After finishing Slaughterhouse-Five this past week, and deciding to put together my book talk power point about it, I've come to realize more of Vonnegut's overall themes for the book. It was most definitely an anti-war book-- that was clear up front. But, even more so, Vonnegut spits out some huge themes about society, free will, and religion. Every single mention of death in the book, especially after the bombing of Dresden, was followed by the statement "So it goes." I think Vonnegut could have meant to convey one of two ideas. Either, (1) that people did not realize how much death really occurs in war and that war and death should not be taken lightly or (2) that all death is simply something that happens, and that it cannot be prevented by any means. Actually, now that I think about it, he might have been trying to say both. I'm not totally sure. But he does bring about an interesting concept of free will: that everything that happens is going to happen no matter what, and that choice is an illusion.
Also, I thought it was cool that Kurt Vonnegut was from Indiana, and says so quite a few times in the book.
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