Slaughterhouse-five explained

novel by Kurt Vonnegut

For the film adaptation, see Slaughterhouse-Five (film).

"Billy Pilgrim" redirects here.

For the American folk rock duo, see Billy Pilgrim (duo).

Slaughterhouse-Five, or, The Children's Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death is a semi-autobiographic science fiction-infused anti-war novel by Kurt Vonnegut.

It follows the life experiences of Billy Pilgrim, from his early years, to his time as an American soldier and chaplain's assistant during World War II, to the post-war years.

Slaughterhouse-five themes

Throughout the novel, Billy frequently travels back and forth through time. The protagonist deals with a temporal crisis as a result of his post-war psychological trauma. The text centers on Billy's capture by the German Army and his survival of the Allied firebombing of Dresden as a prisoner of war, an experience that Vonnegut endured as an American serviceman.

The work has been called an example of "unmatched moral clarity"^[3] and "one of the most