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Situational Irony
Style
Explanation and Analysis:
Slaughterhouse-Five is written in an easy-to-understand, colloquial diction. The story is often understood as being targeted to young adults as a result of this diction. Similarly, the story follows many science fiction conventions. Vonnegut, however, attempted to distance himself from both the "young adult" and the "science fiction" label, preferring readers take his work as it is. Nevertheless, the diction is similar to that of other young adult and science fiction novels.
The point of view changes throughout the story, beginning and ending with the narrator's first-person perspective while the rest of the story is written from a third-person omniscient perspective centering on Billy Pilgrim. The switch in perspective frames the story and contributes to the autobiographical elements of the novel by positioning the narrator as a stand-in for Vonnegut.
While the diction reads easily, the plot can be harder to follow given the constant jumps in time and the non-realist elements. Vonnegut's anachronistic approach to Slaughterhouse-Five, with short scenes and frequent time jumps that string together vignette-like scenes into a complete narrative, dominates the novel's structure and style. This structure is akin to the Tralfamadorian books which Billy describes in a meta-reference to Slaughterhouse-Five itself. The significance of this structure can not be overstated: it takes the reader on a journey that blends the real and the fictional, juxtaposing the harsh reality of war with the non-reality of science fiction.
Vonnegut also makes abundant use of figurative language, with frequent similes and metaphors. Whether portraying the brutality of war or the fantastical nature of the Tralfamadorians, Vonnegut as author and narrator is frequently forced to describe the almost indescribable and turns toward figurative language to do so.
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