Slaughterhouse-Five__Reading_Reflection

Slaughterhouse-Five: Reading Reflection During the Vietnam War, the great anti-war sentiment in the United States gave way to the rising popularity of anti-war literature. One of the greatest books of this era is Slaughterhouse-five by Kurt Vonnegut. It follows the journey of an army chaplain, Billy Pilgrim, whose experiences reflected the actualities of war in the eyes of a low ranked soldier. Vonnegut also uses Billy’s experiences to explain his view on fate and violence in warfare, showing us his bleak view on life. His ideas are actually very similar to that contained in Lord of the flies by William Golding, whose writing is equally realistic and blunt. To compare the two more closely, both books reflected on the violent nature of man. Right from the first chapter of Slaughterhouse-five, Vonnegut stated the inevitably of wars. As seen through the quote “why don’t you write an anti-glacier book instead'” (3), he believed that man will always resort to violence as a solution because it is simply a part of us. This theme is also presented by Golding in his Lord of the Flies, where innocent boys breaks down into their basic nature of violence in an effort to survive. The two authors also seem to share a similar opinion on the indiscriminate ways of the universe. The quote “Vy you' Vy anybody'” (91) showed Vonnegut’s belief that our surrounding circumstances are created merely by chance. To him, our lives will be treated no differently by nature than the next living man. Golding also supported this belief by disapproving the common impression that nature will treat man benevolently. The pragmatic view of the two authors certainly leaves a lasting impression in the reader’s mind. Despite the serious nature of this book, Vonnegut wrote the book as if it belonged to the science-fiction genre. The various experiences of Billy are not arranged chronologically, but rather with the past and future occurring in parallel. Billy is constantly travelling back and forth through time, from his normal life as an optometrist to his war experiences then to his kidnapping by aliens. Vonnegut used irony and humor prolifically, often inserting dark jokes in between plots “He was in the backseat of his car, which is why he couldn't find the steering wheel," (47). It is with curiosity about Vonnegut’s humor and interesting prose structure that I decided to read this book. As I read through this book, I was reminded of the people who are actually doing the fighting, not the commanders, but rather the soldiers on the ground. These are men who have neither control over the risks they will take nor any control over their survival. Vonnegut’s description of how Billy was “powerless” (30) during his service in the army made me ponder the life of an infantryman, who seems to be at the mercy of a complete stranger sitting at a desk many miles away. Vonnegut reminded me of the soldiers fighting in Afghanistan, in Iraq, whose lives are controlled by factors they cannot even try to influence. With this thought in mind, I would like to recommend this book to politicians, military commanders, pro-war activists, and anti-war activists. Perhaps after reading this book, they too will think differently of war.