Kurt Vonnegut was born on Nov. 11, 1922 in Indianapolis, Indiana to German-American
parents. Right out of High School he matriculated to Cornell University. While at Cornell,
he enlisted in the U.S. Army. When he was in his early twenties, his mother committed
suicide overdosing on sleeping pills on Mother’s Day 1944. Undoubtedly, this
unfortunate event marked the writer and would later be reflected in his novels as the
recurring theme of death, its unexpectedness, unavoidability and often ironical timing.
Other factors affected Vonnegut and are reflected in the novel Slaughterhouse-Five.
Serving as a private in the 423rd Infantry Regiment during WWII, he was captured
in the Battle of the Bulge. As a prisoner of war, Vonnegut lived first hand many of the
incidents he describes in the novel such as the bombing of Dresden and its aftermath.
As a lifetime member of the American Civil Liberties Union, Vonnegut was influenced
by socialist themes and this also comes through in the novel as the theme of human
dignity for all.
The Vietnam War and the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King
were factors that undoubtedly affected Vonnegut. He actually begins chapter 10 of
Slaughterhouse-Five with a retelling of these incidents. He describes how everyday
his government gives him a count of the “corpses created by military science in
Vietnam.” The assassinations of the two political leaders further reflects the theme of
death.
The recurring symbol of Tralfamadore with its time traveling aliens as well as the
character of the sci-fi writer, Kilgore Trout, were no doubt inspired by the interest in
UFOs and all things science fiction prevalent not only in the U.S., but in the entire
world around the time this novel was written.
Kurt Vonnegut died on April 11, 2007 from a brain injury in Manhattan, NY.
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