Slaughterhouse-Five Study Guide Questions

How does Mary O'Hare initially react to Vonnegut's plan for writing the book? Why? What changes her mind?

She's angry because she thinks his book will glamorize war and be produced as a movie that will make people think that war is powerful. He tells her that his book will not be written for actors and that he will call it "The Children's Crusade," indicating the portrayal of the horrors rather than the glories of war.

While at his eighteenth wedding anniversary party, what triggers Bill's memory of the bombing of Dresden? Why?

A barbershop quartet singing "That Old Gang of Mine." It reminds him of the four German guards after the bombing as they looked around, realizing they had lost everyone they loved.

Where were the American prisoners housed in Dresden? Why is this significant?

They were housed in a slaughterhouse; this is where Vonnegut gets the name for his novel.

Identify the Battle of the Bulge survivors in this chapter and explain how they react.

Billy Pilgrim: weak, incapable, wants to be left alone. Roland Weary: brutal, controlling, thrives on dreams of glory, is cruel to Billy. Two American Scouts: capable, authoritative, self-interested, unwilling to wait for Billy and Weary, and leave them to fend for themselves.

What is the source of candles and soaps the American receive from the English prisoners? How do you think the Americans feel when they learn this? How would you react?

They were made from the fat of rendered Jews and other enemies of Germany.

Describe the German soldiers who capture Billy and Weary. Why do you think they are so poorly equipped?

Two are boys in their early teens, two are decrepit old men, and their commander is a war-weary, middle-aged corporal who has been wounded and patched up several times.

Identify Roland Weary's fantasy and explain why do you think this is important to him.

Weary fantasizes that he and the two scouts are the three musketeers, He portrays everything he wishes he could be rather than what he is in real life.

How does the English prisoner explain survival in a prison camp?

If you stop taking pride in your appearance, you will die. You should stand up straight, shave, and wash.

What is the epigraph of the novel? What do you think it symbolizes? Explain.

A Christmas Carol: "The cattle are lowing. The Baby awakes. But the little Lord Jesus. No crying He makes." Billy feels like the Christ child, who also saw things to cry about but made no sounds of crying. Billy weeps quietly and silently.

What does Billy retrieve from his muff?

A two-carat diamond and a partial denture.

Why do the English prisoners especially notice Billy?

Billy's coat is far too small, has a split in the back, and has a fur collar ans crimson.

Identify Bertram Rumfoord and explain his interaction with Billy. Why is this an example of irony?

Billy's roommate at the hospital where he is taken after the plane crash; Rumfoord is researching the Dresden bombing for a book he is writing. Irony: Rumfoord thinks Billy is crazy and says terrible things about him, yet Billy is an eyewitness to the Dresden bombing and can tell him exactly what happened.

Summarize Howard Campbell's speech to the American prisoners and Derby's rebuttal. Which do you think is the most effective? Why?

Campbell is an American who becomes a Nazi. In his speech, he talks about American patriots, offers the American prisoners wonderful food if they will defect to the Nazis, and tells them they are going to have to fight the Communists sooner or later so why not join the Nazis and fight them now. Derby, as if he is set for battle, calls Campbell a snake. He speaks about America's government, with freedom and justice for all, says all the Americans and Russians will join together to crush the disease of Nazism.

Identify and describe Edgar Derby and Paul Lazzaro.

Derby: oldest American prisoner, high school teacher, has a strong body, has a son in the war,dies. Lazarro: has worst body of all American prisoners, tiny, has rotten bones and teeth, disgusting skin, car thief, vows to make Billy pay for Weary's death.

What do Billy and the other American soldiers do two days after the end of World War II? Why does Billy call this the happiest day of his life? Explain.

He and five other American prisoners find a horse and wagon in a suburb of Dresden and are going back to Dresden for souvenirs. This is the happiest day of his life because he is safe, warm, has food, wine, and various possessions taken from deserted houses.

What happens to Roland Weary? Whom does he blame? Who vows to avenge him?

He dies from gangrene in his feet caused by having to walk through the snow because the German boy has his boots; Billy Pilgrim; Paul Lazzaro.

What happens to the hobo on the same prisoner train as Billy?Explain why this is an example of irony.

He dies; still saying that things could be worse.

Where does Billy go when he travels in time after arriving at the collecting place for American prisoners? What events occur? Which do you think is the most significant? Why? Explain.

He goes to his optometry office in 1967; he falls asleep while examining a patient, can't remember how old he is and what year it is. He expects World War II to start at any time, and becomes very frightened when he hears a siren; later he drives his Cadillac through a ghetto that reminds him of Dresden, attends a Lions Club meeting and hears a Marine major speak in support of the Vietnam War, goes home and begins to weep, watches the exploitation of some cripples.

What happens to Billy on the way to an optometry convention?

He is almost killed in a plane crash; he is unconscious for two days after his brain surgery for a concussion.

Identify Billy Pilgrim and summarize his life.

He is the only child of a barber, born in Ilium, New York; intelligent; infantryman who was a German prisoner in World War II; had a mental breakdown after the war, but eventually marries the daughter of the founder of a school for optometry; becomes a successful optometrist, has two children; believes he was captured by aliens and taken to the planet Tralfamadore.

Why did the narrator return to Germany? How long has it been since he was there? Who accompanies him?

He is writing a book about Dresden, where he was imprisoned in a slaughterhouse during the firebombing of that city during World War II; twenty-three years; an army buddy Bernard O'Hare.

Identify some indications that the narrator still suffers from the aftereffects of World War II.

He often reflects on the "death" of war, gets drunk late at night and tries to telephone old friends to reminisce about the war, constantly thinks about the massacre at Dresden, refers to soap and candles made from dead Jews, and attempts to find out the truth from Air Force officials.

What does Billy visualize as he "sees" a movie playing backward? What do you think this symbolizes? What happens to him right after this.

He sees American bombers in World War II as they travel in reverse. Dresden is no longer bombed, bombs are dismantled, and American fliers revert to high school students. Hitler and all humanity turn into babies, all the way back to Adam and Eve; Tralfamadorians kidnap him and take him to their planet.

What does the phrase " Billy Pilgrim has become unstuck in time" mean? What first causes Billy to do this? What do you think it signifies?Explain.

He wanders from one moment to another in his life; birth,death,and everything in between but with no chronological order. He has no control over when or where he is going next. The first time this happened it was on trek through the forest surviving the Battle of the Bulge. This could signify that time travel is a way of escaping his fear.

Who is Eliot Rosewater? How does he affect Billy's life? What do he and Billy have in common? Explain.

He was a man in the bed next to Bill's in the mental hospital. He introduces Billy to the science fiction writing of Kilgore Trout. They both suffer from the trauma of World War II.

Identify Howard Campbell and explain his significance in the novel.

He was an American who defected to Germans. He wrote propaganda monograph and tried to get American prisoners to desert. He eventually dies by hanging.

Identify Paul Lazzaro and explain his significance to the story.

He was brutal, vindictive, delighted in cruel revenge for assumed or actual wrongs. He had the worst body of any American prisoner of war. He blamed Bill for Roland Weary's death and vowed revenge. In time travel he or someone he hired kills Billy.

Explain the irony of the religious imagery in Kilgore Trout's book about a time machine that would take a man back to the time of Jesus.

In the book, a man can go back in time and see Jesus at age twelve when Roman soldiers come into Joseph's carpentry shop and ask him and Jesus to build a cross. Jesus dies on that cross.

What does the English prisoner tell the Americans about Dresden? Explain why this is an example of irony.

It is a beautiful city; they will have a more pleasant life there with plenty of food and more freedom; they won't have to worry about bombs because Dresden doesn't have any war industries or major troop concentrations. Irony: The city is bombed and destroyed about 30 days after the Americans arrive.

Why do you think Vonnegut ends the novel with "Poo-tee-weet"?

It signifies that there is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre.

What do you learn in this chapter about the destruction of Dresden? Which memory do you think most disturbs Vonnegut? Why? Explain.

Massive destruction left tons of human bone meal in the ground, the cab driver's mother was incinerated in the firestorm, Edgar Derby died by firing squad for taking a teapot that wasn't his, the massacre was worse than Hiroshima, and the true facts are still military top secret.

Who is Montana Wildhack? What do you think she symbolizes to Billy? Explain.

She is a beautiful American movie star who is captured by the Tralfamadorians and taken to their planet to be Billy's companion. She learns to love and trust Billy.

How did Valencia die?

She is hysterical while driving to the hospital after Billy is injured in a plane crash. She has an accident that rips away the exhaust of the car but continues driving to the hospital: she dies from carbon monoxide from her car.

Describe Billy's memories of the bombing of Dresden.

The American prisoners and four German guards are in a meat locker under the slaughterhouse; they hear sounds of high-explosive bombs striking the city; the bombs cause a firestorm that destroys everything. When the group emerges the next day, everyone is dead.

Describe the reception the English prisoners prepare for the Americans and its effect on Billy. Why do you think he reacts as he does? Explain.

The English prisoners bake,clean, set tables, prepare mattresses, and provide party favors for each American. They serve them a huge meal and present a musical version of "Cinderella" for entertainment. Billy becomes hysterical and he has to be taken the prison hospital, where he is given morphine and tied down.

What happens to the two American scouts who desert Billy and Weary?

The Germans shoot them.

Explain why you think that their deaths are ironic.

Their deaths are ironic because they seem the most likely to survive but are shot behind.

Who are the Tralfamadorians?

They are aliens who abduct Billy and take him to their planet.

What happens to the prisoners? Who is Wild Bob? Explain his significance to the story.

They are taken to a collecting point for American prisoners and are loaded onto boxcars for the trip into Germany. Wild Bob is a captured American colonel who is looking for his regiment, all of whom are dead; he dies from pneumonia; Wild Bob represents a leader who is more concerned about his men than about himself and he symbolizes the hopelessness and insanity of war.

What are Billy and the other prisoners required to do immediately after the bombing?

They have to go back to Dresden to dig for bodies, using picks, shovels, and crowbars.