Discussion Questions

Why are the last words of the novel “poo-tee-weet”? What statement is Vonnegut making by closing his text this way?
“And I asked myself about the present: how wide it was, how deep it was, how much was mine to keep” (p. 18) What kind of understanding does this show about time in Slaughterhouse-Five?
Why do you think the author chose to tell the story with time-traveling instead of in chronological form?
Why is the Tralfamadorian idea of time incompatible with free will?
How is free will demonstrated throughout the book?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kurt Vonnegut was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, on November 11, 1922. Vonnegut emerged as a novelist and essayist in the 1960s and penned the classics Cat’s Cradle, Slaughterhouse-Five and Breakfast of Champions before 1980. He is known for his satirical literary style, as well as the science-fiction elements in much of his work. In his early adulthood, Vonnegut served in Europe and fought in the Battle of the Bulge. After this battle, he was captured and became a prisoner of war. Vonnegut was in Dresden, Germany, during the Allied firebombing of the city and saw the complete devastation caused by it. Vonnegut himself escaped destruction only because he, along with other POWs, was working in an underground meat locker making vitamin supplements. Vonnegut died in New York City on April 11, 2007.

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