Slaughterhouse-Five

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1969

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-2

Chapters 3-4

Chapters 5-6

Chapters 7-8

Chapters 9-10

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Vocabulary

Essay Topics

Quiz

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Discussion Questions

Symbols & Motifs

“So It Goes”

One of the most common motifs in Slaughterhouse-Five is the phrase “so it goes.” Billy Pilgrim learns the phrase from the Tralfamadorians and the narrator uses it whenever there is a mention of death. Each time a person dies or a tragic event results in death, the phrase "so it goes" is appended to the paragraph. The phrase may seem like a flippant, dismissive way to deal with death, but it reflects the different way in which the Tralfamadorians view the world. Death is not unexpected or tragic for the aliens, as they experience time in a different way. A person may die in a specific moment, but they continue to live in the past, at the various other times when they were still alive. All of these times happen at once, so death is just another moment in a universe of such moments. It is a natural byproduct of the passing of time, though it is by no means final. “So it goes” encapsulates this idea of death as another element of a complicated and infinite conception of time.

The phrase illustrates how violence and death can desensitize people to reality. The phrase is repeated so often in the book that it becomes a mantra. The audience comes to expect “so it goes” to appear whenever something violent or deadly occurs. The focus switches to the repetition of the phrase rather than the violence itself. The overwhelming repeated use demonstrates just how common violence has become. Each mention marks another death, and the sheer number of times the phrase appears illustrates just how much death is happening. The audience might pass over the mention of a battle or a dead pet and not acknowledge the presence of death in these passages. The use of “so it goes” shows the audience that they too have become desensitized to violence in the world and in literature. By repeating “so it goes” throughout the novel, the narrator is able to remind the audience of the overwhelming prevalence of death and destruction throughout human history and the importance and relevance of each individual death. A dead dog, a dead person, and an entire battalion of dead people are treated with the same muted repetition of the phrase.

Birdsong

Birdsong is the last thing Billy Pilgrim hears in Slaughterhouse-Five. As he walks around the desolate city of Dresden after the bombing, the birds call out to him and say “poo-tee-weet” (109). The birdsong has several symbolic meanings. First, it represents the endurance of nature. Dresden is destroyed by humans, and Billy spends days dealing with the aftermath of the human activity. He digs bodies out of buildings and feels himself become sick as he chokes on the fumes of the rotting corpses. The aftermath of Dresden represents the worst of mankind as a species. The appearance of the birdsong provides a moment of hope. Even as humans endeavor to destroy anything beautiful in the world, nature survives. The birds return to Dresden to soundtrack the aftermath of the bombing. This creates a contrast between the devastating actions of the humans and the gentle whimsy of the birds’ songs. The decimated city suggests that all hope should be abandoned while the birdsong gives a fleeting note of positivity with the suggestion that natural beauty can and will return, even after something so horrific.

The birdsong also symbolizes the lack of any intelligent comment available in the aftermath of Dresden. The nature of the bombing raid on the city is so far beyond the scope of human conception that there are no words which can adequately describe what happened. Billy speaks to no one about what he saw, while the narrator struggles to put into words his experiences in the German city. The only commentary available is the nonsense words of the birds. The city is silent, the men quietly take out the bodies of the burned civilians, and most of them will not be able to talk about what they have seen for the rest of their lives. Indeed, the government will officially class the events of Dresden as a secret matter and will forbid discussion of the subject for many years to come. The only words which can exist in the horrendous vacuum are the nonsense sounds of the birds. Although “Poo-tee-weet” means nothing, it symbolizes the inability to articulate the true horrors of war. Any amount of words would seem just as nonsensical compared to the reality of what occurred in Dresden. Billy could spend the rest of his life talking and explaining what he saw, but his efforts would have as much relation to reality as the birdsong.

Slaughterhouse-Five

While imprisoned in Germany, Billy is sent to a labor camp in Dresden. He and the other Americans are housed in an old building which was once used to slaughter animals. The building is named Slaughterhouse-Five in German, and it gives the novel its title. The building is a physical object and an important symbol even though it only appears briefly in the story. The history of the building has its own symbolic meaning. The slaughterhouse was built with the express intention of killing and butchering pigs and cows. The building is then abandoned and turned into a place to house prisoners. The prisoners are given the same basic fate. They are stationed in the slaughterhouse until they are no longer useful. The method of slaughter is different, but the end product is the same. The prisoners are treated like animals ready to be butchered; the only difference is the method of execution.

The slaughterhouse ironically saves the lives of the prisoners. They huddle beneath the building during the bombing of Dresden and survive while most of the city is destroyed and most of the civilians are killed. Their survival, however, does not last long. Paul Lazzaro is bound to Billy and will eventually kill him after a lecture. Edgar Derby will be executed by firing squad for stealing a teapot. The slaughter of the slaughterhouse no longer refers to a single building but to the violence which is perpetuated throughout society. The entire world is a slaughterhouse. While society may offer protection at times, the cycle of violence and destruction is inevitable. Even the men who huddled together for protection beneath the building are unable to escape the horrors which eventually come for them. The slaughterhouse is a temporary reprieve, symbolizing the impossibility of truly escaping the violence of the world. Even Billy who travels to an alien planet is eventually gunned down by one of the other men who sheltered beneath the protection of the slaughterhouse. They may have survived Dresden, but they cannot escape the horrors of humanity.