Kurt Vonnegut used many literary devices in his novel Slaughterhouse-five. These different devices serve to carry his varying themes through the story. He uses a system of two narratives that separates himself from the story, also there is the repetition of certain phrases which cycle you through the tale. A major device that is used is non-linear time, which emphasizes Vonneguts cylindrical theories.

Within Slaughterhouse-five there are two narratives. The first is of Vonnegut himself. In the first and last chapters Vonnegut talks of himself and sets the reader up for the absurdity of the main character, Billy Pilgrim. This first narrative also tells how Vonnegut came to write the story and what it took for him to put it on paper. (Vit) The second narrative is that of Billy Pilgrim whose war story of Dresden is almost identical to that of author's. Vonnegut points this fact out "That wa

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s me. That was I. That was the author of this book."(Vonnegut, p.125)

In the novel there are a few phrases that are repeated to pound out Vonnegut's message. One of these phrases is "so it goes". These three little words are found over a hundred times within Slaughterhouse-five. "So it goes" is a Tralfamadorian philosophy. The Tralfamadorians believe that life is just a series of non-linear moments and that if someone is dead in one moment they must perfectly happy in another moment somewhere else.(Vonnegut) Every time someone in the novel dies "so it goes" is used to help the reader accept the death of that person. It also tells us that there is nothing we can do about it and to get on with living. (Phillips) This little saying is even used when Billy Pilgrim himself dies "In the next moment, Billy Pilgrim is dead. So it goes." (Vonnegut, p.143)

Vit, Marek. The Themes of Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterho

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Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)