Slaughterhouse-Five
and
The Things They Carried
Food for Thought: Quickwrite

Only the dead have seen the end of war.
George Santayana

Does the quote above hold truth? Why or
why not?

Is war necessary? Explain.
ENG 2H ESSENTIAL QUESTION
 What
is the author’s purpose
in writing the novel? What
message is he/she trying to
convey to his/her audience?

TPS: How do we figure this out?
Kurt Vonnegut


Born November 11,
1922, in Indianapolis,
Indiana
Died April 12, 2007 in
New York, New York
Education

Attended Cornell University; majored in
chemistry and biology

After college, Vonnegut enlisted in the United
States Army, serving in the World War II

Following the war, Vonnegut studied
anthropology at the University of Chicago
World War II
Experiences
as POW in Germany had profound
influence of his writing, including Slaughterhouse
Five.
While
a POW, witnessed firsthand the
firebombing of Dresden, Germany, by Allied forces
in 1945.
Experience
in Dresden = the basis for
Slaughterhouse-Five, which was published in
1969
Vonnegut on what he saw in Dresden

“The firebombing of Dresden,” Vonnegut wrote,
“was a work of art.” It was, he added, “a tower of
smoke and flame to commemorate the rage and
heartbreak of so many who had had their lives
warped or ruined by the indescribable greed and
vanity and cruelty of Germany.”
Critical Reception and Censorship

Slaughterhouse Five, wrote the critic Jerome
Klinkowitz, “so perfectly caught America’s
transformative mood that its story and structure
became best-selling metaphors for the new
age.”

Novel reached No.1 on best-seller lists, making
Vonnegut a cult hero. Some schools and
libraries have banned it because of its sexual
content, rough language and scenes of violence.
“So it goes.”

“Robert Kennedy, whose summer home is eight
miles from the home I live in all year round,”
Vonnegut wrote at the end of Slaughterhouse
Five, “was shot two nights ago. He died last
night. So it goes.”

“Martin Luther King was shot a month ago. He
died, too. So it goes. And every day my
Government gives me a count of corpses
created by military science in Vietnam. So it
goes.”
“So it goes.”

One of many repeated, mantra-like words and
phrases that run through Vonnegut’s books, “so
it goes” became a catchphrase for opponents of
the Vietnam war.

Why might this phrase resonate with an anti-war
audience?
CHAPTER ONE

Key to the novel is the opening section in
which, apparently, the author speaks in his
own voice about a visit he made to talk with
an old war buddy, Barnard V. O'Hare, as he
was completing the manuscript for the novel.

It explains how the novel came to be outfitted
with its subtitle ("Or The Children's Crusade |
A Duty-Dance with Death") and how it came
to be dedicated to O'Hare's wife.
The Things They Carried
An introduction to Tim O’Brien and his
fictional account of the Vietnam War
Fiction vs. Non-Fiction

It is ALL fiction
TPS:
 Are facts what O’Brien values? Or is it the
emotional effect of incidents that is
important?
Tim O’Brien (author) vs. “Tim
O’Brien” (character, narrator)

Protagonist and narrator is “Tim O’Brien”.
This “Tim O’Brien” in the book is NOT REAL.

Even when “Tim O’Brien” talks directly to the
reader, it is the fictional “Tim”.
Tim O’Brien

The author Tim did actually
go to Vietnam and really
was in the Alpha Company,
but is writing a fictional
account.
Abbreviations found in The Things They
Carried
Abbreviation
Part of
speech
Definition
SOP
N
Standard Operating Procedure
CO
N
Commanding Officer
PFC
N
Private First Class (rank)
RTO
N
Radio Transmissions Officer
LP
N
Language/Listening Patrol
CS
N
Tear gas
MRE
N
Meal ready to eat
VC
N
Viet Cong
HW: Vonnegut Article

Read the news article that contains
Vonnegut’s obituary.




Take notes in the margin on the important and
relevant information
Circle any words that you need clarification on
Write a one paragraph response to our essential
question: What was Vonnegut’s purpose in writing
the novel?
We will discuss the article as a class on Monday