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

its repeated use and the constant reiteration of the meaning of the phrase.
“So it goes” is first introduced early on in the book in the first chapter when Vonnegut is talking about his experience writing the book and when he visited his buddy from the war, O’Hare.

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

whole.]
This way of thinking is very important in emphasizing the overall meaning and theme of the novel. The reasoning and meaning for this phrase in Slaughterhouse-Five is explained when Billy asks the Tralfamadorians what they think about war and other horrors that people on earth take part in. Their response is that everything that has happen, does happen, and will happen is already predestined so there is no point in thinking about the bad moments and worrying about the bad things that will happen, but instead say “so it goes” about the bad, move on, and focus only on the good things in life because there is no way to prevent or change the bad. This meaning for so it goes helps to tie the entire book together and helps emphasize the anti-war theme of the book. “So it goes” is a way of coping and reasoning for Billy because of his experience in the war, he does not want to have to think of why the war happened or if there was a way to prevent all the things he witnessed, including the bombing of dresden, so instead he just convinces himself that everything is predestined so there is no point in thinking about it. This is also shown through his reaction to people who have died, he says he “shrugs his shoulders” and says “so it goes” (58) and moves on with his life because that is how he copes with it by believing that it was predestined and not thinking about it. This repetition not only helps tie the book together by adding onto the meaning of “so it goes” every time it is used but also by helping to emphasize the anti-war themes in the novel.
“So it goes” is such an important phrase in the novel that most of the stories told in the novel relate to this way of thinking. One example of this is the movie that plays backwards because it is like a physical representation of this phrase. As the movie goes back everything happens just as it happened the first time except it goes backwards, all the way to Adam and Eve, showing that even if someone were to wonder what would happen if they could go back and change something that it would still end the same way because everything in the past, present, and future are predestined to happen. Just like “so it goes” the movie also shows how war should be prevented because war horribly effects and destroys people and places and this senseless destruction should be avoided at all costs.