Slaughterhouse Five Kurt Vonnegut Kurt Vonnegut 1922 2007

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Slaughterhouse Five Kurt Vonnegut

Slaughterhouse Five Kurt Vonnegut

Kurt Vonnegut 1922 -2007 Was 7 when the stock market crashed His family had

Kurt Vonnegut 1922 -2007 Was 7 when the stock market crashed His family had been wealthy, but the economy forced them into a middle class status In 1940 he enlisted in the army In 1944 his mother committed suicide on Mother’s Day via a sleeping pill overdose Also in 1944 he was shipped overseas to fight in the war. In December he was captured by German soldiers and sent to Dresden where he worked in a factory as a war prisoner.

Kurt Vonnegut In February 13 -14 1945 Dresden was bombed and destroyed by US

Kurt Vonnegut In February 13 -14 1945 Dresden was bombed and destroyed by US and England Air Forces. Vonnegut and his group survived because they were housed underground in a former meat locker. After the bombing, they were forced to work as corpse miners, digging bodies out of the rubble. He was returned to American forces in May after Russian troops overtook Dresden.

Important Characters Vonnegut- Vonnegut places himself as a character in Chapter 1 and then

Important Characters Vonnegut- Vonnegut places himself as a character in Chapter 1 and then narrates the novel Billy Pilgrim- A fictional character, he is weak and emotionally scarred from his war experience. He claims that he is “unstuck in time” and travels to various points in his life at random Tralfamadorians- Aliens who Billy claims abducted him and put him in a zoo. They experience time unlike humans-they perceive it as we would a mountain range. Because death occurs simultaneously as life, they do not believe it is a finality. After someone dies, they merely say, “So it goes. ”

Tralfamadorians

Tralfamadorians

Postmodernism Literature written after WWII. Often, instead of the modernist quest for meaning in

Postmodernism Literature written after WWII. Often, instead of the modernist quest for meaning in a chaotic world, the postmodern author shuns, usually playfully, the possibility of meaning, and the postmodern novel is often a parody of this quest Irony, playfulness, black humor

Themes Human reinvention Free will is an illusion Time is an illusion Anti-war Dehumanization

Themes Human reinvention Free will is an illusion Time is an illusion Anti-war Dehumanization Anti-hero

Determinism Philosophy Determinism is the general philosophical thesis that states that for everything that

Determinism Philosophy Determinism is the general philosophical thesis that states that for everything that happens there are conditions such that, given them, nothing else could happen. Incompatibilism is the position that free will and determinism are logically incompatible, and that the major question regarding whether or not people have free will is thus whether or not their actions are determined. Basically, Determinism states that all things are predetermined due to cause and effect. Therefore, the concept of free will is an illusion.

Questions to Ponder Is war ever necessary? What is time? Will it ever be

Questions to Ponder Is war ever necessary? What is time? Will it ever be possible to transcend time? Are aliens real? If so, have they made contact? What is our purpose on the planet? Are humans essentially good or evil? What does it mean to lie to yourself? Is there ever a justifiable reason to lie to yourself? Is there truly free will?