The Incapability of Time and History in Slaughterhouse-Five

Abstract

Slaughterhouse-Five written by Kurt Vonnegut is a science fiction that depicts the depicts the main character Billy Pilgrims time travelling after experiencing the bombing of Dresden. This paper interprets the relationship between Billy Pilgrim and Kilgore Trout based on Fredric Jamesons theory of mode of pastiche and nostalgia to analyse the incapability of time and history reflected from Billy Pilgrim. From the strategy of presenting this relationship, a wildly shared postmodern character can be suggested, which is the incapability of time and history in the contemporary society. Furthermore, this paper discusses Kurt Vonneguts dilemmatic stance towards the postmodern symptom and the contemporary society by explaining the writers condition in postmodern time. The paper aims to concretize the connection between Slaughterhouse-Five and the contemporary representation in general.