Slaughterhouse-Five: Or, the Children's Crusade:... by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

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One of the world's great anti-war books and centering on the infamous firebombing of Dresden, Billy Pilgrim's odyssey through time reflects the mythic journey of our own fractured lives as we search for meaning in what we are afraid to know.

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Summary edit see section history

Billy Pilgrim has come unstuck in time. Billy lives a normal life, he has a wife and kids. He battled in WW2, and now is an optometrist in New York. Before being taken Billy experiences his first time shifting, he sees his whole life flash before his eyes. After being captured and suffering a... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

Characters/People edit see section history

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Narrator: A witty, satirical voice who is Vonnegut himself.
Billy Pilgrim: The main character of the story, a World War II vet who was a POW in the bombing of Dresden. He shifts through time, and at one point was abducted by aliens.
Roland Weary: Short and stocky antitank gunner during the war and Billy's comrade. He was obsessed with torture devices and gore, in his dying words he blamed Billy for his death.
Paul Lazzaro: A vengeful fellow prisoner-of-war who blamed Billy for Weary's death who said he can have anyone killed for a thousand dollars and would have Billy killed.
Kilgore Trout: Science fiction writer who Billy meets in an alley way.
Edgar Derby: A prisoner of war with Billy, an older fellow who was a teacher, and wanted to come to war because he couldn't stand seeing all his students go off to war while he wasted away.
Howard W. Campbell, Jr.: A Nazi who was an American and wrote several training documents to help the Germans better understand their enemy. and tried to end the war.
Valencia Merble: Billy's wife, a rich fat woman.
Robert Pilgrim: Billy's son who fought in the Green Berets during the Vietnam war.
Barbara Pilgrim: Billy's daughter who thinks her father is crazy and treats him like a child. She is attractive with the exception of her legs which are shaped like those of an Edwardian grand piano.
Montana Wildhack: Famous movie actress who Billy is put on display with at the zoo on Tralfamadore
Eliot Rosewater: Billy's friend and fellow patient who introduces him to Kilgore Trout.
Bertram Copeland Rumfoord: A youthful Harvard history professor, retired Air Force brigadier general, and millionaire, who shares a hospital room with Billy and asks Billy to tell him stories about his experience in the Dresden Bombing.
Mary O'Hare: Bernard O'Hare's wife and one of the people to whom the book is dedicated.
Maggie White: A guest at Billy and Valencia's wedding anniversary, pretty and shallow, all men want to make her pregnant.
Bernard V. O'Hare: The narrator's former war comrade.
Tralfamadorians: Aliens shaped like toilet plungers, each with one hand containing an eye in its palm.

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Quotes edit see section history

“And even if the wars didn't keep coming like glaciers, there would still be plain old death.”
“It is so short and jumbled and jangled, Sam, because there is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre. Everybody is supposed to be dead, to never say anything or want anything ever again. Everything is supposed to be very quiet after a massacre, and it always is, except for the birds. And what do the birds say? All there is to say about a massacre, things like "Poo-tee-weet?”
“"When a person dies, he only appears to die. He is still very much alive in the past...all moments, past, present, and future, always have existed, always will exist"”
“How nice — to feel nothing, and still get full credit for being alive.”
“All time is all time. It does not change. It does not lend itself to warnings or explanations. It simply is. Take it moment by moment, and you will find that we are all, as I've said before, bugs in amber.”
“The boy was as beautiful as Eve.”
“If everybody would leave him alone for just a little while, he thought, he wouldn't cause anybody anymore trouble. He would turn to steam and float up among the tree tops.”
“So it goes.”
“It was very exciting for her, taking his dignity away in the name of love.”
“Still-if I am going to spend eternity visiting this moment and that, I'm grateful that so many of those moments are nice.”
“Everything was beautiful, and nothing hurt.”
“People aren't supposed to look back. I'm certainly not going to do it anymore.”
“Like so many Americans, she was trying to construct a life that made sense from things she found in gift shops.”
“You needn't worry about bombs, by the way. Dresden is an open city. It is undefended, and contains no war industries or troop concentrations of any importance.”
“'Did that really happen?' said Maggie White. She was a dull person, but a sensational invitation to make babies. Men looked at her and wanted to fill her up with babies right away.”
“...trapped in the amber of this moment. There is no why.”
Tralfamadorians
““Poo-tee-weet?””
“If you stop taking pride in your appearance, you will very soon die.”
A English officer prisoner-of-war

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Setting & Locations edit see section history

Dresden, Germany: Billy Pilgrim as part of approximately one hundred American prisoners-of-war are transported there to serve as contract laborers. The city was the last city in Germany to be carpet bombed.
Tralfamadore: Billy Pilgrim was abducted by aliens, taken to the planet Tralfamadore, and displayed naked in a zoo. The Tralfamodorians are shaped similar to toilet plungers. The shaft, which is extremely flexible, is topped by a small hand with one green eye in its palm. This planet's inhabitants see in four dimensions rather than three.
Ilium, New York: Much of this novel when not set in Dresden is set in Ilium where Billy grew up and established his optometrist office.
Slaughterhouse Five: A former slaughterhouse used during World War II in Dresden to house American prisoners-of-war.

Organizations edit see section history

Green Berets: An American militrary group.

First Sentence edit see section history

All this happened, more or less.

Glossary edit see section history

Salmon Roe: Salmon eggs, better known as red caviar.
Thumbscrew: An instrument of torture consisting of a ring into which the thumb is inserted and a screw that is then tightened gradually, until the bones are shattered.

Themes & Symbolism edit see section history

Anti-War: The book highlights the insanity of war by juxtaposing the main character's insanity with atrocities he witnessed during World War 2.
Soldiers and Insanity: Describe this theme.
Free Will v. Fate
Time Travel

Series & Lists edit see section history

This is book 85 of 194 in Shelfari Most Popular (December 2010). (authoritative list)

This is book 36 of 37 in First Edition Library. (publisher edition list)

This is book 19 of 99 in National Public Radio's Top 100 Science Fiction and Fantasy. (authoritative list)

This is book 54 of 100 in 20th Century's Greatest Hits: 100 English-Language Books of Fiction. (authoritative list)

This book is in Random Synapses: 100 Book Reading Challenge (2011). (community list)

This is book 3 of 95 in The Art of Manliness' Essential Man’s Library. (authoritative list)

This is book 91 of 195 in Shelfari Most Popular (June 2011). (authoritative list)

This book is in Significant Speculative Fiction (Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror). (community list)

This is book 46 of 100 in ALA's Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009. (authoritative list)

This is book 10 of 213 in Best English-Language Fiction of the 20th Century. (authoritative list)

This is book 513 of 1286 in 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. (authoritative list)

This is book 80 of 195 in Shelfari Most Popular (June 2010). (authoritative list)

This is book 67 of 97 in Waterstone's Top 100 Books of the 20th Century. (authoritative list)

This book is in TIME Magazine Top 100 English-Language Novels. (community list)

This is book 23 of 98 in Modern Library's 100 Best Novels: Reader's List. (authoritative list)

This is book 60 of 93 in Newsweek's Top 100 Books: The Meta-List. (authoritative list)

This book is in Guardian 1000 Novels Everyone Must Read. (authoritative list)

This is book 93 of 195 in Shelfari Most Popular (December 2011). (authoritative list)

This is book 67 of 100 in ALA's Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 1990-1999. (authoritative list)

This is book 18 of 93 in Modern Library's 100 Best Novels: The Board's List. (authoritative list)

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Country: United States of America
Publication Date: March 1969
ISBN: 0-385-31208-3
Page Count: 186