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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
This 7-page paper attempts to answer if Billy Pilgrim in Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five is suffering from psychosis/schizophrenia or post-traumatic stress disorder. Bibliography lists 3 sources.
Page Count:
7 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_MTbillrose.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
an interesting amount of controversy. Centered around a life history event (the bombing of Dresden during World War II) and concerning a character named Billy Pilgrim (who was largely autobiographical),
the novel centers around what could be considered the main characters "coping" mechanisms when it comes to dealing with the event. Since the books release in the late 1960s, critics
have tried to pick apart the meaning and metaphors of everything from Billy Pilgrims in-the-mind time travels, to his grasp (or lack thereof) of his real life. But were Billys
escapades the result of madness, withdrawal and insanity? Or could they be indicative of something else, namely post traumatic stress disorder, which might have required a different mind-set and approach?
Needless to say, PTSD wasnt really considered a "syndrome" when Billy Pilgrim first hit the bookstores. But since that time, Slaughterhouse Five
scholars, researchers and readers have attempted to decipher Vonneguts real meaning behind his heros escapades (Simpson 265). Vonnegut, himself, never really gave
any indication about Billys world, though interviews with the author have revealed how deeply the battle of Dresden scarred him. In one instance, he talks about digging into basements and
shelters to get corpses out "as a sanitary measure," is how he puts it (Hayman et al). Even more gruesome was his description of the prisoners of war sent in
to collect valuables from the dead, which was followed by German soldiers torching the corpses -- and their homes (Hayman et al).
In an interview, Vonnegut also hinted that what he likely couldnt believe, or take in, what hed seen, which was one reason why he hadnt jumped right in to
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