Though Slaughterhouse- Five is written to be an anti-war novel, there are many other themes that are present throughout the text. In the novel, women do not have a prominent role, but when they are included, their presence is significant. Slaughterhouse-Five was written in 1969, which was during the second wave of women’s rights movement in the United States. Vonnegut writes women into the stereotypical gender roles during this time. Even though Slaughterhouse- Five was written during the second wave of the women’s movement, Vonnegut portrays women in a negative light by showing a lack of respect for their role in society throughout the novel.
Vonnegut introduces the idea of specific gender roles in the beginning of the novel by writing about
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the occupations of women. When describing Mary O’Hare, the narrator says that she “is a trained nurse, which is a lovely thing for a woman to be” (Vonnegut 12). During this time, there was a lot of discrimination in the workforce against women. There were certain jobs that were thought to be ladylike jobs, such as a teacher or a nurse. Often times, women went to school and were trained for a specific career, which often prohibited them from pursuing a career in another field, such as business or law because those were thought to be masculine jobs. Vonnegut did not just write that Mary O’Hare was a nurse, but he added that it was a “lovely thing for a woman to be.” This is separating women and men, which seems to be a theme throughout the entire novel. This gender separation begins in the first chapter with the description of Mary O’Hare. Though it is not fair the way that women are treated in the workforce, Slaughterhouse-Five “says things about our society, real things” (Viex 25). Along the same line, when the narrator talks about the writers and reporters during the war, he says that the toughest were “women who had taken over the jobs of men who’d gone to war” (Vonnegut 8-9). This was not a typical job for a woman during this time. The only reason that women were writers and reporters was because men had gone off to war and obviously could not continue to work. During the time that Slaughterhouse- Five was written, there were some major differences between men and women in the work force. Women were more likely to be in a career that had a lower salary, like teaching or nursing. Though this was partially because of the traditional discrimination against women. When it came to women being in the work force, there were certain careers that were considered more socially acceptable for women to have. For example, “women became nurses and men became doctors; women became secretaries and men became managers” (Cohen 437). This is what was traditionally done; nurses and secretaries are lower paying jobs than doctors and managers. Because women were in occupations that typically made less money; the difference in wages between women and men were high. The idea of women in the work force is one of the ways that Vonnegut writes about gender roles in Slaughterhouse Five. When describing a woman, Vonnegut normally says what her career is, but that is not what the emphasis is on. When talking about Maggie White, he starts by saying that she “[gave] up being a dental assistant to become a homemaker for an optometrist” (Vonnegut 170). Maggie White had a career, but gave it up to be a housewife. This is a typical gender stereotype for women: women belong in the home. Maggie White had a career, but then Vonnegut wrote about putting her into a domestic position instead of in the workforce. Vonnegut continues on to say that “She was very pretty” (Vonnegut 170). By writing about her appearance directly after he writes about her career, Vonnegut suggests that the value of a woman is in her looks. After commenting on her looks, Vonnegut says that Maggie White was “a dull person, but a sensational invitation to make babies. Men looked at her and wanted to fill her up with babies right away. She hadn’t had one baby yet. She used birth control” (Vonnegut 171). When writing about Maggie White, the stress is not on her personality or her career. The prominence is on her looks and her reproductive abilities. Vonnegut talks about how pretty Maggie White is and then continues on to say that she has a dull personality. Even though she has a dull personality, men still want to sleep with her and have babies with her. This shows that a woman’s personality is not important, only her looks and ability to have children is. Maggie White falls into the typical role of a woman during this time. She gave up her career to be a housewife. Also, there is more emphasis on her looks and ability to have children than her personality or her career. There is a lack of respect that is shown for women in Slaughterhouse-Five.
When Billy was at a party, he got drunk and was unfaithful to Valencia. Billy “somehow persuaded a woman to come into the laundry room” with him (Vonnegut 46). Billy helped this drunk woman take her girdle off. Billy thought that everything was alright, but “he couldn’t remember the name of the woman” (Vonnegut 46). Billy then left the party because people were “expressing disgust for Billy and the woman” (Vonnegut 47). Because he got drunk at a party and cheated on his wife, he obviously has no respect for his wife or for women in general. Vonnegut portrays a lack of regard for women through Billy’s actions, who does not love the woman he married nor does he have respect for the woman that he cheats with. He does not love her; he does not even know her name. They just had a quick hook up in the laundry room of a party. Also, the woman was drunk during this time. If Billy had any respect for his wife or women in general, he would not have done this. How Billy treats the woman at the party shows that Slaughterhouse-Five has material “that has as its basic motivation and purpose the degradation, debasement, and dehumanizing of persons” (Viex 28). The woman at the party is not written about as a person, she is not even given a name. The sole purpose of her character is a drunk woman that Billy cheated on his wife with. Through Billy, Vonnegut shows a lack of respect for …show more content…
women. The women in Slaughterhouse- Five are shown to be materialistic.
At the party when Billy gave Valencia a gift she said, “Oh, my God” and then when no one looked, “she said it louder, so other people heard” (Vonnegut 174). Valencia was going to open a gift from Billy, so she wanted everyone to pay attention to her and see what the present was. Everyone gathered around while she opened it and then “[Valencia] almost screamed when she saw the sapphire with a star in it” (Vonnegut 174). Afterward everyone was talking about the beautiful jewelry that Billy had given Valencia over the years. Maggie White said that “[Valencia] already [had] the biggest diamond that [she’s] ever [seen] outside of a movie” (Vonnegut 174) when describing the ring that Billy brought Valencia back from the war. This shows that Billy has to show Valencia that he loves her through gifts. And when Valencia receives a present from Billy, she wants everyone to know and to see what it is. It is not the size of the ring that should matter, it is the love behind it. The women in Slaughterhouse- Five do not see that. All they talk about is how beautiful the jewelry is. It is the material things that matter to
them. In Slaughterhouse- Five, Lily, one of the characters, portrays how women are treated like property. She was married to Rumfoord who “was seventy, but had the body and spirit of a man half that age” (Vonnegut 183-184). Lily was only twenty-three years old. Vonnegut describes Lily as “pretty little Lily” (Vonnegut 184) and says that she was “an a-go-go girl when Rumfoord saw her and resolved to make her his own” (Vonnegut 184). Lily was not known to be smart, because “she was a high school dropout” and “Her I.Q. was 103” (Vonnegut 184). Rumfoord thought of Lily as his property. When he first saw her, he said that she would “be his.” The way that Lily is described does not really show who she is as a person. She is described as pretty and stupid. Lily tells Billy that “[Rumfoord] scares [her]” (Vonnegut 184). Lily is married to someone that is forty-seven years older than her. He looks at her as a piece of property, not as an equal. The only time that Vonnegut talks about Lily doing anything, he says that she is reading to Rumfoord, but says that she does not do it well because she is not smart. Vonnegut makes Lily seem more like an object and less like a person. Nothing about the description lets the reader see who Lily really is. The only thing the reader knows is about her looks and that she is not smart. This does not show any value on Lily as a person. The only things that are important about Lily are that she is pretty and that she is married to Rumfoord. Vonnegut does not adapt to a more modern way of looking at a woman in Slaughterhouse- Five. Vonnegut writes about the women having jobs that are typical to a woman at this time, if they have a job at all. Other women are described as being a housewife because it was thought that women belonged in the home. Vonnegut does not put emphasis on the career of a woman or her brains. The only time Vonnegut talks about a woman and her knowledge is when he describes how she is stupid. Vonnegut stresses a woman’s looks more than anything else. He shows that it does not matter what the personality of a woman is as long as she is pretty and is able to have kids. It is obvious that personality is not an important aspect of a woman because the women in Slaughterhouse-Five are described as being dull or materialistic. The women are seen as wives in the novel which shows how women are tied to their husbands not that they are individuals. Vonnegut writes about women more like objects than people. Throughout Slaughterhouse-Five there is an obvious lack of respect shown toward women.
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut is an anti-war novel. The reason it is an anti-war novel is because it was stated many times throughout the book. Also, Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. is an anti-war novel because the way Billy Pilgrim has to cope with psychotic
For a novel to be considered a Great American Novel, it must contain a theme that is uniquely American, a hero that is the essence of a great American, or relevance to the American people. Others argue, however, that the Great American Novel may never exist. They say that America and her image are constantly changing and therefore, there will never be a novel that can represent the country in its entirety. In his novel, Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut writes about war and its destructiveness. Vonnegut tells the story of Billy Pilgrim, an unlikely hero, mentally scarred by World War Two. Kurt Vonnegut explains how war is so devastating it can ruin a person forever. These are topics that are reoccurring in American history and have a relevance to the American people thus making Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five a Great American Novel.
Though he was able to escape war unharmed, Billy seems to be mentally unstable. In fact, his nightmares in the German boxcar at the prisoners of war (POW) camp indicate that he is experiencing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): “And now there was an acrimonious madrigal, with parts sung in all quarters of the car. Nearly everybody, seemingly, had an atrocity story of something Billy Pilgrim had done to him in his sleep. Everybody told Billy Pilgrim to keep the hell away” (79). Billy’s PTSD is also previously hinted when he panics at the sound of sirens: “A siren went off, scared the hell out of him. He was expecting World War III at any time. The siren was simply announcing high noon” (57). The most prominent symptom of PTSD, however, is reliving disturbing past experiences which is done to an even more extreme extent with Billy as Slaughterhouse-Five’s chronology itself correlates with this symptom. Billy’s “abduction” and conformity to Tralfamadorian beliefs seem to be his method of managing his insecurity and PTSD. He uses the Tralfamadorian motto “so it goes” as a coping mechanism each time he relives a tragic event. As Billy struggles with the conflict of PTSD, the work’s chronological order is altered, he starts to believe
"In Slaughterhouse Five, -- Or the Children's Crusade, Vonnegut delivers a complete treatise on the World War II bombing of Dresden. The main character, Billy Pilgrim, is a very young infantry scout* who is captured in the Battle of the Bulge and quartered in a Dresden slaughterhouse where he and other prisoners are employed in the production of a vitamin supplement for pregnant women. During the February 13, 1945, firebombing by Allied aircraft, the prisoners take shelter in an underground meat locker. When they emerge, the city has been levelled and they are forced to dig corpses out of the rubble. The story of Billy Pilgrim is the story of Kurt Vonnegut who was captured and survived the firestorm in which 135,000 German civilians perished, more than the number of deaths in the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined. Robert Scholes sums up the theme of Slaughterhouse Five in the New York Times Book Review, writing: 'Be kind. Don't hurt. Death is coming for all of us anyway, and it is better to be Lot's wife looking back through salty eyes than the Deity that destroyed those cities of the plain in order to save them.' The reviewer concludes that 'Slaughterhouse Five is an extraordinary success. It is a book we need to read, and to reread.' "The popularity of Slaughterhouse Five is due, in part, to its timeliness; it deals with many issues that were vital to the late sixties: war, ecology, overpopulation, and consumerism. Klinkowitz, writing in Literary Subversions.New American Fiction and the Practice of Criticism, sees larger reasons for the book's success: 'Kurt Vonnegut's fiction of the 1960s is the popular artifact which may be the fairest example of American cultural change. . . . Shunned as distastefully low-brow . . . and insufficiently commercial to suit the exploitative tastes of high-power publishers, Vonnegut's fiction limped along for years on the genuinely democratic basis of family magazine and pulp paperback circulation. Then in the late 1960s, as the culture as a whole exploded, Vonnegut was able to write and publish a novel, Slaughterhouse Five, which so perfectly caught America's transformative mood that its story and structure became best-selling metaphors for the new age. '"Writing in Critique, Wayne D. McGinnis comments that in Slaughterhouse Five, Vonnegut 'avoids framing his story in linear narration, choosing a circular structure.
Kurt Vonnegut's manipulation of time and place adds a science- fiction element to Slaughterhouse-Five. Structarally, the novel is far from traditional.
Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five as an Antiwar Novel. War can affect and inspire people to many degrees. Kurt Vonnegut was inspired by war to write Slaughterhouse Five. which is a unique book referred to sometimes as a science fiction or semi-autobiographical novel.
Analysis of Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five Section One- Introduction Slaughterhouse-Five, written by Kurt Vonnegut Junior, was published in 1968 after twenty-three years of internal anguish. The novel was a "progressive work" after Vonnegut returned from World War II. Why did it take twenty-three years for Kurt Vonnegut to write this novel?
Kurt Vonnegut, the author of Slaughterhouse-Five, provided a powerful first-hand account describing the horrific events of WWII. Vonnegut recounted the events and wrote about himself through the novels protagonists, Billy Pilgrim. He was pessimistic regarding the novel because he wrote, “It is so short and jumbled and jangled, because there is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre” (Vonnegut 22). However, on the other spectrum critics considered it to be “one of the worlds greatest antiwar books”(Vonnegut Back cover). The controversial novel was published in 1969, which was over two decades after WWII. The time it took Vonnegut to write the novel is an indication of how difficult it was for him to write about the bombings. Vonnegut does not write the novel to portray the narrator as, “John Wayne or some of those other glamorous, war loving, dirty old men” (Vonnegut 14). Instead, he writes about the true chaos’s the narrator endured during his time in Dresden. Vonnegut’s novel consisted of events that reflected major societal and political movements, such as civil rights movements, and antiwar movements, within the United States during the 1960s.
Slaughterhouse Five, written by Kurt Vonnegut is an anti war novel told by the narrator who is a minor character in the story. Slaughterhouse-Five is the story of Billy Pilgrim, a man who has come "unstuck in time. "The bombing of Dresden is what destroyed Billy. Dresden’s destruction shows the destruction of people who fought in the war: the all the people who died. Some people, like the main character, Billy Pilgrim, are not able to function normally like before because of what they saw, because of their experience. Throughout the book, Billy starts hallucinating about his experiences with the Tralfamadorians: he wants to escape the world which was destroyed by war, a war that he does not and cannot understand. Vonnegut uses the technique of repetition.. The main repetition is “so it goes” which is told after anything related to death, he also uses other repetitions throughout the book. The major theme of the story is the Destructiveness of War. Vonnegut uses repetition to reinforce the theme of the story.
Although Slaughterhouse-Five may not be filled with delightful satire and comical scenes, there are accounts which the force the reader to laugh. In one instance, an extremely drunk Billy Pilgrim is searching desperately for the steering wheel of his car: "He was in the backseat of his car, which is why he couldn't find the steering wheel," Vonnegut writes (47). In another episode, Billy becomes "unstuck" in time while watching television, so that he sees a war film backwards and then forwards. The most humorous sequence takes place when Billy travels from the zoo on Tralfamadore to his wedding night with his wife, Valencia. He wakes up to find himself in the German prison camp. He then finds himself back with Valencia after returning from the bathroom. He goes to sleep, then wakes up on a train on the way to his father's funeral.
War veterans wrote Slaughterhouse-Five and The Things They Carried. Some parts of the book are made for readers to believe and the other parts give realistic examples of war. The authors introduce their plots as truth-based on purpose. In the chapter “Notes”, O’Brien admits: “that part of the story is my own.” (O’Brien 151). In the first chapter of Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut begins with: “All this happened, more or less.” (Vonnegut 1). The authors create a picture for the reader on their past experiences to make their stories real. Even the parts that are fiction are not lies, because the writers have the knowledge to be able to generalize, shorten, and produce events in the book. O’Brien writes: “story-truth is truer sometimes than happening-truth.” (O’Brien 172). It seemed as if Vonnegut and O’Brien used fiction to make the story more exciting. They write abo...
Slaughterhouse Five is not a book that should be glanced over and discarded away like a dirty rag. Slaughterhouse Five is a book that should be carefully analyzed and be seen as an inspiration to further improve the well-being of mankind. Vonnegut makes it clear that an easy way to improve mankind is to see war not as a place where legends are born, but rather, an event to be avoided. Intelligent readers and critics alike should recognize Vonnegut’s work and see to it that they make an effort to understand the complexities behind the human condition that lead us to war.
Throughout his career, Kurt Vonnegut has used writing as a tool to convey penetrating messages and ominous warnings about our society. He skillfully combines vivid imagery with a distinctly satirical and anecdotal style to explore complex issues such as religion and war. Two of his most well known, and most gripping, novels that embody this subtle talent are Cat's Cradle and Slaughterhouse-Five. Both books represent Vonnegut’s genius for manipulating fiction to reveal glaring, disturbing and occasionally redemptive truths about human nature. On the surface, Cat’s Cradle and Slaughterhouse-Five are dramatically different novels, each with its own characters, symbols, and plot. However, a close examination reveals that both contain common themes and ideas. Examining and comparing the two novels and their presentation of different themes provides a unique insight into both the novels and the author – allowing the reader to gain a fuller understanding of Vonnegut’s true meaning.
Slaughterhouse-Five displays many themes. However, there is a dispute as to whether the book is an anti-war novel or not. Slaughterhouse-Five, the character Kurt Vonnegut explains to Mary O’Hare, is intended to be an anti-war novel, and he says that it shall also be called The Children’s Crusade because of the effect it had on young men who fought in the war. Slaughterhouse-Five is an anti-war novel because Vonnegut, the character, says it is in the first chapter, because it depicts the terrible long-term effects the war has on Billy, and because it exposes war's devastating practices.
In my research essay for my English Composition 2 class, I will be analyzing the different gender roles in Notes from the Underground and Death of a Salesman. Often times, in American Literature work, gender roles are used very differently due to whomever wrote it. This story and play fall into the category of “traditional” gender roles that are given to males and females based off of society and what is expected of males and females. I will use the gender approach to explain that roles in families and society are based off of gender. I will also compare a feminist approach to the gender approach and see how they are different. In Author Miller’s Death of a Salesman and Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s