Summary Of Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five

1. Vonnegut, Kurt. Slaughterhouse-Five. New York: Dell, 1991. Print.
2. In November 1922, Kurt Vonnegut was born in Indianapolis to a German-American family. Vonnegut study at Cornell University from 1940 to 1942 until he was enlisted in the U.S Army. During his time in the army Vonnegut was captured and became a prisoner of war. He was sent to Dresden, Germany, where he spent the years watching the destruction caused by firebombing of the city. After being realized, Vonnegut married Jane Marie Cox and soon started his writing career in New York. The first novel Vonnegut published was Player Piano. Soon after Vonnegut published one of his most famous works, Slaughterhouse-Five. Recalling his gruesome experiences of the war, Vonnegut incorporated

In Slaughterhouse-Five, Vonnegut plays a role in the story by narrating in an omniscient view, in which he contributes to some of the events in the story. The narration of present tense is displayed mainly in the first few chapters and last few chapters to give Vonnegut’s input in the story. These chapters give the reader a more in-depth perspective of the setting of the story and a more personal view of Vonnegut’s war experiences. Vonnegut switches from present tense to past and then future. All these tenses convey each time of Billy Pilgrim’s life in the story. Slaughterhouse-Five transitions between Billy’s’ life in varying time periods. Each time period describes the conflict in which Billy is dealing with. “Billy is spastic in time, has no control over where he is going next, and the trips aren't necessarily fun. He is in a constant state of stage fright, he says, because he never knows what part of his life he is going to have to act in next”(). Every time period is unexpected and random but Billy has no face is because he has absolutely no control on where he goes next. Billy travels between Germany and Tralfamadore for most of the book. These two places play a major part in the story because major events take place in them, for example Billy being placed in a zoo in Tralfamadore, and World War II in

Slaughterhouse-Five is based on the life of Billy Pilgrim as he time travels through major points of his life, such as his birth and death. Each time period Billy travels through provides the reader a detailed analysis of not only Billy’s life during that time, but also what conflict the world is facing, for example World War II. During World War II, Billy is captured by German soldiers and is sent to Dresden, but the city is shortly bombed after his arrival. Fortunately Billy is able to survive, along with other American soldier, by waiting out in a slaughterhouse. When Billy is released he marries and has two children. Billy claims that aliens from the planet Tralfamadore abducted him, on his daughter’s wedding night, in where he was mated with an actress named Montana Wildhack. However, Billy does not speak of his experience until a disastrous plane crash, in which he survives but suffers from major brain injuries. As the story proceeds, Billy experiences psychological trauma that causes conflict between his daughter and him. In 1976 Billy’s life comes to an end when he is shot with a laser