Compare And Contrast Slaughterhouse Five By Kurt Vonnegut

Many plays or novels use two contrasting locations that contrast one another to represent the overall meaning of the work. On example of this would be the novel Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut. This novel is an antiwar novel that uses the ideas of calm, serene life to contrast with the chaotic, violent life of World War II to show the destructiveness of war. Billy Pilgrim is a private who has visions that shift from the destruction of war to the structure of peace in society.as Billy witnesses the firebombing of Dresden in Dresden Germany to his peaceful life as an optometrist in Ilium, New York. Other arguments formed by the novel Slaughterhouse-five are “is life free-will or fate” and “what and how does confinement affect ones life.”

Death is a large factor in this novel as Billy Pilgrim experiences death through the entire novel, mostly from his war days.

“The Germans carried the corpse out…. Pilgrim could not sleep on his daughter’s wedding night” (69-72). The connotation death that occurs on page 69 completely opposes the connotation of Pilgrims daughter getting married on page 72. Pilgrims daughter getting married has a positive connotation of building and happiness. The marriages’ connotation derives from the building of a family and start of a new life for two people. The death of the man that pilgrim had met has a negative connotation of destruction and mourning. The destruction of the life is the negative connotation of the death. The positive connotation of the marriage helps allow the destruction and death to show through and be more

present.
The violence that is shown throughout the novel is astonishing. Not just through fighting, but through actions as well. "He tore open.... 'Where have all the years gone?'" (54-57). from pages 54 to 57, the violence of the Germans towards the Americans compared with the passiveness of the patient of Dr. Pilgrim shows how war can destroy the personalities of men. Before the war, Pilgrim was such a good, nice person, but during the war, pilgrim becomes very numb to his surroundings. The cruelty of the Germans messed with Pilgrims mind. As the Germans force the Americans to surrender, they were very cruel by forcing buttons off of Weary’s overcoat and forcing weary to hand over his personal possessions. When the scene changes, the patient that Pilgrim is with is very quiet and understand. Pilgrim had fallen asleep and the patient was very calm in asking Pilgrim what was going on, which shows the difference between the personalities of those who partake in war and those that do not. The Dresden fire-bombing is another example of violence. The firebomb destroyed everyone that lived in Dresden except for very few. The effect was substantial. It killed thousands and destroyed thousands of families and homes.
War causes people to have slanted views on the different customs for different countries.

"They had nine languages between them. They tried Polish on Billy Pilgrim first, since he was dressed so clownishly, since the wretched Poles were involuntary clowns of the Second World War"(196-197). This discrimination in the previous quote shows that views become very opinionated and derogatory against the customs of others. The hatred between each culture that is forced to exist in a state of war is what drives the state of racism that occurs. The Poles were seen as the ones who were helpless and poor, so when someone was seen wearing rags or mismatching clothes, they were assumed to be polish as is exemplified when Pilgrim is asked about the horses on pages 196-197. Germans were seen as a country full of tyrannical human beings that only cared for themselves because of how they treated other nations and cultures such as the Poles. Back to the quote in the second paragraph on page 56, the patient that Pilgrim is helping does not have any aggression or racism towards pilgrim in the exam room as he fell asleep because she was not exposed to the negative effects of war. She shows no hatred toward anyone as it was shown on page

197.
The American novel Slaughterhouse-five is an aging anti-war novel that continues to prove its point. The novel uses opposing locations to show the destructiveness of war and the true effects of what war can do. The Novel shifts from the location of Billy being captured by German forces while being a private in World War II to him helping a patient as an optometrist. The novel also pins the idea of fate and free-will against one another with the tralfamadorians 4th dimension of time. The novel uses time as a 4th dimension to show that you can see and jump from every moment of time through one’s lifetime, but it is impossible to change it. The novel also argues the topic of confinement versus freedom. The novel uses prisoners of war and war itself to produce the argument. The prisoners represent the confinement through ones lifespan just being stuck in norms. The American Novel Slaughterhouse-five is a novel that should be read by most if not everyone. It poses many different arguments on life. Whether life is free-will or fate. the true destructiveness of war on society and on individuals. And what is truly confinement throughout a person’s life and how does that confinement affect that person’s life.