A Closer Look at Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five

Whether the reader views Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse Five" as an anti-war novel, science fiction, or a study of human experience, one thing cannot be denied if the reader takes a close look at the inner meaning of the work- it is a complex, ever changing work that gives unique insight into the human experience. For Vonnegut, this experience literally travels to other worlds and takes the reader along for the trip. This essay will respond to the inner workings of "Slaughterhouse Five" as it were, in order to interpret the general meaning of this classic novel.

Universal Themes Woven in to the Plot

For all of the settings and plot twists that are to be found in this novel, overall, the action results in the presentation of several universal themes that cannot be denied, no matter what classification the reader places upon the work.

The destructiveness of war is central to "Slaughterhouse Five" from several angles; physical destruction of property, which is to say material things, as well as the crushing of the human spirit and the wholesale destruction of the millions of people who lost their lives in World War II. One of the people who survived the war with his life and body, but little else still in tact was Billy Pilgrim, the main character of the story and a man who found himself pressed into military service, taken as a prisoner of war, and exposed to all of the death and mayhem that only war can provide in its own sinister way.

From his war experiences, Billy also came to the realization that the free will of the individual is truly an illusion. This realization is also a universal theme that can be found in the novel. Billy himself had his plans circumvented by his being pressed into military service, as did so many of his comrades. Likewise, many of those same comrades had their lives snuffed out on foreign battlefields that they had never visited before, and in some cases, would never leave again. Billy simply wished to continue on his chosen career path of optometry, which contributes to the theme of sight in the plot.

Sight, both literally and metaphorically, is a universal theme of "Slaughterhouse Five"; Billy, as a profession, brings clear vision to his patients. Metaphorically, he spends his life trying to see things clearly in a philosophical and moral way, but the view always seems somewhat blurred.

Pivotal Passage from the Novel

For all of the complex, and often fantastic elements of "Slaughterhouse Five", there is one passage, taken directly from the text that succinctly sums up the dilemma that Billy faced, and captures the yearning of the human soul that Vonnegut captures in his writing:

"Billy had a framed prayer on his office wall which expressed his method for keeping going, even though he was unenthusiastic about living. A lot of patients who saw the prayer on Billy's wall told him that it helped them to keep going, too. It went like this: "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." Among the things Billy Pilgrim could not change were the past, the present, and the future"(Vonnegut 60).
Conclusion

"Slaughterhouse Five", even decades after its publication, holds universal themes that ring true even today, perhaps even more so than when Vonnegut wrote the novel. In closing, one of the most telling lessons that the reader can take away from this work is that no matter how the world changes, the complexities of the human experience will always remain.

Works Cited

Vonnegut, K. Slaughterhouse Five. New York: Bantam House-Dell, 1969.