Slaughterhous-Five

2 Pages 529 Words

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut is an anti-war book, focusing on what happened to one man during World War II and even includes some of Mr. Vonnegut’s experiences in Dresden during the war. There is only one character in this book, Billy Pilgrim.

Possibly one of the least likely of any anti-war heroes, Billy is an optometrist before the war. When the U.S. joins the war, Billy is drafted. A scrawny person to begin with, his comical appearance is accentuated when he is given a uniform that doesn’t fit. Thrust into combat, he is quickly captured by the Germans during the Battle of the Bulge. He quickly experiences one of many trips he takes in time, seeing his entire life at one time. Transported by car to a POW camp in Dresden, he is even more comically adorned in a purple cape and silver boots. The town is soon under attack, and the Allies drop bombs on the small city, quickly killing thousands. The few survivors lived by staying in an air tight meat locker.

Returning home, he marries an optometrist’s daughter, sets up his own business, and lives a normal life, or so he thought. The night after his daughter’s wedding day, he is abducted by strange aliens from the planet Tralfamador, who kidnap him and explain their way of life. He is forced to mate with a film star in a museum. The aliens tell him that they see all of life at once on a fourth dimension, and know when everything begins and ends. Their view of life is different, as the know that death is just one moment for someone, the try to focus on the happy moments of that person’s life.

When Billy returns to earth, he says nothing of his experiences. Instead, he goes on a plane to an optometry conference in Montreal. The plane crashes and everyone dies except him. As his wife drives frantically to the hospital, the exhaust pipe falls off and she dies from carbon monoxide poisoning. His daughter put him in a home, and he snuck off to New York, where he told ...