Slaughterhouse Five
The emotions of self-pity and guilt for one's self play a major role in the novel Slaughterhouse Five. This leads to be one of the more interesting aspects of the novel and most other military stories. When one begins to analyze a military novel it is important to first look at the historical context in which the book was written. "On the nights of February 13-14 in 1944 the city of Dresden, Germany was subjected to one of the worst air attacks in the history of man. By the end of the bombing 135,000 to 250,000 people had been killed by the combined forces of the United States and the United Kingdom. Dresden was different then Berlin or many of the other military targets which were attacked during World War II because it was never fortified or used for strategic purposes and, therefore, was not considered a military target. Because of it is apparent safety, thousands of refugees from all over Europe converged on Dresden for protection." Dresden's neutrality was broken and the resulting attacks laid waste, what Vonnegut called, "the Florence of the Elbe." Kurt Vonnegut was a witness to this event and because of fate, had been spared. He wrote Slaughterhouse Five to answer the question that resounded through hi
We spend eternity looking at pleasant moments. The Tralfamadores responded "Why you? Why us for that matter? Why anything? Because this moment simply is. "The price for a guilt free life is the most precious part of human life, emotions. Although Vonnegut's character was able to reconcile his life to some extent, Vonnegut was not. " In the Tralfamadorian view of the Universe, guilt does not exist because in their view one is not responsible for one's actions. That is why Billy Pilgrim invents a world where a justification can be given, where life and death are meaningless and feelings of guilt disappear. While the Tralfamadores where transporting Billy to Tralfamador, he asked "Why Me". He cannot turn his head around and he is strapped to a flatcar on rails which goes in one direction. While this could be looked at as an acceptance of the Tralfamadorian way of life, it also points to the fact that Billy does not want to stop it because life offers him nothing. " The Tralfamadorians even now when and who will destroy the Universe, yet they make no attempt to stop it because in their eyes it cannot be stopped.
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Acceptance Essays
