Muszynski 8
Kurt Vonnegut?s War Experiences Expressed in Slaughterhouse-Five
Kurt Vonnegut served as a private and an infantry scout in the United States Army during WWII and experienced many terrible, horrifying events. He ended up receiving the Purple Heart because of his valiant efforts during the war as well as for surviving the Prisoner of War camp (P.O.W.) in Dresden, Germany. Dresden has a reputation, because of the bombing that happened there, which is told that this bombing ?Exterminated about 135,000 citizens within fourteen hours.?[endnoteRef:1] Dresden was bombed by three waves of British and American planes, and from Vonnegut?s point of view in the P.O.W. camp, it looked like ?About 3,000 tons of bombs were dropped on the city.?[endnoteRef:2] …show more content…
During WWII Vonnegut served as a private, and an infantry scout at the side of O?Hare. They were both stationed to the city of Dresden, Germany and it did not take long before they were both captured by German forces and taken as P.O.W.s. Now they were not brought to any normal P.O.W. camp, no, they were brought to the basement of a German Slaughterhouse hence the name Slaughterhouse-Five.[endnoteRef:8] Both Vonnegut and O?Hare were in there for most of the war and they were forced to do work day in and day out while in containment. The biggest event that happened while they were in the slaughterhouse was the bombing of the city of Dresden. It was an allied bombing which meant that its recipients were going to be the German Army. It was the night of February 13, 1945 when ?Three waves of both British and American bombers dropped about 3,000 tons of bombs over the city of Dresden, Germany.?[endnoteRef:9] While all of this was going on Vonnegut and all of the other P.O.W.s were in the basement of the slaughterhouse watching the city light up before their eyes. They called this ?One big flame that ate everything organic.?[endnoteRef:10] Within fourteen hours of the beginning of this bombing it was estimated that about 135,000 citizens were exterminated, and more waves just kept coming. [8: Vonnegut, Kurt. Slaughterhouse-Five. (New …show more content…
Slaughterhouse-Five was Vonnegut?s attempt of explaining the tragedies of his experiences while he was a P.O.W. and his attempt to denounce not only WWII but all of the wars. That is why Vonnegut wrote this book so that he could denounce all war. It would be pretty easy to get people on your side when you can explain a horrible war experience you went through. Vonnegut was a brave man for turning tis experience into not only a story but also a message and many people believe he got the word
Kurt Vonnegut?s War Experiences Expressed in Slaughterhouse-Five
Kurt Vonnegut served as a private and an infantry scout in the United States Army during WWII and experienced many terrible, horrifying events. He ended up receiving the Purple Heart because of his valiant efforts during the war as well as for surviving the Prisoner of War camp (P.O.W.) in Dresden, Germany. Dresden has a reputation, because of the bombing that happened there, which is told that this bombing ?Exterminated about 135,000 citizens within fourteen hours.?[endnoteRef:1] Dresden was bombed by three waves of British and American planes, and from Vonnegut?s point of view in the P.O.W. camp, it looked like ?About 3,000 tons of bombs were dropped on the city.?[endnoteRef:2] …show more content…
During WWII Vonnegut served as a private, and an infantry scout at the side of O?Hare. They were both stationed to the city of Dresden, Germany and it did not take long before they were both captured by German forces and taken as P.O.W.s. Now they were not brought to any normal P.O.W. camp, no, they were brought to the basement of a German Slaughterhouse hence the name Slaughterhouse-Five.[endnoteRef:8] Both Vonnegut and O?Hare were in there for most of the war and they were forced to do work day in and day out while in containment. The biggest event that happened while they were in the slaughterhouse was the bombing of the city of Dresden. It was an allied bombing which meant that its recipients were going to be the German Army. It was the night of February 13, 1945 when ?Three waves of both British and American bombers dropped about 3,000 tons of bombs over the city of Dresden, Germany.?[endnoteRef:9] While all of this was going on Vonnegut and all of the other P.O.W.s were in the basement of the slaughterhouse watching the city light up before their eyes. They called this ?One big flame that ate everything organic.?[endnoteRef:10] Within fourteen hours of the beginning of this bombing it was estimated that about 135,000 citizens were exterminated, and more waves just kept coming. [8: Vonnegut, Kurt. Slaughterhouse-Five. (New …show more content…
Slaughterhouse-Five was Vonnegut?s attempt of explaining the tragedies of his experiences while he was a P.O.W. and his attempt to denounce not only WWII but all of the wars. That is why Vonnegut wrote this book so that he could denounce all war. It would be pretty easy to get people on your side when you can explain a horrible war experience you went through. Vonnegut was a brave man for turning tis experience into not only a story but also a message and many people believe he got the word