A satirist, by definition, takes a set of "ethical absolutes" and compares them to something that is considered wrong by his "ethical absolute," using humor (black or otherwise) to establish his point (Kennard 102). For example, Voltaire, in his Alphabet of Wit, protests the printing of paper money as a "sham" (47). Then he goes on to provide an alternative: investment in farming and manufacturing (Alphabet of Wit, Voltaire 48). But unlike Voltaire, Vonnegut provides no alternatives in his criticisms; with his wit, he destroys everything (Chricton 106). Furthermore, Vonnegut cannot be a satirist because he has no "ethical absolutes" (Kennard 103).

Yet another symptom of schizophrenia is the loosening of mental associations, which results in the victim rambling or unexpectedly jumping from one topic to another (Lilly). No specific character in a Vonnegut novel displays this trait; rather, it is an inherent narrative feature in most of his books. This, coupled with his use of multiple narrative voices creates a powerful schizoid effect. Slaughterhouse Five, in particular, contains not only the schizophrenic character of Billy Pilgrim, but also several narrative voices. There is a third-person-omniscient narrator who tells Pilgrim's actual life story and an objective narrator who records his schizophrenic fantasy as Pilgrim told it to the narrator. However, there is also the first-person narrator of the first ten chapters. Several times, this voice interjects the words "I was there," effectively making the author part of the story and recording his actions through the third-person-omniscient narrator. For example, another soldier talks to Pilgrim, followed by the first-person narrator's claim to credit for that comment (Slaughterhouse-Five, Vonnegut 109). A fourth narrative voice is discovered through its difference in tone to the other voices; it takes on the role of the sardonic commentator: "Billy cried very little... in that respect, at least, he resembled the Christ..." (Slaughterhouse-Five, Vonnegut, 170). This is a sharp contrast to the non-judgmental observations of the third-person-omniscient narrator's voice. For example:

Besides imbalances in neural biochemistry, the origins of schizophrenia can also be traced to traumatically stressful events (Lilly). Such is the cause of Billy Pilgrim's (the main character of Slaughterhouse-Five) schizophrenia (though Vonnegut never specifically diagnoses him as such, as with all his characters.) Pilgrim suffers a series of traumas, both during the war and after he returns home. These events create a different form of schizophrenia (known as undifferentiated schizophrenia) than that of Dwayne Hoover, in which Billy Pilgrim experiences hallucinations of his senses (Lilly), causing him to believe that he is traveling through time, while the captive of an alien race the, Tralfamadorians. The extensive similarity between his imprisonment on Tralfamadore and his life on Earth is no chance occurrence. His prison on Tralfamadore is a large glass dome, just as his Dresden prison has sliding glass doors. When Pilgrim enters Dresden, the natives ridicule him and his American co-captives, and on Tralfamadore, the aliens mock him and his companion. It is not surprising that he should manifest elements from traumatic elements of his life in his dream world; many psychologists, such as Sigmund Freud, have said that images in fantasies are distortions of repressed thoughts (Hall 101). Pilgrim, like many of Vonnegut's characters, becomes less than a person; he acts only to hide himself from the world and it's requirements (Broer 4). Such is another symptom of schizophrenia: a decreased ability to feel emotion (Lilly). It is apparent from Pilgrim's pattern of dozing off at random times that he is not particularly attached from the world, and his reaction to the death of others is equally lethargic. The Tralfamadorians (who, as creations of Pilgrim's mind, speak as part of him) have a saying for whenever someone dies: "so it goes," (Slaughterhouse-Five, Vonnegut 23). This provides the perfect "defensive system" for him (Broer 8). Since no one is ever truly dead to him, he never has to suffer the agony of mourning; a "dead person is [only] in bad condition at that particular moment," (Slaughterhouse-Five, Vonnegut 23).

Hall, Calvin S., and Vernon J. Nordby. A Primer of Jungian Psychology. New York: Mentor, 1973.

Vonnegut, Kurt Jr. Breakfast of Champions; or, Goodbye Blue Monday! United States: Seymour Lawrence/Delacorte, 1973.

---. Slaughterhouse-Five; or, The Children's Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death, by K

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