Slaughterhouse: Organization

Slaughterhouse Five
Kurt Vonnegut

"Now Billy was starting to get worried about it, about his mind in general. He tried to remember how old he was, couldn't. He tried to remember what year it was. He couldn't remember that either," (Vonnegut, 58).

Continuing with the organization of the first section, the second section is likewise jumbled, choppy, and repetitive. The speaker seems to be recalling memories without regard for how to properly organize these thoughts into a manner appropriate for a book. However, it is important to remember that Billy Pilgrim is not the narrator of his own story. There is an omniscient narrator who is simply telling the life of the man from an outside perspective.

However, it adds to the overall meaning of the work because it allows the reader to experience the journey through the creative process of the author. By writing the novel as it comes to mind, the author is creating a work that is an honest and bare-bones piece of literature. Along with the rawness off the book, too, is the ability for the reader to relate to the struggle of the author to recall the details included in the book. By struggling to even follow along at some points, the reader is able to understand the mentality of the author. With this mentality, the reader gains an insight into a mind that has been ravaged by the terrors of war. The seeming lack of organization purposely causes the reader to associate the mindset of the author with one of a soldier returned from war. It makes the story much more believable and relatable, and it helps to convey the overall tone of the novel.