Social Commentary in Slaughterhouse-Five
Throughout Kurt Vonnegut’s novel Slaughterhouse-Five, there are many pieces of social commentary that take look into many of the flaws and controversial ideas of the 1960’s. The most criticized idea in the novel is the Christian idea of “free-will”. The most powerful instance of satire in Slaughterhouse-Five is the message behind the prayer on Billy Pilgrim’s wall in his Optometry office on page seventy-six. Vonnegut challenges the Christian belief for “free-will” throughout Slaughterhouse-Five. Free-will is the idea that one can act at their own discretion, and alter their path in life. The prayer is asking “for the strength to accept the things I cannot change, to change the things I can, and wisdom …show more content…
Tramalfadorians see time all at once in the fourth dimension, compared to humans seeing one event of their life at a time in the third dimension. The ideas of predestination comfort Billy because everything is completely unchangeable. However, the hopelessness of trying to change anything makes Billy think that whatever he has been through, no matter how awful, could not be changed. The Tramalfadorian ideas have resulted in Billy not trying to change a thing throughout his life, no matter how terrible. Instead, Billy tries to soothe the world with the news of Tramalfadore: to tell the world that it’s okay that he suffered horribly and that he will die eventually, when suffering is never okay. Vonnegut’s use of the Tramalfadorians is another way he attacks the ideas of the Christian faith on free-will.
Vonnegut writes Slaughterhouse-Five to recall the events of the bombing of Dresden. With this, he addresses many social issues that in his mind are plaguing the 1960’s and have even affected modern time. However, the idea of free-will is the most attacked in the novel. Vonnegut best satirizes the idea of free-will with the prayer on Billy Pilgrim’s will in his
Throughout Kurt Vonnegut’s novel Slaughterhouse-Five, there are many pieces of social commentary that take look into many of the flaws and controversial ideas of the 1960’s. The most criticized idea in the novel is the Christian idea of “free-will”. The most powerful instance of satire in Slaughterhouse-Five is the message behind the prayer on Billy Pilgrim’s wall in his Optometry office on page seventy-six. Vonnegut challenges the Christian belief for “free-will” throughout Slaughterhouse-Five. Free-will is the idea that one can act at their own discretion, and alter their path in life. The prayer is asking “for the strength to accept the things I cannot change, to change the things I can, and wisdom …show more content…
Tramalfadorians see time all at once in the fourth dimension, compared to humans seeing one event of their life at a time in the third dimension. The ideas of predestination comfort Billy because everything is completely unchangeable. However, the hopelessness of trying to change anything makes Billy think that whatever he has been through, no matter how awful, could not be changed. The Tramalfadorian ideas have resulted in Billy not trying to change a thing throughout his life, no matter how terrible. Instead, Billy tries to soothe the world with the news of Tramalfadore: to tell the world that it’s okay that he suffered horribly and that he will die eventually, when suffering is never okay. Vonnegut’s use of the Tramalfadorians is another way he attacks the ideas of the Christian faith on free-will.
Vonnegut writes Slaughterhouse-Five to recall the events of the bombing of Dresden. With this, he addresses many social issues that in his mind are plaguing the 1960’s and have even affected modern time. However, the idea of free-will is the most attacked in the novel. Vonnegut best satirizes the idea of free-will with the prayer on Billy Pilgrim’s will in his