. One of the most used phrase in the book is "So it goes." The ... ...

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Reading Reaction to Slaughterhouse-Five By Kurt Vonnegut Slaughterhouse-Five sounded like a little above average book in the beginning. I was actually quite pleased that we were required to read it, because I would have probably of not made the right choice ... ...

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Throughout Slaughterhouse-Five, both the narrator and Billy Pilgrim treat death as a tragic, yet inevitable, aspect of human life. The narrator imparts many deaths to the reader, but only in an indifferent tone. ... ...

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The novel, Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, follows the life of Billy Pilgrim. February 13, 1945 was when the German city of Dresden was bombed, but Billy survived the awful experience. He instinctively feels ... ...

• Word Count: 576
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The firebombing on Dresden was one of the worst attacks during World War II. Billy Pilgrim, the main character in Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut, experiences this firebombing first hand. Billy was my favorite character in the story because everything abnormal happened to him yet he seemed so innocent. Billy was truly ... ...

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... from his novels and short stories. Welcome to the Monkey House, a collection of short stories, was made into a seven episode series aired on Showtime in 1991 and 1992. Slaughter House Five, Vonnegut's most well known and read novel, was adapted into a film starring Michael Sacks. It was released in 1972 by Universal Pictures. There are over a dozen more adaptations, some were ... his books and his life were even more interesting. A biography on just Kurt Vonnegut's life, and not his novels, is a book in itself. In his novels, Slapstick and Slaughter House Five, both protagonists either ...

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• Grade Level: High School

Kurt Vonnegut, religion and social laws. When reading Slaughterhouse-Five it is extremely noticeable that Kurt Vonnegut attempts to open your mind beyond the limits that society established once as untouchables. As a beginning, for Vonnegut "most human behavior, no matter ... also religion is ridiculous and tries to control your life in the name of God whose existence is doubtful. The sarcasm and careless for things that Billy Pilgrim shows in Slaughterhouse-Five reflects Vonnegut's careless for everything since human is innocent. What could be important in a world controlled by naive humans...

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Many great authors have depicted the glory, chivalry, horror, and morbidity of warfare. The novels Slaughterhouse Five and Beau Geste depict very different ideals of war and the undeniable consequences of military service. The foremost and most obvious difference is the way in which the two authors ... was constantly dragging himself through snow and icy wind. In many great wartime stories, the hardened veterans recall their comrades who stuck by them through thick and thin. However, in Slaughterhouse Five, Pilgrim is often alone and forced to carry the cumbersome thoughts and emotions of w...

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What are Tralfamadorians? The Tralfamadorians are the so-called "aliens" who kidnapped Mr. Billy Pilgrim. These creatures had a great impact on Pilgrim's life, changing his views of the world and how time is perceived. They have demonstrated their 4D sight by this picturesque: A guy walking with a tunnel in front of him. He can not see anything besides what is there; nothing more, nothing less. Through the Tralfamadorians, He sees another world, another life. He acknowledges the system in which they work. Through his writing style, Kurt Vonnegut continues to skip between past and future. This...

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If you have ever read the novel Slaughterhouse Five, you might be left asking yourself, who really is Pilgrim? Although he is the main character from the novel, there are comparisons in the novel that describe him as being ... ...

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• Grade Level: High School