Free Will In Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five

Words: 553
Pages: 3
Open Document
An aspect of American culture that Kurt Vonnegut blatantly criticizes throughout his book,“Slaughterhouse-Five”, is the illusion of free will within society. The question of whether free will exists is one of the oldest in the history of Western philosophy and an eminent part of American society and culture. The United States is built on the honorable ideals of democracy which is inclusive of the ability to make your own decisions, and Vonnegut denounces this idealism through his descriptions of the inevitability of war and the death that comes with and his creation of the Tralfamadorians in his book.
One of the greatest conflicts in the war is the issue of free will and this demonstrates Vonnegut’s strong belief in the lack of choice and the …show more content…
These otherworldly beings believe that they would not have “any idea what was meant by free-will” if it wasn’t for Earthlings because “only on Earth is there any talk of free will” (86). The inhabitants of these other planets recognize they are incapable of making choices while Earthlings “are offended by the idea of being machines” since the value of independent thinking is so deeply ingrained in their society (86). Vonnegut, however, firmly believes in the exact opposite and instead uses his book to promote the idea that all the moments in our life are already planned out. The Tralfamadorians compare people to bugs “trapped in the amber of the moment” because the insects didn't have a choice when they became entrapped. This analogy perfectly sums up how the “moment simply is” (176). The Tralfamadorians and their belief in destiny also relieves Billy Pilgrim of moral responsibility to change the world. Vonnegut attempts to demonstrate how things simply happen to us, whether we want them to or not because everything in our life is already predetermined by fate. Kurt Vonnegut has a strong message regarding America‘s unwavering belief in free will and in “Slaughterhouse-Five”, he propagates the view that free will is nonexistent and that our future is actually prewritten. Through his perception of the war and his creation of the absurd Tralfamadorians in his book, Vonnegut is mocking the belief in the ability to make decisions and therefore promoting the idea of pre-written
Show More

Related Documents: Free Will In Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five

Free Will In Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five

In the novel, Slaughterhouse Five, Kurt Vonnegut uses the events the protagonist experiences during his life, and science fiction to illustrate the importance of realizing that every moment has been predecided and time is constantly re-occurring. Through this major theme the topics of the absence of free will, the destructiveness of war and inevitability of death are explored. War has always been a part of history; with great victories and triumphs, come tremendous suffering and loss. In 1945,…

Words 744 - Pages 3

Essay about Slaugtherhouse Five ENGL 1302 Rhetorical Analysis

Slaughterhouse Five Hiroshima and Nagasaki have been remembered in human history as the pinnacle of devastation as a result of the United States dropping the nuclear bombs. The devastation alone is said to be the most unethical and single most interesting decision to have been taken. But history tends to brush over other important details as well. The bombing of the German city, Dresden, is said to have been worse than the previously mentioned events. The constant bombardment of an innocent city…

Words 1295 - Pages 6

Essay Slaughterhouse Five: An Unwilling Step Through Time

Mrs. Miller English 4 AP Slaughterhouse Five: An Unwilling Step Through Time In Kurt Vonnegut’s novel Slaughterhouse Five time travel and the illusion of free will is a key factor to the story. Vonnegut uses time travel to convey a message about free will and how it does not exist. It is mostly through Billy’s interaction with the Tralfamadorians (which are beings of the fourth dimension or aliens) that Vonnegut reveals his ideas about free will and time travel. The Tralfamdorians have a belief…

Words 599 - Pages 3

Analysis Of Kurt Vonnegut's Deer In The Works

Kurt Vonnegut a German short story writer and novelist, who endured a very hard and depressing young life, uses his background as motivation for many of his novels and short stories. “Deer in the Works” one of many short stories by Kurt Vonnnegut, was published in 1950. Vonnegut after his service in World War II had a job at G.E or General Electric. This where people theorize where he got the inspiration for “Deer in the Works”. The setting in this book is the industrialized plant in Illium works…

Words 1819 - Pages 8

PTSD In Slaughterhouse-Five

“So it goes” is a common phrase that Billy uses throughout the book Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut. This phrase is referencing death and how it is not a big deal, because that person will always exist in the past. Billy gets this idea from an alien race that lives on the planet Tralfamadore. The book says, “He told about having become unstuck in time. He said, too, that he had been kidnapped by a flying saucer in 1967. The saucer was from the planet Tralfamadore, he said. He was taken to…

Words 700 - Pages 3

Violence In Vonnegut's Character Analysis

have a limited perception of the world around them due to their blissful ignorance of the control that the powerful hold over them. By being blissfully ignorant, characters in Vonnegut’s novels refuse to acknowledge the violence that ensues around them, and therefore unwittingly allow said violence to occur. In Slaughterhouse-Five, a hospitalized character named Rumfoord does not acknowledge the severity of the violence that occurred in World War II because he was not directly affected by it. Even though…

Words 1343 - Pages 6

Book Banning: The Ethical Tyranny Of Literature

banning far too seriously, it even went to court. "In 2007, “Slaughterhouse-Five” was challenged in a Howell, Mich., court to determine whether it violated laws against “distribution of sexually explicit materials to minors.” The book was taken to court to be banned, luckily, no action was taken. Book is not that bad. Book it is challenged but those banning books tend…

Words 1161 - Pages 5

Violence In The Vietnam War

Kurt Vonnegut's portrayal of War is neither glorious nor shameful, but rather he presents the complex nature of war and argues about the blurred line that separates heroes and villains. In chapter two, Vonnegut describes the violence Roland Weary applied to “save” Billy Pilgrim. “He had been saving Billy's life for days, cursing him, kicking him, slapping him, making him move. It was necessary that cruelty be used because Billy wouldn't do anything to save himself” (Page 43). The violence which Weary…

Words 279 - Pages 2

Black Eyed Woman By Nguyen: A Narrative Analysis

inexperience. However, the division was overrun by advancing German armored forces. Vonnegut and 50 other American’s were taken as prisoners of war, as most of the men were slaughtered. He was sent to Dresden and survived the firebombing in a slaughterhouse. Vonnegut writes about his traumatic experiences during the war through a fictional character known as Billy…

Words 1498 - Pages 6

Happy Time Essay

This week’s article of the week was an editorial about Monsanto and what is really in packaged food. Monsanto is a corporation that creates food that is genetically modified to meet industry standards. When people think produce, they assume that it was naturally grown by farmers: this is not always the case. Scientists have created vegetables like corn and tomatoes by modifying adding and deleting cells. Ever since this process began, many consumers have wondered how “real” their food is. For example…

Words 533 - Pages 3