Monday, April 30, 2012
Slaughterhouse 5: Anti-War or Not?
"The doctors agreed: He was going crazy. They didn't think it had anything to do with the war." Page 100
So the question is: war or no war? I was under the impression this was an anti-war novel. I believed that, like these no-good Communists above, who poison America with unpatriotic nonsense, Kurt was going to tell us exactly why we should never have a war again. However, if anything, this is satirical in regards to war in a way. Although the scenes depicting Dresden were accurate, Vonnegut stayed very removed either way from his stance on war. I was impressed with his ability to create a character that merely acknowledged what he saw as he did many other parts of his life, not taking away the horror of the situation but the experience they gavee him for his life. I am still undecided as to whether this is indeed an anti-war novel or a relaying of events.
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I agree Pdaddy. I think the people displayed in the above picture are unpatriotic losers who need to be stopped. I like the way Vonnegut "protests" (or whatever he does) the war. This too, was a confusing aspect of the novel for myself.
ReplyDeleteI feel the same way. It's like Vonnegut tries to remain so subtle on his stance that he somehow forgets to actually make the point itself....and down with the Commies.
ReplyDeleteThis was an anti-war novel. Don't let his matter-of-fact sort of narration fool you. Instead of describing his own experiences of the war, he instead described the most devastated person he knew while fighting in the war himself: Billy Pilgrim. By describing the horrors of the war through another person, we was able to convey to the reader the malicious and detrimental nature of the war without preaching, leaving a more powerful, more enduring message than simply telling us that war is a terrible, gruesome thing.
ReplyDeleteKurt Vonnegut for President 2012!
(Except he's dead)
commie ^
ReplyDeleteI agree with Morgan I do think that this is definitely an anti-war book. He even comes out and says it in the beginning. Even without the first chapter however I would have still been able to figure it out because of how Vonnegut uses Tralfamadore. Tralfamadore is used to show what the war does to people and to what lengths they will go to to explain the horrible things they have seen or experienced.
ReplyDeleteJarhead.
ReplyDeleteI can't hear you over the anguished cries of the citizens of every communist nation in the world...
ReplyDeleteI didn't read this book, but I just want to say pat is wrong in all situations.
ReplyDelete^^^agreed =)
ReplyDelete