Violence In Slaughterhouse Five

532 Words3 Pages
When Kurt Vonnegut wrote Slaughterhouse Five, every scene had an underlying message that he was trying to convey to his audience. Since his book pertains to World War II, there was sure to be copious scenes of violence and quite a bit of gore. However, these violent scenes are meant to be provoking and cause a reaction in the reader. Vonnegut uses Billy's experiences in the WWII to show the horrible truth about war: it is senseless, with one bloody, macabre incident after another. Also, Vonnegut wants the reader to learn to accept things and to understand that change is inevitable. Through the deaths and violence in the book, Vonnegut's audience is not only overwhelmed by the absurdity of war but also by the grudging acknowledgement of the unavoidable. In the book, the death of Edgar Derby is both shocking and impacting. Derby was a middle-aged high school teacher who chose to fight in the war when he did not have to. Although Derby was a seemingly unimportant character, his death spoke volumes. He was executed for looting a teapot after the bombing of Dresden. Ironically, Billy was able to get away with stealing a diamond. Derby should have never died; he was not an evil man by any account. Derby's death and Billy's sticky fingers make the ridiculousness of human nature and our corrupt values blantantly obvious. The scene that the book revolves around, the bombing of Dresden, is the most powerful example of violence in the novel. The city of Dresden, Germany had no military targets but was bombed by the allies in an effort to cause German surrender; more people died in that bombing than the deaths caused by the bombing of Hiroshima. By the time of the bombing, Billy has seen many deaths and is trying to come to terms with death being apart of life. Sadly enough, the bombing of Dresden is the epitome of madness and only furthers Billy's inner battle. With

More about Violence In Slaughterhouse Five

Open Document