SlaughterHouse-Five & Romanticism

      In Slaughterhouse-five, by Kurt Vonnegut, Romanticism is presented in an absurd way. It is presented in a way where the reader would have to look outside of the box to find. Romanticism in general revolves around imagination, rebelling against society, and nature. In Slaughterhouse-five, the plot revolves around a time period of World War II. Even though the book doesn't have a hero, or an outcome of joy and success, we see prisoners of war who "come out on top". This relates to romanticism because these prisoners of war are rebelling against society, because they are derived of any kind of control they once had. They are more like slaves, and property, who don't have freedom of where they can go and what they can do. The way these prisoners fight themselves out of trouble, is by "rebelling". I figured I would blog about Romanticism because usually a  reader wouldn't really notice that in fact there are romantic aspects in the novel. 
      "It is so short and jumbled and jangles, Sam, because there is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre  Everybody is supposed to be dead, to never say anything or want anything ever again. Everything is supposed to be very quiet after a massacre, and it always is, except for the birds. And what do the birds say? All there is to say about a massacre, things like "Poo-tee-weet?" This quote, from Chapter one of Slaugterhouse-five, is not exactly screaming romanticism at the reader, nor is it easy to notice the romantic aspect, but I have found something worth explaining. Usually, the reader would notice that Sam, the publisher, apologizes for having such a lazy and short written piece on the massacre. A reader would maybe catch the irony of this quote, because no matter what, if you can write anything on a massacre, that it self is an accomplishment. What the reader generally wouldn't pick up from this quote would be the fact that "rebelling against society" is an aspect of Romanticism that is thoroughly presented throughout the story and in this quote. What I define as rebelling against society, could be remotely different from another readers definition. For me, a perfect example would be these prisoners of war, and the ways they act and live about the way they do. In the book, the whole time, these prisoners of war either have rebelled or are rebelling against society. Rebelling against society is war exactly. I haven't finished the book, but from what I have read and gathered, rebelling against society is a major aspect and guidance through out the book, which triggers me to be reminded of Romanticism constantly while reading.