Dresden

Kurt Vonnegut had delivered quite a few commencement speeches during his time. One in particular, at Rice University, contains a multitude of rhetorical strategies that exemplified the quintessential speech genre. Vonnegut used this genre’s conventions in order to convey his overarching message to the new graduates, as they leave the university. His message to the new generation was to reflect back on their own lives, pause, and consider, “If this isn’t nice, what is?” In other words,…

Previous to the bombings ‘“In Dresden, Vonnegut would serve as part of a work detail housed in an abandoned slaughterhouse,”’3 just as Billy and the other prisoners of war were held captive in Dresden and “The address was Schlachthof-fünf”(153). Kurt not only stayed in a slaughterhouse, he integrated it into the experiences of Billy which manifests the idea of them…

in the Second World War. In particular, he was affected most by his sentence as a prisoner of war in Dresden, Germany. While in Dresden, he witnessed the most appalling and unpleasant aspects of human life. Vonnegut survived a barrage of incendiary bombs dropped by Allied forces on Dresden which killed approximately 135,000 innocent civilian lives. Of course, the visions that Vonnegut had of Dresden after emerging from the slaughterhouse which he had taken refuge in haunted him for the remainder…

Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five details the struggles of draftee and American prisoner of war Billy Pilgrim after Americans bombed the city of Dresden during World War II. The story, partially based off of Vonnegut’s own experiences as a prisoner of war during the bombing of Dresden, ends up taking a more fantastic turn, as Billy learns that he can travel through time since the alien race of Tralfamadorians have granted him this ability. Yet, it is the structure, or lack thereof, in…

unstable mental condition were inexistent, modern medical views help readers understand the plot in ways not even considered during the 20th century. Gulani stated that, “The psychological consequences of the experience of war and especially the Dresden bombings can be readily analyzed using the criteria now established by psychiatrists to diagnose post- traumatic stress disorder” (Gulani). During World War II, the diagnosis of a post- traumatic disorder was not conceivable for Billy due to the…

own experiences as a POW during World War II and the bombing of Dresden, takes a fantastic turn as Billy learns that he can travel through time. Yet, it is the lack of structure in Slaughterhouse-Five that sets this book apart from common anti-war or time-travel novels. The structure and “time-hopping” present in Slaughterhouse-Five causes readers to see how Vonnegut feels as though Vonnegut can never truly escape the horrors of Dresden, introduce Tralfamadorian ideas, and show the insanity…

The bombing of Dresden was one of the most fatal and controversial bombings during WWII. Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five is a science fiction novel that revolves around his experience at Dresden. Vonnegut’s novel is a valuable read that is worthy of implementation into the junior American Literature curriculum. The historical aspect that comes from Vonnegut’s anecdotal novel regarding not only Dresden and World War II, but also the views during the 1960s, when the novel was published, is…

Firebombing (Dresden, Tokyo, Hamburg) On March 9th, 1945, Tokyo was hit by a firebombing attack. Around 100,000 civilians had died. The plan was to have a low level bombing attack where speed and light weight was crucial. It would destroy the factories that produced war materials. The giant bonfire created spread the flames throughout Tokyo. The raid lasted around 3 hours, and it was the worst single firestorm recorded in history. Charred remains of Japanese civilians after the…

on the road, bleeding, and can’t seem to find your family. This is what the citizens of Dresden experienced on February 13th, 1945, when the Allies dropped more than 3,900 tons of explosives on the city, killing over 25,000 Germans. This was clearly a horrible event in history as were the other German and Japanese bombing attacks, but was this tactic justified? No, the strikes on the German cities of Dresden, Berlin, and Hamburg, and the Japanese cities of Hiroshima, and Nagasaki, were not…

imagine. With several themes built into this novel, Billy shows his growth within himself as a character. As Billy flashes back and forth from being in the army in Dresden, being captured on the planet of Tralfamadore, and his relationship with his fiancé, Billy gives an idea about his post-traumatic disorder. While working in Dresden, Billy begins his journey at a not so very serious approach. Billy takes the army as something that seems not real to him. Seeing Billy as an immature young…