Leitmotif In Slaughterhouse-Five

A leitmotif is a recurring phrase in a novel that recalls past associations to subtly unify the work as a whole. In Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five the phrase “so it goes” is repeatedly used throughout the novel. When the main character, Billy Pilgrim, is taken by aliens called the Tralfamadorians, they tell him that they look at life and instead of focusing on the bad things in life and they say “so it goes,” and move on because everything is already predestined to happen so people should just look at it and say it happened, or “so it goes” and move on. This idea plays an important role in the meaning of the book as a whole. In Slaughterhouse-Five “so it goes” is a leitmotif used to emphasize the important themes in the novel through

This phrase usually comes at the end of the short paragraph-like sections that the novel is broken into and usually follow something traumatic that happened in his life, such as when he talks about what happened in the bombing of Dresden and the people who died. It is also used by Billy and the Tralfamadorians who view this phrase not just as a saying but as a way to live their life. Billy also uses phrases and other works from earth to connect to the Tralfamadorian way of thinking, such as the prayer that is hung where he works. The prayer reads “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom always to tell the difference” (32). For most people this prayer would be a ray of hope and an inspiring prayer to read. However, looking at it in the sense of “so it goes” it is not as hopeful as most people would see it because the Tralfamadorians believe that the past, present, and future cannot be changed because everything is predestined to happen. [Each time this phrase is repeated, it adds to the meaning of not only the phrase, but the work as a