The Honors College
- War, PTSD, and Speculative Fiction: Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five
This thesis examines Kurt Vonnegut’s statement against war in the novel Slaughterhouse-Five . Billy Pilgrim’s, the protagonist, mental instability is a result of post-traumatic stress disorder, making Tralfamadore only a construction of his mind. Vonnegut’s uses various linking elements within the novel to trace the mental associations that explain the mental leaps in time Billy makes. With Tralfamadore being the result of an anxiety disorder, Vonnegut’s text changes genres. The novel would be better categorized as speculative fiction rather than its traditional labeling of science fiction. Science fiction implies that a fantastical world exists which the reader must accept as true to appreciate the novel. However, Tralfamadore is not a world that readers must believe. Instead, Tralfamadore shows the extent of Billy’s disorder. While Vonnegut does feature scenes from the war, he creates his greatest anti-war message through civilian interactions and by showing the after-effects of the war on Billy’s mind.
