... Billy's life. Vonnegut uses extensive irony, imagery, personification, and a little singing bird throughout the book to connect these seemingly unrelated events. There is a fictitious element to this book - the idea of time travel. Billy jumps through time, experiencing various events of his life completely out of order. While he is on the alien planet of Tralfamadore, he is taught that all time happens simultaneously, and therefore ... four main settings. Germany during world war two; Ilium, New York, before and after the war; an alien planet called Tralfamadore; and Vonnegut's actual ...

• Word Count: 1466
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... 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 as a pillar of society. During World War II, he is considered an ill-prepared loner that is a burden to the people around him. While on ... on planet Trafalmadore, Billy is considered a "splendid specimen" of a human being, perfect in every way. Ironically, Billy never feels as accepted in the communities he participates in on earth as he does in t...

• Word Count: 728
• Approx Pages: 3

... of his captors about time, and he says that the Trafalmadorians sound like they do not believe in free will. The alien replies that in all of the inhabited planets of the galaxy, Earth is the only one whose people believe in the concept of free will. MY COMMENTS This chapter introduces two characters who will add to the story at a later date. One is a strong, fatherly figure ... . The other is a weasely, scrawny car thief. Like I said earlier, this ... about how angry they are at the way the Americans have treated the horses. The horses' hooves are shattered, their mouths are bleeding f...

• Word Count: 7795
• Approx Pages: 31
• Grade Level: High School

... , humanity, regeneration, motion, and death. In the first place, the author's views on death are expressed in almost every page of the book, since the bombing of Dresden had a profound impact on the life and writing of him. 135,000 people died in the ruins of Dresden, which means that it was the greatest man-caused massacre of all times. In the book, Vonnegut deals with death as it is ... on his wedding day. He has walked through a door in 1955 and come out another one in 1941-), experience his life's events out of order and repeatedly. He learns on the alien world of Trafalmadore that a...

• Word Count: 1047
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... 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 York, before and after the war; and an alien planet called Tralfamadore. Ilium, New York is the fictional town in New York where Billy Pilgrim is born in 1922 and where he ... lives most of his life. In Chapter 1, Vonnegut tells us that after the war he and his wife lived in Schenectady, New York, which Billy ... here in Billy's hometown Ilium that he lives what seems a normal li...

• Word Count: 521
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School