An existential question that has occupied much literature is the balance between fate and free will. How much free will do we actually have when constrained by the realities that surround us? Often, times of crisis deepen the dichotomy between what we wish and have. War, as a context, undermines our confidence in free will. In Slaughterhouse 5, Kurt Vonnegut employs symbolism, imagery, and achronological order to communicate how the destructiveness of war reveals the falsehood of free will. 

Vonnegut displays the violent atrocities of war through image-rich symbols in Slaughterhouse Five. For example, the author uses the juxtaposed phrase “roses and mustard gas” throughout the novel when the protagonist, Billy Pilgrim, consumes great amounts of alcohol and when Pilgrim is in the presence of burning dead bodies, and is a  symbol demonstrating war and its effect on Billy. A drunk Billy is home alone with “a breath like roses and mustard gas”(5); in the aftermath of the bombing, “there were hundreds of corpse mines operating day by day. They didn’t smell bad at first, but then the bodies rotted and liquefied, and the stink was like roses and mustard gas… so a new technique was decided. Bodies weren’t brought up any more. They were cremated by soldiers with flamethrowers right where they were. The soldiers stood outside the shelters, simply sent the fire in” (273-274). Vonnegut exposes the reader to the juxtaposition of roses and mustard gas through two sources, Billy’s drunk breath, and the rotting bodies of Dresden: Vonnegut includes the phrase in these two scenes to demonstrate that war/a massacre is unintelligent and cruel, as one is when they are drunk and consume lots of alcohol. Despite being separated in time, one in Billy’s post war life and one straight after the firebombing, the smell of roses and mustard gas is always present in a time of hopelessness; in other words, the smell of roses and mustard gas is always seen when Billy is alone, drunk, and without a purpose in his post war life and when he is surrounded by death during his time as a soldier. The traumatizing events of the firebombing left Billy disillusioned of war, society, and his own life, and roses and mustard gas was a symbol that conveyed this transition. Another example of Vonnegut’s use of image rich symbols is Dresden during its firebombing: Vonnegut describes Dresden as “one big flame. The one flame ate everything organic, everything that would burn… the sun was an angry little pinhead. Dresden was like the moon now, nothing but minerals. The stones were hot. Everybody else in the neighborhood was dead. So it goes”(227). Vonnegut’s description of Dresden during its firebombing showcases an utterly destroyed Dresden, and its sudden change from a peaceful, thriving city to a burning wasteland that is deserted and lifeless as the moon. Vonnegut utilizes the horrors seen in the firebombing of Dresden as a symbol to demonstrate the sudden changes and unethical decisions that are drawn out in war: the Allies, who are historically seen as the protagonists in the conflict of World War II, dropped 4,000 tons of incendiary devices and bombs on the city, intending to disillusion the german civilian population. The bombing ultimately killed 25,000 civilians, which were mostly women and children; in essence, Vonnegut showcases that there is no clear protagonist and antagonist in war, but rather war is state of chaos where civilians truly suffer, and demonstrates this through the death and misery of the firebombing. Ultimately, Vonnegut utilizes imagery and symbolism in order to convey the overwhelming sense of hopelessness and apocalyptic chaos present in war.