Slaughterhouse Five Lesson Plan

Why do you think Vonnegut included Billy being placed in a Tralfamadorian zoo in the book?

Astute readers will make a connection between Billy as a POW in captivity and Billy in a zoo on Tralfamadore in captivity. While Billy’s experience as a POW included a lot of struggle, violence, and hardship (that seems to have caused mental instability), the same is not true for his experience in the zoo. In the zoo, Billy wasn’t any less happy than he was on earth—or so he told the Tralfamadorians. He even developed an intimacy with a young actress in the zoo. This line of thought provides insight into a traumatized soldier’s quality of life post-war. In the 1950s and 1960s,...