Camryn Sippy

10/9/14
Slaughterhouse-Five Seminar Prewrite
In the book Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, it tells a story of a man named Billy
Pilgrim who has become unstuck in time. Throughout the book, the main character Billy Pilgrim
travels through time with aliens called the Tralfamadorians, and visits various important events
in his lifetime. Billy has seen his birth and his death, hes seen weddings and tragedies. Many
times he travels back to the fateful day in Dresden when he was being kept as a prisoner of war
in the basement of a slaughterhouse while above him and his fellow prisoners, the devastating
bombings of Dresden were occurring. Billy spends a lot of time with the Tralfamadorians, and
learns many things from them such as a new insight on death. This book is a story of an exsoldier who has become unstuck in time and relives the events in his life.
In my opinion, the use of science fiction in this book is to make this hard to talk about
topic, more relatable. Because this book is an anti-war novel, the element of science fiction
present in the book, adds a sense of humor to sad events such as the Dresden bombings,
death, and loss. So it goes, (Vonnegut) is a statement made by Billy everytime he talks about
death and someone dying, Billy says it so nonchalantly. During one of Billys trips with the
Tralfamadorians, hes told how when someone dies they never really stop living. They may no
longer exist in their previous physical form, but they still exist and live on. This new perspective
on life and death adds a happier element to every death that occurs in the book because it
shows how Billy knows that these people are just no longer physically present, but are in every
other way.

Page 2, Paragraph 1: So it goes, This passage is important because it shows how Billy feels
towards death and lose. It shows he thinks that death is just another thing that happens and its
not that big of a deal.
Page 29, Paragraph 1: Billy Pilgrim has come unstuck in time. This is important because it
states what the main idea of the book, Billy Pilgrim has come unstuck in time.
Page 73, Paragraph 1: Where have all the years gone? This shows how because Billy has
come unstuck in time, he has lost track of all the years that where he is in the present. Because
he is seen his whole life, he has forgotten his real place in time.
Page 195, Paragraph 1: Schlachthof-fnf, Meaning Slaughterhouse-Five.
Page 141, Paragraph 4: Thats the attractive thing about war, absolutely everybody gets a little
something. Whether not is Physical or mental, everyone takes something away from war.