Counterculture and Slaughterhouse-Five Ryan Pifer

Kurt Vonnegut's novel Slaughterhouse-Five is, at first glance, nothing more than a science fiction tale of one man's travels to another planet and his ability to view his life out of chronological order because of his power to time travel. There are too many similarities to historical facts, human philosophies, and Vonnegut's own life for readers to believe that this novel about another world was created solely for entertainment, though. In looking at the deeper meaning behind this piece, we see that the physical setting is always Earth, and that the travels that Billy Pilgrim takes are simply hallucinations, created either from chemicals or Pilrgim's head injuries. By understanding Vonnegut's experiences with war and placing the publication of the novel during the late 1960's, readers are able to see that the author is condemning not only the Vietnam War, but also the counterculture movement that ignored the problems of the war.

Vonnegut's condemnation of war comes quickly in this piece, as the book begins with the author's narration about the creation of the piece. In attempting to create a novel about his personal experiences in World War II, Vonnegut visits one of the men that was with him in...