The Horror of War Exposed in Slaughterhouse Five :: Slaughterhouse-Five Essays

The Horror of War Exposed in Slaughterhouse Five             When one begins to analyze a war machine novel it is important to first look at the historical context in which the book was written. On the nights of February 13-14 in 1944 the city of Dresden, Ger umpteen was subjected to one of the worst pipeline attacks in the history of man. By the end of the bombing 135,000 to 250,000 people had been killed by the combined forces of the United States and the United Kingdom. Dresden was different then Berlin or many of the otherwise military targets which were attacked during World War II because it was never fortified or used for strategic purposes and, therefore, was not considered a military target. Because of its apparent safety, thousands of refugees from all   everyplace Europe converged on Dresden for protection (Klinkowitz 2-3). Dresdens neutrality was broken and the resulting attacks laid waste, what Vonnegut called, the Flor ence of the Elbe. Kurt Vonnegut was a witness to this event and because of fate, had been spared. He wrote Slaughterhouse Five to answer the questi on that resounded by his head long after the bombs could no longer be heard. Why me?- a frequent question asked by survivors of war.           Vonnegut was tormented by this question and done Billy Pilgrim, the protagonist in Slaughterhouse Five, he attempts to reconcile the guilt which one feels when one is randomly saved from death, while ones friends and loved ones perish. Billy Pilgrims testify life was spared, but was never able to live with himself knowing that so many others had died. The feelings of guilt which emerged from his having survived the bombing of Dresden and from Billys fortunate escape from death under the supply of the fifth Slaughterhouse haunted Billy through much of his life. Billy Pilgrim did not consider his survival a blessing, but a sentence. A curse to be forced to liv e on with the guilt of survival. Billy Pilgrim faced such tremendous guilt, that he spent his entire life after Dresden move to alleviate himself of it. His guilt is in many ways comparable to the guilt felt by the survivors of the Holocaust. Many Holocaust survivors had to face their own Why me? question. However, many Holocaust survivors w ere