Free Will And Morality In Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five

Have you ever wondered whether the universe is fated or free-willed? Kurt Vonnegut carries the same curiosity written Slaughterhouse Five. By talking about the experiences of Billy Pilgrim and the Tralfamadorians narrator not only satirizes the issues of free will and fatalism but also discuss the inevitability of war.
By using black humor, narrator created an ironic way to tell readers that not many people in the world have any kind of choice in determining their own life. “The dog, who had sounded so ferocious in the winter distances, was a female German shepherd. She was shivering. Her tail was between her legs. She had been borrowed that morning from a farmer. She had never been to war before. She had no idea what game was being played.

" ‘If you know that the Universe will be destroyed by a Tralfamadorian pilot who presses a button, isn’t there some way you can prevent it? Can 't you keep the pilot from pressing the button?’ Said Billy, ‘He has always pressed it, and he always will. We always let him and we always will let him. The moment is structured that way.’ Replied the Tralfamadorians” (Vonnegut 149). The word structured means to be arranged and set, by using the word ‘structured’ to describe the future of the universe the narrator not only got readers to focus on the existence of fatalism but again emphasize that there is nothing human can do to change destiny. This quote from ‘existentialism’ “When we say that a man is responsible for himself, we do not only mean that he is responsible for his own individuality, but he is responsible for all man” (satre) fully supports narrator’s believe that one mans decision affects the world, however everyone rely on themselves, therefore human cannot change this strong force which is leading the universe and setting our destiny.

There are many symbolisms throughout the novel. Narrator uses “poo-tee-weet”(Vonnegut 275) the jabbering bird to symbolize the lack of anything intelligent to say about war. Just like after a massacre and outside of Billy’s hospital window and again in the last line of the book, “Poo-tee-weet?” seems to be the only

Through the 4 points mentioned above, readers should have a clear distinguish of narrators believe in fatalism. All these points mentioned above links to the narrator encouragement over readers to embrace happy moments, treasuring them and moving on. There are many people on earth that have different opinions and believes compared to the narrator and just by reading this short analysis of Slaughterhouse Five is far from enough, in order to fully understand the concept of free will and fatalism readers must do extra research, in other word this thesis is