Kurt Vonnegut's World War II novel Slaughterhouse-Five, published in 1969, is his most widely read, discussed, and taught book. It is a strange book, blending the genres of sci-fi, war novel, autobiography, and fable. Those looking for a clear moral in the novel will find it immediately: war is bad, war is violent, war is hell.
The book is subtitled "The Children's Crusade," and draws attention to a particularly savage historical period. This brings up a second major theme in the novel, that of innocence lost or destroyed. The hapless protagonist , Billy Pilgrim, is bounced back and forth through time and space without any agency or understanding. He is an innocent character and so is constantly abused by those stronger than he is. Historical forces he can't understand also irrevocably alter his life. He represents humanity as a battered reed, and Vonnegut's point may be that given the horror of the modern world, passivity can function as some kind of nobility. "So it goes" is the book's...
(The entire section contains 4 answers and 907 words.)
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