Representation of Trauma and PTSD in Slaughterhouse-Five

Kurt Vonnegut is a WW2 veteran that is known for his satirical and darkly humorous
writings. (2) Some of his novels including Slaughterhouse-Five discover the idea of
non-linear perception of time. In Vonnegut’s narrative, “All moments, past, present
and future, always have existed, always will exist”.(1) In Slaughterhouse-Five, the
protagonist Billy Pilgrim becomes unstuck in time, experiencing events no longer in a
chronological order, where he moves back and forth between a childhood trip, a
Tralfamadorian universe, and the humiliations he faced as a war prisoner.(3) The title
for Slaughterhouse-Five comes from Vonnegut’s own experiences during World War
II, as he was a war prisoner, kept in a slaughterhouse in Dresden while American
soldiers bombed the city, leaving psychological scars on the author. In the novel
Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut highlights the theme of trauma and PTSD,
portraying he psychological impact of war through the experiences of the
protagonist, Billy Pilgrim.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a condition that will often develop after
experiencing a traumatic event, which comes with symptoms such as flashbacks,
recurring memories, and distressing thoughts about the event. (4) Kurt Vonnegut
with his book helps understanding the psychological effects of trauma in soldiers.
Vonnegut was captured by the Germans during WW2. He became a war prisoner
and got sent to Dresden, where he managed to survive the bombing of the city. He
seriously affected after witnessing the destruction of the whole city and death of
hundreds of thousands of people, which caused mental health issues like PTSD.
Thus, writing Slaughterhouse-Five became a way for him to cope with his personal
war trauma. (5)

The first way in which Kurt Vonnegut presents theme of trauma is by the loss of time.
At the beginning of the novel, it is mentioned that Billy Pilgrim gets “unstuck in time”
and travels between different time intervals. None of these timeframes follow a
chronological or linear order. (3) It is stated in the book that all of Billy’s visits are
random, and that he can never never know where he will travel next. This fractured
perception of time where there is no tangible linearity may hint at a traumatic
response where the narrator experiences symptoms of flashbacks of the event. (6)
Moreover, Billy has a distorted vision of the past, present and future. This causes
Billy to experience past traumatic events as if they are happening for the first time,
which can again be a response of trauma.(6) Billy Pilgrim’s distorted conception of
time is clearly shown in the novel after he travels once again to Dresden: “He had no
idea what year it was or what planet he was on.”.(1) This further suggests that Billy is
not conscious of time or space, which shows that he does not have any control over
the events.
To continue, Kurt Vonnegut further emphasises the theme of PTSD via his narrative
style. Billy Pilgrim, the protagonist, is a survivor of the bombing in Dresden, just like
Kurt Vonnegut himself. The author switches from a first-person to a third-person
point of view and making Billy his alter ego. (6) This way of depersonalising himself
from the past events helps the author distance himself from his traumas. The book
opens with Billy Pilgrim going back to Dresden after war in 1967 to see his old war
buddy Bernard V. O’Hair, where they talk about Edgar Derby’s meaningless death: “A
whole city gets burned down, and thousands and thousands of people are killed. And
then this one American foot soldier is arrested in the ruins for taking a teapot. And
he’s given a regular trial, and then he’s shot by a firing squat.”. (1) Here, the author is
still using Billy Pilgrim as a protective shield to access the most painful of traumatic
memories, while also emphasising the meaninglessness of war. (6)

Moreover, the author conveys Billy Pilgrim’s trauma with the Tralfamadorian
philosophy. In the novel, Billy Pilgrim gets captured by a group of aliens called the
Tralfamadorians in a human zoo.(7) These aliens see the world in four dimensions,
and for them “All moments, past, present, and future, always have existed, always
will exist.”(1) The Tralfamadorians can be compared to Billy’s already existing
experiences in the past. For example, like the Germans, Tralfamadorians also
capture Billy. After Billy is taken to prison in Dresden, a German soldier punches an
American prisoner. When the american asks why, the German answers “Vy you? Vy
anybody?”. (8) Similarly, when Billy asks the Tralfamadorians why they decided to
capture him, they answer: “Why you? Why anything?”. This similarity can further
demonstrate Billy’s unprocessed trauma, showing his distorted vision of reality and
his inability to get a closure. (8)

The final way in which the author tackles the theme of trauma is by the thematic
elements such as recurring motifs. The first motif that appears in the book is “So it
goes”. The phrase shows up after every time death is being mentioned.” His mother
was incinerated in the Dresden firestorm. So it goes”.(1) This reaction comes from
the Tralfamadorian philosophy, that the dead person is in a bad condition in that
specific moment, but the same person is completely fine in other moments.(9) Billy
Pilgrim seems to adopt this expression, using it as a coping mechanism, and avoid
the sad reality of war. Another motif that is relevant in the novel is the bird that says
“Poo-tee-weet?”. This symbol is used several times when talking about the war and
the novel will end with it. For instance: “And what do the birds say? All there is to
say about a massacre, things like “Poo-tee-weet”. (1) The bird symbolises the fact
that there is nothing intelligent to say about a war, and “Poo-tee-weet” seems to be
enough to describe the horror of the bombing of Dresden. (10)
In conclusion, writing Slaughterhouse-Five became a way for Vonnegut to deal with
his personal trauma, and helping him find a way to finally communicate and share
his experiences. (6) One can say that working on this novel was like therapy for
Vonnegut in some way. (11) The role of Billy Pilgrim as the author’s alter-ego is
significant for the author to be able to express his past experiences by
depersonalising himself from the event. Kurt Vonnegut covers the themes of trauma
and PTSD with several ways in the novel. First, with Billy’s distorted perception of
time where the events no longer follow a chronological order. Then with the narrative
style, where the author uses the protagonist Billy to access his painful memories and
using him as a psychological shield. Finally, with Tralfamadorians being used as a
symbol to emphasise the meaninglessness of war. Along with these, Vonnegut also
uses recurring motifs to demonstrate the inevitability of death and the absurdness of
war. Combining both real life experiences and fictional elements allowed Vonnegut to
establish a safe place in which he can communicate his painful past from a distance.
(6)

Bibliography

1 Slaughterhouse-Five

2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Vonnegut

3 https://youtu.be/cwwK7NmfF9w?si=hRAHmpqMLh0Fl2sS

4 https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd
5 https://www.ipl.org/essay/Billy-Pilgrims-Coping-Mechanisms-In-Slaughterhouse-
Five-FCYW2ZTUYT

6 https://studenttheses.universiteitleiden.nl/access/item%3A2624886/view
7 https://www.litcharts.com/lit/slaughterhouse-five/characters/tralfamadorians

8 https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/slaughter/section5/

9 https://iasj.net/iasj/download/a58ed35413b8377a

10 https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/slaughter/symbols/

11 https://www.indianapolismonthly.com/longform/slaughterhouse-five-50/