History Literature / SlaughterhouseFive

** Paul Lazzaro, the psychotic and murderous car thief from Illinois, is dismissive of the firebombing of Dresden. However, even Lazzaro is disgusted by Howard W. Campbell Jr's treasonous support of the Nazis during the war. Lazzaro's threat to kill Campbell was the only moment when he and Edgar Derby were on the same side of an issue.

** Also, while Lazzaro is obsessed with inflicting intense pain on anyone he perceives to have insulted him, he draws the line at RevengeByProxy. This is why he doesn't like watching enemy cities get firebombed, since he knows that many people who had nothing to do with starting the war will end up as collateral damage.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Paul Lazzaro, the psychotic and murderous car thief from Illinois, is dismissive of the firebombing of Dresden. However, even Lazzaro is disgusted by Howard W. Campbell Jr's treasonous support of the Nazis during the war. Lazzaro's threat to kill Campbell was the only moment when he and Edgar Derby were on the same side of an issue.

->''It begins like this: "Listen: Billy Pilgrim has come UnstuckInTime." It ends like this: "Poo-tee-weet?"''

->''Everything was beautiful and nothing hurt.''

* AnyoneCanDie: And ''so many'' do. [[JustifiedTrope It is a war, after all]]. Some characters' deaths (i.e., Billy, Derby) [[ForegoneConclusion are explicitly mentioned by the narrator long before they ever occur]], some are a little more unexpected (i.e., [[spoiler: Roland Weary]]).

%%** [[spoiler: The hobo. "You call this bad? This ain't bad."]] Either that or TemptingFate.

* MentalTimeTravel: Maybe? It's never made clear whether Billy is really "unstuck in time" or just has [=PTSD=]. Either way, he sure doesn't travel in time physically.

* RedShirt: Any side character mentioned in the UsefulNotes/WW2 segments will probably be dead soon. Like, in a few pages. Doesn't mean that it's any less sad, or that it can't be jarring (honestly, who expected [[spoiler: Roland Weary]] to go out like that?).

* UnreliableNarrator: It is mentioned in one single line near the start of the second chapter that the story is built on what Billy Pilgrim ''says'' happened to him. After that point every event is presented in a very matter-of-fact way, but the implication is that the entire book is really based on Billy's perspective, rather than that of an omniscient narrator. Billy's unreliability is never made explicit, but is hinted at -- he's suffered [=PTSD=] and a severe head injury, and some other characters certainly ''think'' he's unreliable...

** {{Deconstructed}} as it's being used ironically, as this mentality is held up as an example of the wrong way to cope with war trauma.

''Slaughterhouse-Five, [[EitherOrTitle or]] the Children's Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death'' is Creator/KurtVonnegut's 1969 novel about Billy Pilgrim, a soldier who witnessed the bombing of Dresden and subsequently gets kidnapped by Tralfamadorian aliens, who can see in all four dimensions and thus see all events in their lives in no particular order. Billy becomes UnstuckInTime, marries a nice girl, experiences death for a while, befriends Kilgore Trout (Vonnegut's recurring AuthorAvatar in TheVerse), and lives his life like most other humans -- just less chronologically. Tralfamadorians don't believe you can change anything, but that doesn't mean you can't choose to focus on a particular time, and to enjoy life the way it happens. Billy learns to accept life as well as death -- if something dies, then [[ArcWords so it goes]].

It caused a bit of controversy when it came out, as people were unwilling to believe that "the Greatest Generation" during "the Good War" could do evil. But his story about the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Dresden_in_World_War_II Bombing of Dresden in World War II]] is factual, as Vonnegut was there, initially as a POW working at a slaughterhouse and later involved in clearing the city of corpses and wreckage after the bombing. Although there is a question about how many died; it is said that in the book he got the numbers wrong. [[note]] The numbers are based on a book from David Irving, who was later widely criticized for his pro-Nazi sympathies and Holocaust denial. Even Irving has since rejected the larger figure. [[/note]] Still, 135,000 civilians or 25,000 civilians, dead is dead. [[ArcWords So it goes.]]

Filmed in 1972 by Creator/GeorgeRoyHill. [[ApprovalOfGod Vonnegut liked it.]]

Adapted into a graphic novel in 2020 by Creator/RyanNorth and Albert Monteys. Vonnegut was dead in that time. [[RuleOfThree So it goes.]]

* LongTitle: ''Slaughterhouse-Five, or The Children's Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death''.

* TheCameo: Howard W. Campbell, the protagonist of Vonnegut's earlier work ''Literature/MotherNight'' makes an appearance, working for the Nazi propaganda effort. Eliot Rosewater, protagonist of another earlier book, ''God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater'' also appears as Billy's roommate in the veteran's hospital.

* DemotedToExtra: Howard Campbell Junior, the main character of ''Literature/MotherNight'', appears very briefly in the novel. Similarly, Eliot Rosewater, protagonist of ''Literature/GodBlessYouMrRosewater'' has a small role in the story.

* AuthorAvatar: Kilgore Trout is a recurring author avatar (although he also has elements of fellow sci-fi author Creator/TheodoreSturgeon, Vonnegut's friend/mentor) in many of Vonnegut's novels; however, because of the intense personal nature of the story -- Vonnegut himself actually witnessed or took part in many of the book's events -- the author himself is present as a character as well.

* TooDumbToLive: Edgar Derby picks up and pockets a porcelain figurine after the Dresden bombing as a souvenir, in full view of the German soldiers guarding the POW cleanup crew, despite being repeatedly told that looters will be shot.

* TooDumbToLive: Edgar Derby picks up a porcelain figurine after the Dresden bombing as a souvenir in full view of the German soldiers guarding the POW cleanup crew, despite being repeatedly told that looters will be shot.

* PeopleZoo: Billy and Montana are residents. [[TimeTravelTenseTrouble Or were. Or will be]]. At least, so he says.

It caused a bit of controversy when it came out, as people were unwilling to believe that "the Greatest Generation" during "the Good War" could do evil. But his story about the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Dresden_in_World_War_II Bombing of Dresden in World War II]] is factual, as Vonnegut was there, initially as a POW working at a slaughterhouse and later involved in clearing the city of corpses and wreckage after the bombing. Although there is a question about how many died; it is said that in the book he got the numbers wrong. Still, 135,000 civilians or 25,000 civilians, dead is dead. [[ArcWords So it goes.]]

** More extensively, every time someone dies, up to and including Billy's wife, a whole airplane full of his coleagues, his father in law being among them, and ''Billy himself'', it's succinctly punctuated by the phrase "so it goes," with no other emotional response.

* GagPenis: Naked in the alien enclosure, the narrator takes time to note that "Billy Pilgrim had a tremendous wang, incidentally. You never know who'll get one." In the graphic novel, the narration box [[SpeechBubbleCensoring covers rather a lot]].

* MentalTimeTravel: Maybe? It's naver made clear whether Billy is really "unstuck in time" or [=PTSD=]. Either way, he sure doesn't travel in time physically.

* TheRuleOfFirstAdopters: The narration states that Louis Daguerre made the first photograph in 1839, and only two years later, his assistant, André Le Fèvre made the first dirty photograph depicting a woman "attempting sexual intercourse with a Shetland pony".
* ShellShockedVeteran: Billy, in spades. It's entirely possible that his time-traveling and alien encounters aren't real, but instead are his coping mechanisms.

* UnreliableNarrator: It is mentioned in one single line near the start of the second chapter that the story is built on what Billy Pilgrim ''says'' happened to him. After that point every event is presented in a very matter-of-fact way, but the implication is that the entire book is really based on Billy's perspective, rather than that of an omniscient narrator. Billy's unreliability is never made explicit, but is hinted at -- he's suffered [=PTSD=], a severe head injury, and some other characters certainly ''think'' he's unreliable...

* WarIsHell: Mrs. O'Here certainly feels this way and this is proven in a surprisingly non-{{Anvilicious}} way. It is the core, but admittedly futile and redundant, theme of the book.

%%* FantasticRomance

%%* TitleDrop: For both titles. %% no access to my books right now, but don't we need some quotes here?

* AuthorAvatar: Kilgore Trout is a recurring author avatar (although he also has elements of Creator/TheodoreSturgeon, he of SturgeonsLaw and a RealLife science fiction author and Vonnegut's friend/mentor) in many of Vonnegut's novels; however, because of the intense personal nature of the story -- Vonnegut himself actually witnessed or took part in many of the book's events -- the author himself is present as a character as well.

** Roland Weary is both a KnifeNut and [[NightmareFetishist obsessed with gruesome forms of torture]].

Filmed in 1972 by George Roy Hill. [[ApprovalOfGod Vonnegut liked it.]]

%%* MentalTimeTravel

%%* PeopleZoo: Billy and Montana are residents.

%%* TitleDrop: For both titles.

%%* UnstuckInTime: The TropeNamer.

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: A popular theory about the novel is that the Tralfamadorians only exist [[ThroughTheEyesOfMadness in Billy's head]], brought on post-traumatic stress disorder. In the same vein, there are also hints that Billy's time-travelling is just him reliving his wartime experiences.