Free Will In Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five

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An aspect of American culture that Kurt Vonnegut blatantly criticizes throughout his book,“Slaughterhouse-Five”, is the illusion of free will within society. The question of whether free will exists is one of the oldest in the history of Western philosophy and an eminent part of American society and culture. The United States is built on the honorable ideals of democracy which is inclusive of the ability to make your own decisions, and Vonnegut denounces this idealism through his descriptions of the inevitability of war and the death that comes with and his creation of the Tralfamadorians in his book.
One of the greatest conflicts in the war is the issue of free will and this demonstrates Vonnegut’s strong belief in the lack of choice and the …show more content…
These otherworldly beings believe that they would not have “any idea what was meant by free-will” if it wasn’t for Earthlings because “only on Earth is there any talk of free will” (86). The inhabitants of these other planets recognize they are incapable of making choices while Earthlings “are offended by the idea of being machines” since the value of independent thinking is so deeply ingrained in their society (86). Vonnegut, however, firmly believes in the exact opposite and instead uses his book to promote the idea that all the moments in our life are already planned out. The Tralfamadorians compare people to bugs “trapped in the amber of the moment” because the insects didn't have a choice when they became entrapped. This analogy perfectly sums up how the “moment simply is” (176). The Tralfamadorians and their belief in destiny also relieves Billy Pilgrim of moral responsibility to change the world. Vonnegut attempts to demonstrate how things simply happen to us, whether we want them to or not because everything in our life is already predetermined by fate. Kurt Vonnegut has a strong message regarding America‘s unwavering belief in free will and in “Slaughterhouse-Five”, he propagates the view that free will is nonexistent and that our future is actually prewritten. Through his perception of the war and his creation of the absurd Tralfamadorians in his book, Vonnegut is mocking the belief in the ability to make decisions and therefore promoting the idea of pre-written
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