1. In the novel Slaughterhouse-Five, what do Vonnegut and Billy Pilgrim have in common?

Do they have any symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder in common?

What else, if anything, do they have in common?

Why is Vonnegut making the main character like himself in so many different ways?

2. In the novel Slaughterhouse-Five, what do Vonnegut and Kilgore Trout have in common?

Are their careers alike in any way? Are they both characters in the novel who show up as comic relief?

Why is Kilgore Trout important in this novel?

Why is comic relief so essential to the way Vonnegut thinks in this novel?

Is there any unexpected value to the comic elements?

3. Vonnegut inserts actual history into his novel in many key moments.

In the beginning, Vonnegut’s friend recites a passage from a popular history book from 1841,

Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds by Mackay (20).

Near the end, the character who is the official air force historian character, Rumfoord,

reads the actual history book by David Irving, The Destruction of Dresden (239-40).

This history book includes forewords by a U.S.A.F. Lieutenant General and a British Air Marshall.

What kinds of points of view do these other authors represent?

What is Vonnegut trying to achieve by bringing in so much history?

What other historical elements really matter in this novel?
{You can read the actual book by David Irving, The Destruction of Dresden, online for free here

or go to http://www.fpp.co.uk/books/Dresden/

4. At least two characters in Slaughterhouse-Five show many elements or symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Can you talk about the characters’ symptoms and why they are important to the themes of this novel?

You can see the official PTSD criteria from the American Psychiatric Association at

http://www.mental-health-today.com/ptsd/dsm.htm