Slaughterhouse-Five

Slaughterhouse-Five (First Part)

Whenever I begin a new book, especially if I do not know what it is about, I begin by reading the reviews of the book. I think this gives an impression of the novel other than a short summary that usually resides on the back cover. Reviews are other reader’s interpretation and give me a sense of what to expect as I begin reading. When I did that for Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five, the review that stuck out the most for me was The Atlantic Monthly’s note which reads: “Our finest black humorist…we laugh in self-defense”. When I read this I knew what was in store for me. Honestly, I do not really enjoy dark humor because it usually is used in war and death, which I feel should not be made light of. But I tried to put my opinions aside and give Vonnegut a chance.

I have not really formed an opinion of the book as of yet. I don’t love it, but I don’t hate it either. Hopefully as the story goes on I will be able to form a concrete opinion of this author and his message. For the most part I actually like his writing style. He tells it like it is.  On page 8, he writes “then we were sent home, and I married a pretty girl who was covered with baby fat too. And we had babies. And they’re all grown up now, and I’m an old fart with memories”. I found it unusual for Vonnegut to be so straightforward with everything that he says, because most authors draw every phase out and paint a clear picture for the reader to imagine so they can feel as if they were there too. While that is the modern way of writing, I think it is brave of an author to go outside the norm and try something new. Of course some authors will fail at this, but he was able to succeed.

As I continued on reading, I have come to the conclusion that Vonnegut decided to use this simple straightforward tone so that he could leave out the descriptions. Some war instances and depictions of people dying are difficult for readers to take, but by remaining simple with only the facts, such as he died, the reader is able to continue reading without being too invested in a certain character.

One of the most notable instances of dark humor that I have come across so far in the reading was with the hobo who is captured with Billy. (I was not sure where we were supposed to stop, but I read through chapter 4 so if you have not read that far this may be a spoiler.) The hobo keeps describing this situation as “ain’t so bad” and saying that he has been through worse. Those are even his last words that he uses before he dies. This ironic dark humor is portrayed so that the reader is able to laugh at a difficult situation. As I said before, this is not my kind of humor but I can see what he is attempting to do and why he chose to write this way. Also, during times of war men may have used this dark humor to get through every day.

It is obvious that his style of humor is dark humor, but one of the instances that I have begun to pick up on is his use of repetition. I think this complements both the straightforward tone of writing and the humor. He continually says “So it goes”. I believe that he is trying to make use of this literary technique so the reader laughs instead of cries. He creates a mock-serious tone when he repeats these words that leads to absurdity at times.  What do you think?