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John Vo

Miss Dobson

ENG3U

Due October 30th, 2019

Slaughterhouse-Five: The Unpredictable Crusade

“How complicated and unpredictable the machinery of life really is” is a quote from one

of Kurt Vonnegut’s other novels, Cat’s Cradle. Vonnegut typically wrote his stories revolving

around a concept that life has no certain pattern or dramatic build that is seen throughout most

forms of fiction, whether being novels, theatre, or movies. This theme is expressed frequently

through one of his most well-known novels, Slaughterhouse-Five. In Vonnegut’s novel,

Slaughterhouse-Five, the reader is transported into a world full of unpredictable circumstances

and outcomes and Billy Pilgrim, our protagonist, has to be watching every bad moment of life,

whether he expects it or not to happen to him and the people around him. The unconventional

structure of Slaughterhouse-Five contributes to developing the central theme that unpredictability

is prevalent throughout life and that one cannot truly live in comfort. Seen notably throughout

the dark humour, the first and last chapters of the novel, and the non-linear plotline are what

conveys the theme of unpredictability.

Dark humour is sprinkled throughout many moments of Slaughterhouse-Five, even at

parts where one would expect the tone to be sombre and emotionally gripping, and this use of

humour adds to how the structure of the scenes in the novel adds to the theme of life’s

unpredictability. During the war when Billy and the American soldiers are captured by the

Germans, there is a hobo that is captured alongside them that keeps repeating “This ain’t bad”
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(Vonnegut 70, 78, 79) to everyone, trying to say he has dealt with worse and that their

imprisonment could be worse and he soon later dies. The hobo’s ignorance and denial of the true

circumstances are irony and used for comedic relief. Yet, the use of comic relief in a novel where

war is the main topic is unexpected to the readers and Billy, exemplifying the theme that life can

add unexpected humour where it would not necessarily be expected. Another example is

Valencia’s death in chapter nine. After Billy gets in the plane crash, Valencia is rushing to the

hospital when “ a Mercedes slammed into her from behind” (Vonnegut 182) and the car’s state is

described as “the gaping trunk look[ing] like the mouth of an idiot who was explaining that he

didn’t know about anything” (Vonnegut 182). Where the dark humour is prevalent in this section

is the diction that Vonnegut uses to describe the events occurring and the aftermath of the car

crash. The simile of “the mouth of an idiot” is humorous because of how specific that part is and

the diction of that sentence Vonnegut chose plays a huge role in the comedy. Unfortunately,

Valencia right after the crash ends up arriving at the hospital, dead from carbon monoxide

spreading in the car because of the crash and as a result of the placement of the comedy right

before her death, it imposes the central theme that life will not be building up a dramatic arc for

any character and that death is unpredictable. Having parts of the novel incorporates dark

humour into tragic scenes exemplifies the novel’s theme of unpredictability.

Slaughterhouse-Five​’s beginning and final chapters are an unpredictable structure for the

novel and the concept of that itself highlights that the unpredictability is not only related to life in

the novel but reflects that unpredictability in our reality too. In the first and last chapters, it is

told from the perspective of Vonnegut, an unusual beginning to a fictional novel and breaks the

mould of typical fiction structure. In the first chapter, the content of it can be condensed into a
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few words of Vonnegut’s stream of consciousness. He basically describes how he wanted to

write the novel and reveals that the events in the novel are true and that those were things he had

experienced and how he gave the novel its alternate title “The Children’s Crusade.” The fact that

Vonnegut chose to open the book from his viewpoint is a huge subversion of expectations for

most typical novels and is very meta because not only is the novel’s theme about how life within

the world of the book is unpredictable, it is also a surprise for the first and last chapters. As for

the last chapter of ​Slaughterhouse-Five, c​ utting back to Vonnegut comparing the bloodshed of

the war to that of iconic figures like Martin Luther King Jr. and John F. Kennedy. Deciding to

end the novel from the perspective of Vonnegut is him making sure the novel will not end how

most novels should end and is him overall trying to implement the theme not just through the

structure of book scenes but by the structure of the chapters.

The unusual storytelling of ​Slaughterhouse-Five’s ​actual plot revolving around the

protagonist, Billy Pilgrim, is how the novel shows how unpredictability is prevalent in

everyone’s journey. Billy Pilgrim first becomes “unstuck in time” in chapter two of the novel

(Vonnegut 23) and soon is able to time travel, which is a significant plot device of the novel and

is the basis for the unusual story structure of the novel. Billy is able to quickly travel through

many parts of his life and places and this is so unusual compared to how Billy had been

experiencing throughout his life so the time travel is there is a prime example of how life can

have unknown secrets. Finally, Vonnegut wanted his novels to reflect on how life was so he

never wrote his stories to have a clear climax and denouement. He always wrote his novels

where multiple things were happening and nothing was ever truly resolved (Ted Talk Video).
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The almost absurd storytelling and plot devices of the novel is what makes sure the reader is

aware of the theme of unpredictability.

Through the use of dark humour laced in tragic scenes, the first and last chapters of the

novel, and the non-linear plotline, the uses of these components are what accentuates and drives

home the theme that life revolves around the idea that it is unpredictable. Billy’s journey leads

up to die a sudden death by being shot by a figure never revealed and proves that everyone until

death will lead an unpredictable life and maybe that’s the way time will always be but that will

be something that has only been theorized by humanity, not proven. Maybe it will never be

proven whether life has set paths or if life is an unpredictable journey like Billy Pilgrim’s was.
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Submitted by: John Vo

Submitted to: Miss Dobson
Due Date: October 30, 2019
Works Cited

● Nacamulli, Mia. ​TED​,

https://www.ted.com/talks/mia_nacamulli_why_should_you_read_kurt_vonnegut/transcri

pt?language=en.

● Vonnegut, Kurt. ​Slaughterhouse-Five, or, The Children's Crusade.​ Random House, Inc.,

1991.