The world depicted in Slaughterhouse-Five illustrates how patriotism can deteriorate into nationalism and militarism, becoming a rationale for violence and widespread destruction. Characters like "Wild Bob," an American POW who speaks to imaginary soldiers, and Bertrand Copeland Rumfoord, an Air Force historian justifying the Dresden bombing, are shown as either misguided or outright harmful. In contrast, the German soldiers' response to the American prisoners in Dresden is more realistic: "There was nothing to fear. Here were just more damaged humans, more fools like themselves."