The Horror of War Exposed in Slaughterhouse Five

The Horror of War Exposed in Slaughterhouse Five

When one begins to analyze a military novel it is important to

first look at the historical context in which the book was written. On the

nights of February 13-14 in 1944 the city of Dresden, Germany was subjected

to one of the worst air attacks in the history of man. By the end of the

bombing 135,000 to 250,000 people had been killed by the combined forces of

the United States and the United Kingdom. Dresden was different then Berlin

or many of the other military targets which were attacked during World War

II because it was never fortified or used for strategic purposes and,

therefore, was not considered a military target. Because of it's apparent

safety, thousands of refugees from all over Europe converged on Dresden

for protection (Klinkowitz 2-3). Dresden's neutrality was broken and the

resulting attacks laid waste, what Vonnegut called, "the Florence of the

Elbe." Kurt Vonnegut was a witness to this event and because of fate, had

been spared. He wrote Slaughterhouse Five to answer the questi on that

resounded through his head long after the bombs could no longer be heard.

"Why me?"- a frequent question asked by survivors of war.

Vonnegut was tormented by this question and through Billy Pilgrim,

the protagonist in Slaughterhouse Five, he attempts to reconcile the guilt

which one feels when one is randomly saved from death, while one's friends

and loved ones perish. Billy Pilgrim's own life was spared, but was never

able to live with himself knowing that so many others had died. The

feelings of guilt which emerged from his having survived the bombing of

Dresden and from Billy's fortunate escape from death under the shelter of

the fifth Slaughterhouse haunted Billy through much of his life. Billy

Pilgrim did not consider his survival a blessing, but a curse. A curse to

be forced to live on with the guilt of survival. Billy Pilgrim faced such

tremendous guilt, that he spent his entire life after Dresden trying to

alleviate himself of it. His guilt is in many ways comparable to the guilt

felt by the survivors of the Holocaust. Many Holocaust survivors had to

face their own "Why me?" question. However, many Holocaust survivors w ere