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Should Slaughterhouse-Five Be Banned From High Schools?

967 Words4 Pages

The book Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut is perceived as being controversial; it was once placed on some schools' banned reading lists. Numerous parents disagreed with much of the content presented in the book. It is perceived as being too inappropriate and vulgar to certain audiences because of the language used and the topic of sex. Because it does contain mature topics, this book should be banned for grades below high school, but it should also not be a reading requirement for high school students.
Slaughterhouse Five should not be removed from high schools because it contains lessons that can be learned from like the value of living in the moment and the consequences of greed. The pursuit of riches is discussed when the story written …show more content…

The novel’s anti-war stance is repeatedly emphasized as the plot unfolds. An example of this stance is seen when the captured soldiers are moved to a new location. The soldiers relocate to a slaughterhouse that “had been built as a shelter for pigs about to be butchered. Now it was going to serve as a home away from home for one hundred American prisoners of war” (Vonnegut 152). The tone of this excerpt expresses how much the author opposes war. Through this quote, Vonnegut implies that that the U.S. is sending their young, innocent men to war, in order for them to be slaughtered overseas. By the pigs being symbolic for the soldiers, one can assume that the government is consuming the soldiers and using them to their advantage, just as humans use animals to sate their hunger. Vonnegut’s use of imagery in this specific part of the story helps to make his anti-war stance clear because it can be shocking to some …show more content…

A section of the book contains a brief description of sex. The conception of Billy’s son is described when “Billy made a noise like a small, rusty hinge. He had just emptied his seminal vesicles into Valencia, had contributed his share of the Green Beret” (pg. 118). This quote supports the banning of the book for those below high school because it is not suited to their current understanding; the majority of students in elementary school would have no idea what this quote is describing. At their age, many kids are not mature enough to handle the topic of

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