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Colby Arel

Mr.Smith

ELA

March 1, 2023

The Events of War Through Different Perspectives

The events of war are often incredibly terrifying and Horrific. To contrast this, writers

commonly use methods to distract the reader from the traumatic events that are taking place.

Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five is written about Billy Pilgrim, a man who fought in WWII,

and his struggles with trauma and how he copes with his experiences. Vonnegut uses a unique

writing style to express the brutality of war. He uses humor and light phrases throughout the

book to contrast the realities of war. Ocean Vuong’s Aubade with Burning City is from the

perspective of a child who is surrounded by war. Vuong uses the child’s innocence to contrast

with the surrounding horror. Kurt Vonnegut and Ocean Vuong write about the terrors of war,

however, they use different methods to contrast the horrific events.

Aubade with Burning City and Slaughterhouse-Five use devices to describe the trauma of

war through the perspective and perceptions of very different characters. Ocean Vuong is writing

through the eyes of an innocent child. He displays this by using the child’s lack of understanding;

“The treetops glisten and children listen, the chief of police facedown in a pool of Coca-Cola”

(Vuong). The child does not understand that the chief of police is actually dead. They perceive

the blood of the chief to be Coca-Cola as a result of the lack of knowledge they have. A child’s

perspective masks the horrifying reality of what is actually happening. Vuong intentionally uses

this perspective to give a different view of a traumatic event instead of simply describing the

event as it happens. Along with the perspective that Voung choses to write through, he uses the
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detail of a Christmas song playing to further contrast with the surrounding terror. Throughout the

poem, Vuong weaves the lyrics of White Christmas between the description of the child’s

experience: “The song moving through the city like a widow. A white… A white… I’m dreaming

of a curtain of snow” (Vuong). The use of the song is another layer of contrast that Vuong uses to

tell the story. The joyful song is ironic considering the event it is playing over. The song

combined with the perspective the story is being told through, creates a very unique poem that

isn’t simply focused on the reality of the situation. Kurt Vonnegut is writing through a very

different perspective. The perspective of a soldier experiencing war means that there is no

innocence masking the situation. However, Vonnegut still uses methods to contrast the events of

war. Throughout Slaughterhouse-Five, the phrase “So it goes”(Vonnegut) is used after every

death that happens in the story. “So it goes” is Vonnegut’s way of portraying the idea that events

are bound to happen and nothing can be done to change that. The phrase itself plays down the

idea of death and makes death less traumatizing to Billy Pilgrim. This has the same effect as

Vuong describing a pool of blood as Coca-Cola, but is done in a different way. Vuong and

Vonnegut’s texts achieve the same goal of playing down the idea of death and the trauma of war,

but that goal is reached in different ways.

Both Vonnegut and Vuong use unique writing styles to show the impact trauma has on

their character. Vonnegut uses Billy Pilgrim’s experiences with “time travel” to show how trauma

has affected his perception of the world after the war: “Billy has gone to sleep a senile widower

and awakened on his wedding day. He has walked through a door in 1955 and come out another

one in 1941. He has gone back through that door to find himself in 1963.” (Vonnegut, 10) Billy

is not actually time traveling, the idea that he is comes from his struggle to cope with the trauma

he has from his past. Vonnegut never directly writes that the time travel is in Billy’s head, this is
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because he is writing from Billy’s perspective who believes that this is real. The time travel helps

Vonnegut to describe the events in Billy’s life that add to how he views the world. Vuong also

uses unique writing styles in his work. However, he does so in a different way that helps his own

writing come together. Aubade with Burning City is not structured like a standard poem, Vuong

uses creative styling to emphasize certain parts of the poem: “A helicopter lifting the living just

out of reach.” (Vuong) The creative way that Vuong puts space before writing “out of reach”

gives his poem a different style than others. He adds similar features throughout the poem, they

are another form of contrast to the traumatic subject of the poem. The creative style along with

the child’s perspective and the playing of White Christmas give the poem an almost joyful and

light feel when the reader looks past the real scene. The young child is not impacted by their

situation in the way that Billy Pilgrim is by his, so Vuong writes in a way that portrays that.

Vonnegut and Vuong portray the impact that trauma has on their character through their creative

writing styles.

Aubade with Burning City and Slaughterhouse-Five are written through the perspectives

of very different characters. However, Vuong and Vonnegut are able to accurately contrast the

horrors of their stories in very similar ways through creative styling and unique details. These

stories show the impact that trauma has on people, depending on their level of understanding of

what they are witnessing. They also show the readers unique perspectives that can help show the

different sides of situations that are so traumatic.

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Works Cited

Vonnegut, Kurt. Slaughterhouse-Five. Dell Pub., 1991.

Vuong, Ocean. Night Sky with Exit Wounds. Copper Canyon Press, 2019.
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Skill Not Foundational Proficient Advanced

Yet
Identifies a topic Appears in first Thesis establishes a
paragraph complex claim

Thesis establishes a
topic and a claim

Addresses themes
Thesis from both texts

Comments:

Includes two or Includes evidence Includes specific,

fewer sources from at least 2 meaningful, and
sources that clearly well-chosen
Some evidence relate to the thesis evidence that relates
relates to the thesis to the thesis
Includes evidence
from the text to
Evidence support
understanding of
thematic element

Comments:

Summarizes sources Explains how Explains

evidence supports well-selected points
topic sentence of of comparison
individual among sources and
paragraphs evidence and their
connection to the
Analysis Explains how thesis
evidence supports
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the thesis of the

essay

Comments:

Little connection Explains how the Clearly explains

between texts; texts/sources are relationships among
difficult for the related, though texts (how they are
reader to see how points could be similar and
the texts are related more selective or different, provide
better developed differing
Synthesis perspectives,
Includes multiple enhance
sources in each body understanding when
paragraph placed near each
other etc.)

Comments:

Some elements Heading is correctly No errors in MLA

missing or some formatted format
errors in MLA format
Pages are numbered

In-text citations are

correctly formatted

Works Cited format:

hanging indent,
MLA Format double-spaced,
alphabetized, starts
on a new page

Works Cited: each

source entry is in
correct MLA format
Comments:
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Shows evidence of Most quotes are All quotes are

basic proofreading correctly integrated correctly integrated

Follows essay Shows evidence of

Conventions organization careful proofreading

Shows evidence of
proofreading

Comments: