tted suicide. A few months later he was captured in Dresden, Germany and witnessed the Dresden Firebombing, the event that killed 135,000 German civilians and was the basis for Slaughterhouse-Five. When he returned home, Vonnegut began working for General Electric, a company using the machines he later detested. He then quit working for GE so he could write full time. His writings suggest we "view 20th Century civilization with a mixture of sadness and humor" (Encarta). They are about life, machines, religion, and the end of the world. Vonnegut has lots to say, and writing is his way of doing it. Through his novels, Kurt Vonnegut expresses his distrust of technology, opposition to religion and fear of a rapidly evolving society. The theme in some of Vonnegut's novels and short stories is that humankind needs to move away from a reliance
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