Reading Slaughterhouse Five, I was most struck by Vonnegut’s take on death, especially death in war. The repeated phrase, “So it goes,” resonates deeply with me. I think that the idea that death is inevitable for all involved in war is an important message that Vonnegut is trying to convey.
The most important part of Billy's life are his capture and imprisonment by the Germans. Billy’s capture begins with him as an inexperienced and unprepared soldier behind enemy lines, found by 3 fellow Americans and eventually captured by a group of German soldiers. One of the Americans who finds Billy is Roland Weary, a mentally deranged, egoistic man who seems to be suffering from “hero disorder”. Roland constantly views himself as hero destined to save the Americans and bring them back to safe ground. Roland saw the war as a means to prove himself “His war story was at a very exciting point” where he was more occupied with his dreams than reality. Despite his dreams of success Roland is captured along with Billy by the Germans and eventually dies due to gangrene from improper footwear. With this statement, Vonnegut is showing that no matter what motivates or drives a person in war (in Roland’s case personal achievement) death is inevitable.
This can also be seen in the story of Edgar Derby who Billy meets as they are moved to the Slaughterhouse POW camp. An aged school teacher who join the fight due to his patriotic beliefs, “Derby had pulled political wires to get into the army at his age.” Throughout the novel, every time Edgar is mentioned we hear of his death either through the use of “Poor old” or a more depictive scene of his execution “Somewhere in there the poor old high school teacher, Edgar Derby, was caught with a teapot he had taken from the catacombs. He was arrested for plundering. He was tried and shot.” Despite the valid and perhaps noble reasons to enter the war against the rules, Edgar died. Death was inevitable and the suffering of war could not be explained.
What do you think about Vonnegut’s take on death? Do you think that all death is inevitable, and the only thing that can come out of war is death?
I think that Vonnegut has an important view on death in war when he shows the reader that death can be random and the most passionate fighters can die for something like a teapot while people like Billy live to an old age. Vonnegut does a good job of showing the death that happens in war without glorifying anyone as dying as a hero.
ReplyDeletei think that Vonnegut's view on death is kind of ambiguous. If you take the novel at face value, he does have a very nihilistic attitude that nothing really matters, including death. But then it also seems like, considering all the dark humor and ambiguities of this novel, it isn't really intended to be taken at face value. So it's hard to know what Vonnegut really intended the reader to think.
ReplyDeleteDeath is inevitable for everyone. I think one thing Vonnegut is trying to show that because people die at random in war, without the way they live having any effect (as shown by Roland and Derby), war can make people have difficulty living. We can see this in the difficulty Billy has finding meaning in his life or relationships.
ReplyDeleteI think the way Vonnegut portrays Billy's feelings and the Tralfamadorian mindset points to the direction of death being inevitable and war being a manifestation of death and the worst aspects of human nature.
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