Slaughterhouse Five Discussion Questions

[Clovis]

1. What are your thoughts on the narrator so far?
2. What are your thoughts on Billy Pilgrim so far?
3. The narrator has a saying that he expresses throughout the story, “So it goes.” Why do you think he says this?
4. Early on in the story, the character named Mary O’Hare expresses her hatred towards wars and believes they are, in a way, slightly romanticized. Would you agree with this?
5. The narrator occasionally mentions details that are irrelevant to the story. For example, at the beginning of chapter 3, he mentions the female German Shepherd named Princess that seemed afraid at war. Why do you think he mentions this?
6. One of Vonnegut’s preoccupations seems to be the nature of time. What relationship (if any) do you think there is between the nature of war and the fragmented chronology that Vonnegut employs?
7. How much of Vonnegut himself is in Billy Pilgrim? Is Pilgrim a direct stand-in for Vonnegut, or does he only have some of the qualities of the writer?
8. What are some of Billy Pilgrim’s distinguishing character traits?
9. What are some of your favorite lines, passages, scenes, or characters?
10. What role does religion play in this story? (significance of the name Pilgrim?)
Epigraph to the novel (“The cattle are lowing / The Baby awakes..”) is from the Christian song “Away in a Manger”
11. What do you think about Billy Pilgrim’s relationship with his mom?
12. What are your thoughts on the following passage: “That is the attractive thing about war… Absolutely everybody gets a little something.”
13. What do you think of the human zoo on Tralfamadore?
14. What is the significance of Billy Pilgrim “becoming Cinderella” by putting on the silver boots?
15. How does Vonnegut critique and parody Christianity in Chapter 5 (The Gospel from Outer Space)?
16. How does Billy’s non-linear perception of time change the way that he acts in the world?
17. How are the Americans portrayed in relation to the British, German, and Russian soldiers that they interact with? How are the differences between the cultures portrayed?