We laugh in self defense...

The Atlantic Monthly called Kurt Vonnegut, “Our finest black humorist.” They also said, “… We laugh in self defense.” Upon first review of why they would say such a thing, it seems to be quite a broad statement. In reality, the answer is quite simple. We laugh because we find ourselves and possibly more importantly we find truth written into the pages of Slaughterhouse-Five. Vonnegut wrote a classic when he wrote Slaughterhouse-Five because he wrote a story that is timeless; it is true across time and people, age and race. Many of the characters are made to be disliked. There is no better example than Roland Weary. He is fat and mean. Even Billy Pilgrim’s daughter is described as a “bitchy flibbertigibbet (page 36)”. I believe that these characters are not made to be liked, but made so that we can all find a part of us in them, and we are not meant to find a part of us that we like. Vonnegut points out the flaws in us all so that the only thing left to do is laugh at ourselves. Maybe we see ourselves in Roland Weary, a loner who only wants true friends. Or maybe we see ourselves in Billy Pilgrim, a man who is never really satisfied with his life. Regardless of whom you find yourself in, it is hard to deny the truth found in this book. Vonnegut is a fatalist and writes that illusion is only free will. This is best seen when Billy Pilgrim’s dad tossed him into the pool sink or swim, “He lost consciousness, but the music went on. He dimly sensed that somebody was rescuing him. Billy resented that (Page 55).” Billy wanted to give up in that moment, that was his will, but someone stopped him from giving up by rescuing him. Vonnegut also uses the Tralfamadorians, aliens who can see in the fourth dimension, to explain to us that there is really no such thing as free will. The Tralfamadorians see all of life happening simultaneously rather than on a timeline that has a beginning and end. To see life in that respect is to understand that nothing can be done to change your life. Your life time has already spanned to your death by the time you are born. Robert Scholes says it best when he writes about Slaughterhouse-Five for the New York Times Book Review, “Be kind. Don't hurt. Death is coming for all of us anyway, and it is better to be Lot's wife looking back through salty eyes than the Deity that destroyed those cities of the plain in order to save them.”