Kurt Vonnegut does not attempt to represent violence. In fact, his writing style signifies that the unstated is of most importance when it comes to matters of violence. That is to say, one must read in between the lines to gather the full understanding of Vonnegut’s expressions, or rather inexpression of violence of war. Vonnegut’s writing style directly correlates to the notions that violence cannot be accurately represented. Ultimately, this suggests that Slaughterhouse Five’s larger theme at work is that the violence of war is a trauma that is utterly unrepresentable.
In majority of Slaughterhouse Five, Billy Pilgrim’s explanations are done in a matter-of-fact way. Whether this be about time travel, his family’s tragedies, or about the …show more content…
Due to Vonnegut’s use of basic diction, it is almost assured that his use of words is selective. Meaning, every word that is utilized within the novel holds significance. For example, the word “unexpectedly” comes unanticipated, as does what follows it. To use such a word when beginning to uncover Billy Pilgrim’s first noted traumatic occurrence is nothing short of a coincidence. In addition, Kurt Vonnegut’s unchronological ordered series of events places the audience into a state of unbalance and wariness. Much like the unexpectedness of trauma, one can never truly expect the next set of events from Slaughterhouse Five, despite being based on historical events. Billy’s unexpected experience is a trauma in and of itself. It can now be seen that the word “unexpectedly” is now the embodiment of trauma and every word hereafter will be used to explicate …show more content…
One can reason that the result of his pseudo time traveling is linked to the plane accident that resulted in a brain injury, that his time traveling is merely related to the experiences he had in the war. With this in mind, though, it is safe to assume that any passage in which Billy remembers the war outside of the process of time travel will prove to be one of trauma. The anniversary party of Billy and Valencia meets this criteria. Following an unidentified PTSD attack, “Billy thought hard about the effect the quartet had had on him, and they found an association with an experience he had had long ago. He did not travel in time to the experience. He remembered it shimmeringly- as follows…”