Billy Pilgrim's Issues

Billy Pilgrim’s Other Issues

Since Kurt Vonnegut’s 1969 novel, Slaughterhouse-Five, was first published, it has been

studied largely by American literary scholars as his statement on the futility of war and a

recounting of the horrors of war he personally experienced in an effort to depict why it should

be avoided in the first place. While most academia has focused on these aspects of the novel, it is

a mistake to pass over other important qualities the novel has in telling the story of Billy

Pilgrim of Illium, New York. Billy, the novel’s protagonist, is an interesting character by himself

and warrants a discussion which analyzes his own qualities as a dynamic figure separately from

the novels anti-war and science-fiction themes. In most critique’s of the novel, analysis seems

skewed towards discussing the trauma Billy experiences at Dresden as the only contribution to

his mental breakdown. The psychology of Billy Pilgrim from his childhood to his death opens

up numerous possibilities for explaining his actions throughout his life, but what is most

interesting is how other outside factors could play a part in his deepening mental psychosis. For

the sake of argument, this essay will focus on Billy’s personal break from reality rather than on

the effects of war. I contend that Billy’s experience at Dresden was only part of what has been an

ongoing mental collapse that was only expedited by his capture in Germany and further

worsened by events following it.

Before examining Billy’s mental state as a whole, one must understand in this case what

he means to the author, Kurt Vonnegut. Vonnegut’s relationship with Billy Pilgrim is one of

shared experience. Like Billy, Vonnegut served in the army during World War II and witnessed

the destruction of Dresden and other parts of war torn Europe firsthand (Vees-Gulani). It is true

then that Vonnegut wrote this novel as a means to address many of the same residual issues Billy

and...