Slaughterhouse five is a fine screening of the kurt vonneguts best known novel about an oddball who once was a war prisoner in dresden. Slaughterhouse five by kurt vonnegut des moines social club july 28 july 31, 2011 directed by yvette zarod hermann asst director naima nicholson stage manager peter stechman slaughterhouse 5. Mid book test easy final test easy mid book test medium final test medium. Billy, some other americans, and a few german guards hide in the basement of slaughterhousefive during the bombing and manage to escape unharmed. Bertram copeland rumfoord in slaughterhousefive shmoop.
To whom does vonnegut make the promise that he will call his book the childrens crusade. Vonnegut writes an antiwar book in slaughterhouse five, but not with the expectation that it will stop future wars. A pacifist, a soldier, a prisoner of war, and an optometrist someone who prescribes corrective lenses for people who have visual defects, billy is the epitome of a mildmannered everyman who adapts to lifes situations rather than challenge them. He and billy have beds next to each other in the hospital. Or rather, he doesnt have the heroic qualities usually associated with the main soldier in a story about wartime. In the book, the destruction of dresden, what does the forward state. Lily rumfoord c his daughter, barbara d his son, robert. In this passage in the book, billy pilgrim and the other prisoners of war are being taken back into dresden after the bombing to work clearing the wreckage and recovering bodies. Lily leaves rumfoord, joins the growing womens movement, and dances braless through harvard yard. He serves as a chaplains assistant in world war ii, is captured by the germans, and he survives the largest massacre in european historythe fire bombing of dresden. I once read that in some american school theyve burnt all vonneguts books and i can see why he was an honest writer and was telling truth and this slaughterhouse five is an honest bitter comedy. But instead of telling us directly that rumfoord is a dirtbag as he does with roland weary, the narrator lets rumfoords. He asks to interview billy for the book hes writing.
He was working on a onevolume history of the united states army air corps in world war two. Slaughterhousefive is a condemnation of war, and vonneguts decision to dedicate the novel in part to mary suggests how deeply he agrees with her that the ugly truth about war must be told. Perfect prep for slaughterhouse five quizzes and tests you might have in school. Chapter 10 there were barricades on the main roads leading into the ruins.
Slaughterhouse five kurt vonnegut my junior year of college, i had a roommate, don, his nickname was har don which he hated. The texts that lily brings to rumfoord are used by vonnegut to demonstrate the official response to the brutality of world war ii. Premade tests on slaughterhousefive final test easy, including multiple choice, short answer, short essay, and indepth essay questions. Billy is the main character of slaughterhousefive, but hes not exactly the hero of the book. Settingcharacter list for slaughterhousefive free study. The slaughterhouse five quotes below are all either spoken by bertram c. Billys roommate in the hospital is bertram copeland rumfoord, a harvard history professor who is working on a history of the us air corps in wwii. He was seventy years old and married to a 23 year old named lily, his fifth wife. His most popular book was about sex and strenuous athletics for men over sixtyfive.
The narrator issorry to spoil it for youpretty much kurt vonnegut. A list of all the characters in slaughterhousefive. Rumfoords fifth wife, lily, who is twentythree rumfoord is 70, brings him books to read. He has a very young, pretty, dumb girlfriend, lily. Rumfoords wife, lily, brings bertram books for the history of the united states army air corps in world war ii that he is writing. Rumfoord is the official air force historian and a retired brigadier general.
This, along with the way rumfoord treats billy, paint him in. As i read this book i couldnt help but think that these women were only mentioned to make the men in this book. Hon english iii slaughterhouse five questions flashcards. Har don loved kurt vonnegut no, he worshipped kurt vonnegut. She brings him books for his work but barely knows how to read herself. Billy pilgrim the central character of slaughterhousefive. Rumfoord had a wife his fifth who was 23, lily rumfoord worked on writing war books and was working on one about the air corps in world war ii the reader learns rumfoord was a brigadier general in the air force reserve, an author to twentysix books, and a millionaire since birth. The screenplay is by stephen geller and the film was directed by george roy hill.
Lily came into billys and rumfoord s room with an armload of books. Barbara pilgrim billys daughter, newly married at the age of twentyone, who is faced with the sudden death of her mother and the apparent mental breakdown of her father. Bertram copeland rumfoord is an air force veteran with many medals and a wellknown airforce historian who is trying to condense the twentyseven volume air force history of world war ii into a book. He is in vermont honeymooning with his fifth wife lily who is twentythree years old. Another important setting in the book is the planet of. Slaughterhouse five chapters 910 summary slaughterhouse five by kurt vonnegut chapters 910 summary and analysis.
He was honeymooning with his fifth wife, lily, who was twentythree. The simple minded lily asks rumfoord a very important question. It stars michael sacks, ron leibman, and valerie perrine, and features eugene roche, sharon gans. The bombing of dresden was a great tragedy but a military necessity. Only on earth is there any talk of free will, the man was all alone in the nighta ragbag with a round, flat face that glowed like a radium dial. During his stay, the city is bombed and totally destroyed. Slaughterhouse five is a condemnation of war, and vonneguts decision to dedicate the novel in part to mary suggests how deeply he agrees with her that the ugly truth about war must be told. Start studying hon english iii slaughterhouse five questions. If you can read this dudes name without snickering, youre way ahead of us. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one. Slaughterhousefive is a 1972 science fiction film based on kurt vonneguts novel of the same name about a writer who tells a story in random order of how he was a soldier in world war ii and was abducted by aliens. The battle of the laboratories held fateful risks for us as well as the battles of the air, land, and sea, and we have now won the battle of the laboratories as we have won the other battles.
Slaughterhousefive is the sixtyseventh entry to the american library associations list of the most frequently challenged books of 19901999 and number fortysix on the alas most frequently challenged books of 20002009. Rumfoord is writing a book about the role of the u. Gerhard muller the nonfictional taxi driver who takes vonnegut and ohare back to their dresden slaughterhouse. Bertram copeland rumfoordwho originally appears in another of vonneguts books, the sirens of titan 1959is an incredibly energetic 70yearold with a hottie 23threeyearold wife. Rumfoord s 23yearold fifth wife, lily brings her husband books in the hospital and pretends to read from president trumans announcement of the atomic bombing of hiroshima, though she is a poor reader. Its ironic since everything don believed in was the antithesis of what vonnegut stood for.
He winds up breaking a leg in a skiing accident in vermont at the same time that billy has his plane crash. Kurt vonnegut quotes author of slaughterhousefive page. Lily rumfoord is frightened of billy, but she lies silent in the next bed as a symbol of the scope of powerlessness and lack of free will. Kurt vonnegut may have married her to an intolerable narcissist in slaughterhouse five, but this former gogo girl has a mind of her own. The book also mentions that lily is rumfoord s fifth wife. Lily is scared of billy, who talks in his sleep, and rumfoord finds him boring. He has his young wife, lily, bring him books about the war, and read him. Slaughterhouse five photo blog wednesday, may 15, 20. Rumfoord thinks strong men make the world and the weak deserve to dieexactly the kind of vicious view that slaughterhousefive seems to have been written to reject. One of these is a book about the bombing of dresden in which the author argues that, though the destruction of the city was perhaps an unnecessary tragedy, the men responsible for it were neither. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Since rumfoord is unwilling to treat billy with respect, lily is forced to serve as an interpreter between the two.
In slaughterhouse 5 by kurt vonnegut, vonnegut has little to no female characters, and the only female characters he has are looked down upon or are there for the simple fact of reproduction, clearly depicting the image of women. Around when valencia was pronounced dead, lily came in with an armload of history books for rumfoord, who was writing about battles that had happened before she was born. Air force historian, and that he is attempting to condense a 27volume history of the air force into one volume. Rumfoord makes lily read trumans statement on the necessity. The books are about famous bombings and sky battles and rumfoord plans to use them in his. One of the books that lily had brought rumfoord was the destruction of dresden, by an englishman named david irving. For the first time in the book, he shows initiative and a desire to actively help others around him. Lily rumfoord is, along with maggie white, is a hotbutdumb woman who attaches herself to a powerful man.
Top american libraries canadian libraries universal library community texts project gutenberg biodiversity heritage library childrens library. The following paper topics are designed to test your understanding of the book as a whole and analyze. Full text of slaughterhouse five or the childrens crusade. Lily is not very bright, but rumfoord respects her and listens to her. Rumfoord was a retired brigadier general in the air force reserve, the official air force historian, a full professor, the author of twentysix books, a multimillionaire since birth, and one of the great competitive sailors of all time. This quote portrays lily as a trophy wife who rumfoord doesnt care about and only married because she was young and pretty, and it made him look good to be with her. After the war billy makes a great deal of money as an optometrist, and on his wedding night he is kidnapped by a flying saucer from the planet tralfamadore.
Army air corps in world war ii, and his 23yearold wife lily brings him research materials. Slaughterhousefive chapters 910 summary and analysis. At the moment that valencia is pronounced dead lily enters the room with a stack of library books for rumfoord. She is the 23yearold wife of 70yearold bertram copeland rumfoord.
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