Curated set · answers marked
In Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five, what does the phrase "So it goes" signify?
Rationale
Throughout the book, Vonnegut's narrator uses "So it goes" each time a death occurs—be it human or otherwise. This phrase highlights the Tralfamadorian (and, by extension, the novel's) fatalistic view that death is merely a point in time, always present alongside life. It also serves as dark irony, dulling the reader's sensitivity to the overwhelming number of deaths portrayed in the story.
What is the name of the fictional planet that Billy Pilgrim thinks he is taken to repeatedly?
Rationale
In the novel, Billy Pilgrim insists that aliens from the planet Tralfamadore abduct him. The Tralfamadorians experience all moments of time at once, which reflects Billy's own experience of being "unstuck" in time.
In Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five, what does the phrase "So it goes" signify?
Rationale
The phrase "So it goes" is a recurring line in the novel, following any mention of death—whether human, animal, or otherwise. It embodies the Tralfamadorian view that all moments in time exist at once and forever, meaning that death is just one moment in the grand timeline. Vonnegut employs it as both a darkly humorous tool and a critique of how humanity often becomes numb to death, especially in the context of war and the firebombing of Dresden.