Reading and Re-reading Vonnegut

First thing first: I think that Vonnegut is one of the best American authors, and there is nothing that can convince me otherwise. However, in my experience, not everyone gets him. There was a point in my life when I also did not get his writing style. Luckily, over the years, I grew curious about the high school readings I never completed (sorry, Mr. Bevins). One of the first books I decide to reread from high school was Slaughterhouse 5.

Slaughterhouse 5 is a science fiction story about Billy Pilgrim, a soldier who gets kidnapped by aliens and becomes able to travel in time. Throughout the story, we experience Pilgrim’s journey with him as he goes to different moments of his life and even to out of space. I know, it sounds insane. However, Vonnegut’s humorous writing style and execution of this book make it worth the read (even if you’re not into sci-fi like me). Throughout the story, Vonnegut includes the phrase “so it goes,” which implies a certain level of uncertainty of whether the events of the book are real or not. There is also the small detail that Pilgrim’s story is inside another story. The very first chapter of the book features a veteran visiting his friend because he wants to write a book about their time in WWII. While it is evident that the story itself is fiction, it is not clear that within the universe of Pilgrim’s existence, all of the events are a fragment of his imagination or not.

One of my favorite things about this book is how it plays with the concepts of time and pain. Whether Vonnegut did this intentionally or not, there is an association that links time with a human existence that involves pain and loss as essential. We learn from the Aliens that kidnap our main character that they can choose to live in certain moments, and humans, theoretically, can do the same. However, humans insist on suffering the inevitable. There is something eerily poetic about this; as human beings, we can get caught up in the moments that cause us the most pain instead of living in a pleasant future. I know that I can get obsessed over moments where I’ve been hurt. I have experienced this phenomenon; I can sometimes become addicted to that feeling of pain and loss, and I’ve witnessed others feeling the same way. This experience is not unique; we all feel it, which is why Vonnegut’s book is so relatable despite its wacky premise; it gives the reader a way to laugh at their absurdness.

Slaughterhouse 5 is not the only of Vonnegut’s books that exhibit these characteristics. Vonnegut’s While Mortals Sleep, a short story collection with a similar story and writing styles to Slaughterhouse 5. This book features stories about robots that are controlled by shoes and strange illnesses that kill married men in their forties. “The Epizootic” is a cautionary tale about what Americans find valuable; the main characters are in a life insurance office discussing a strange illness that affects married American men in their 40s. While it is not said explicitly, Vonnegut implies that these men are killing themselves so that their families can cash their insurance money. Therefore, we can see that these men have been conditioned to value money above their own lives. There are many other stories with similar messages in this book; many are lessons about love and money. While a full analysis of this book merits its own article, I still wanted to mention it as it demonstrates Vonnegut’s consistency in its writing and messaging about the absurdity of humans.

I love Vonnegut, and I’m sure a lot of people feel the same way as me. I genuinely enjoy his writing style and his type of humor. He cleverly finds ways to critique aspects of the human experience and American culture in his writing. He always seems to hide a lesson for the reader in his stories. This type of writing may or may not be your thing. However, I think it’s a great way to think deeply about life while also enjoying a well constructed and entertaining story. Also, let’s not forget Vonnegut’s awesome art!