Slaughterhouse-Five | Essays and Criticism

  • Vonnegut’s Anti-War Theme

    In the following essay, F. Brett Cox explains how Slaughterhouse-Five represents Vonnegut’s efforts to come to terms with his personal war experiences. Other aspects of the novel are of secondary concern when compared to Vonnegut’s anti-war theme.

  • Time, Uncertainly, and Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.: A Reading of Slaughterhouse-Five

    In the following excerpt, Charles B. Harris examines the author-as-character, and the distancing and buffers set up by Vonnegut as self-protection.

  • Pilgrim's Dilemma: Slaughterhouse-Five

    In the following excerpt, David L. Vanderwerken discusses Billy Pilgrim, focusing on the causes of his breakdown and how he is influenced by Tralfamadorianism.