An Existential Examination of the Postmodern Individual in Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five (1969)

Abstract

This dissertation undertakes an analytical approach to examine Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse five and its depiction of the postmodern individual in an existential condition. Since most research has primarily focused on reading the novel through a thematically-based approach that has been primarily aimed at reading themes of war and existence, our dissertation seeks to situate the novel within a larger critical context that tackles different philosophical views engendered mainly from existentialism. The latter helps us understand how Vonnegut conceives of a postmodern individual's struggle within an existential condition. The complexity of Vonnegut‘s fictional vision drives us to focus on the experience of the protagonist Billy Pilgrim, and trace his ceaseless endeavors to liberate himself from the confinements of existential bummers. In order to demonstrate Vonnegut‘s intricate perception of a postmodern condition, tropes like purpose, freewill, time and predestination are to be discussed, in relation with Nietzsche‘s and Fankl‘s concepts of ‗amor fati‘ and ‗logotherapy‘, in order to highlight their significance in understanding the protagonist‘s experience