Kurt Vonnegut, one of the most popular science fiction writers of his time, is known for his antiwar themes in most of his novels and for his use of dark humor and satire to prove that war is a horrible thing. Kurt Vonnegut's view on war stems from his experience as a prisoner of war during the bombing of Dresden in World War II when over a hundred thousand innocent civilians were killed by the United States. Throughout his books, Kurt Vonnegut reiterates that war is evil and is harmful to society by showing its effects on society and individuals. In the science fiction novels Slaughterhouse-Five, Cat's Cradle, and Breakfast of Champions, Kurt Vonnegut uses an antiwar theme that war is like cancer to society and our planet, in order to prove that war is not justifiable under any consequence.
In Slaughterhouse-Five, the main character is a veteran who has flashbacks to when he was in World War II. He wants to write a book to expose how the US killed hundreds of thousands of innocent German civilians but he can't remember much about his experience because it was so horrible that he purposely suppressed the memories. Billy Pilgrim, the main character, is a symbol that most soldiers who return home from war that have a difficult time merging back into society because the carnage of war is enough to drive a man insane. The effects war has on a person is evident through Billy, who also represents Kurt because Kurt was once a prisoner of war. Billy turns to alcohol to solve his problems which ends up not doing him any good. Kurt Vonnegut stresses that Billy is a drunk because being a drunk in that time period was like rock bottom, and after he goes to war he comes back home and hits rock bottom. Billy suffers from post traumatic stress disorder but he still tries to merge back into everyday society, and fails. Portraying the effects of war as damaging contributes to the antiwar theme because it means that after you go to war, you're never the same again.