Use of Literary Elements in Slaughterhouse-Five Essay Example for Free

subroutine of Literary Elements in S jestho single-valued function-Five EssaySlaughterhouse-Five1993. The true test of harlequinade is that it shall awaken thoughtful laughter. Choose a novel, play, or long poem in which a scene or character awakens thoughtful laughter in the reader. Write an essay in which you show why this laughter is thoughtful and how it contri just nowes to the meaning of the work. side of meat author George Meredith wrote, The true test of comedy is that it shall awaken thoughtful laughter. Slaughterhouse-Five would have been quite the comedy in Merediths eyes, because it is an extremely satirical work. Satire is writing that ridicules human weakness in order to produce or so social reform. Ridicule, in this case, is humorous mockery of something, making people thoughtfully laugh somewhat the situations which these characters find themselves in. In the Kurt Vonnegut novel Slaughterhouse-Five, the main character Billy wants only to have a customary Am erican life, but his studies to become an optometrist atomic number 18 interrupted by his being drafted into the army during area War II and, as a pris championr of war, experiences the tragic bombing of Dresden. Then, he begins regular travels to the major planet Tralfamadore. He also begins to become unstuck in time he is time traveling. This essay discusses the use of jeering in Slaughterhouse-Five to communicate to the reader the newspapers which are addressed in the book.In chapter four of Slaughterhouse-Five, satire is use through the comic depiction of a war film depicting the process of falling bombs, all the way from mining the materials needed to retain the bombs, to dropping them, to the planes landing back where they came from (74-75). This film, though, is described as it played backwards, as if somebody is rewinding a VHS cassette. Comic relief is the inclusion of something humorous often to turn out the emotional impact by means of contrast. The war film, when played backwards, conveys a very good topic, but is lightened by the diverting and strange description of the reverse playing of the film.Comic relief is utilize to make the reader laugh and pay attention to what in other situations would be a very teetotal and boring scene, and likely believe about it later. This part of the story addresses the destruction of war, a main composingof Slaughterhouse-Five. By the use of comic relief, the reader is forced not to ignore the scene for fear of having to think about the destruction of war, satirically pointing out the readers distaste for tough topics such as the destruction of war. It also explicitly, yet not grossly, highlights the destruction of, specifically, dropping bombs as a wartime tactic.Farce is a comedy characterized by improbable plot situations, exaggerated characters, and broad satire. In Slaughterhouse-Five, one of the many instances of burlesque is the character Howard W. Campbell, Jr. (128-131). Campbell is an ex- prisoner of war who has turned his support to the Germans and is trying to form a unit of Americans who hawk their allegiance to the Germans to fight against the Russian Communists. In his ridiculous and highly symbolic outfit, he tries to appeal to the American prisoners of war his ideas that the Germans are fighting for many of the same purposes as the Americans against the Communists. Because of the outrageous and humourous nature of Campbell, one is forced to think about the rash idealism which he stands for.Farce in this situation is used to denounce the metanarratives that are taught in war. It first emphasizes the craziness of the German ideal, and then the dogmatic wills of the Americans who do anything to ingeminate their hatred for Communists. Then, when Edgar Derby, the leader of the American prisoners of war, stands up to speak against Campbell, the section is used to denounce the post- beingness War I anti-German metanarrative.B lack comedy is the combining of morbid and serious topics with elements of low comedy to underscore the senseless futility of life. It is used as a form of comic relief in Slaughterhouse-Five while Billy is on a plane on the way to the convention of optometrists (155-156). His father-in-law asks the barbershop quartet to sing his favorite song. The song is quite comical and uses lots of low humor, such as cursing and parodying Polish accents. This reminds the author of a very serious time when Billy saw a Polish man being hanged in the street during World War II for having sexual intercourse with a German woman. The reader is pulled in by the funny song which is then related to the very serious topic of racial discrimination and hate. This connects to the theme of the horridness of racial hatred.Irony is something that is opposite of what is meant, what is supposed to happen, or what makes sense. In Slaughterhouse-Five, irony occurs in the Kilgore Trout story about Jesus (109). He is a nobody, and for fun, the Romans cr ucify him. Then, they realize that he is the son of God and that he was an calamitous person to kill. This causes the reader to rethink everything they have thought about the the gospel of Jesus Christ and publish will, and also to laugh about their ignorance of this new idea of what really happened in the beginning of the New Testament.The theme addressed by this short story is that nobody is completely sure of what is going on, and somebody else such as God must be in charge, thus, there is no free will. Many themes are addressed in Kurt Vonneguts novel, Slaughterhouse-Five, like the denunciation of the metanarratives popularized during war, the disagreement with the legitimacy of the destruction of war, the horribleness of racial hatred, and the lack of free will. These topics are discussed in Slaughterhouse-Five through the use of humorous elements such as black comedy and farce. One may choose to think about these very important themes, and maybe they will extend to ones lif e.