Examples Of Dialectical Journal For Slaughterhouse Five

Slaughterhouse Five Journal: Prompt Four
Slaughterhouse Five, has multiple messages embedded in it. There are two messages I think that stick out a little more than others. One of which I think would be anti-war. Another message that I saw was predestination versus free will. In chapter one, the narrator comes out and says how it is basically an anti-war book. While following Billy through his time travels, the readers are able to see the war from his point of view. Billy cannot glorify the war in any way. He is in a way thrust into it at first and then he became a prisoner of war. During Billy’s recaps of the time he spent as a prisoner, you see how harsh it was. He speaks of the train and how he had to stand up to sleep, granted no one

Due to Billy and the narrators’ accounts you see the effects of war not only on the soldiers, but also on bystanders. Such as the girls in the bath house in Dresden who were most likely killed from the bombing. I think Vonnegut is showing how much pain war can cause. The predestination versus free will theme pops up most during Billy’s accounts of his times with the Tralfamadorians. The Tralfamadorians see life as all moments are going on at once and will continue on a loop. Ultimately, portraying the massage that there is no free will and everything is predetermined. They even tell Billy that only people on earth actually believe in free will. For Billy, he starts believing in predestination and that there is nothing he can do to change what is already going to happen. I believe that Billy finds some sort of comfort in this. I do not think he believes in himself and he is somehow comforted by the thought that even if he tried to help or change certain things it is useless. He even knows how and when he will die. So it goes. He still thinks he can do nothing to change