Vonneguts Slaughterhouse-Five as an Antiwar Novel :: Slaughterhouse-Five Essays

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. But, if facts are inferred in the novel, like the similarity of Vonnegut to Billy Pilgrim, facts about other characters (specifically the Tralfamadorians), and the themes and structure of the novel, another way of viewing ;this book can be seen that is as an anti war piece of writing. In fact, Vonnegut demonstrates his own antiwar sentiments throughout the novel. This novel's main character, Billy Pilgrim is like Vonnegut in many ways. Kurt Vonnegut is an American novelist from Indianapolis, Indiana, born in 1922. A very important part of Vonnegut's life was when he served in WWII, and was a prisoner of war (POW) in Dresden, Germany. During that time he experienced the firebombing of Dresden, which affected him greatly. This event had around 135,000 causalities, which is about twice the number killed in Hiroshima by the atomic bomb (1969 Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five). Many claim that his involvement in the war is what made him write Slaughterhouse-Five. When Vonnegut created Billy Pilgrim, he made Billy subject to the experience of war. In fact, Billy experiences it almost exactly the same as Vonnegut himself had, including the experiences of being a POW and in the firebombing of Dresden. But in Billy's case, Vonnegut writes it with a particular point of view, which is against war. For example, when Vonnegut writes of the ways Billy views things, especially in the war, he makes Billy's view "slanted, which makes the reader perceive the war as