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Slaughterhouse 5

In the books, Slaughter House 5 by Kurt Vonnegut and Catch 22 by Joseph Heller there
are many themes that at first don't appear to be related but once given a closer look have
striking similarities. Both books are about one mans experience through World War II,
one being a fighter pilot and another being a soldier. Each man is known as an anti-war
hero. They do not agree with the war and do not find it appropriate to fight for it.
Neither of the two men was the average "John Wayne" war hero that fights and dies for
his country. This is what makes these two books stand out from other war books. Both
of these books also were used during the Vietnam War as anti-war books denouncing the
war.

One major theme that comes up in both of these books is the theme of no free will.
In Slaughterhouse 5 Vonnegut proclaims through the narrator that there is no such thing
as free will and that all things in life are predestined. That no matter what we chose to do
we really aren't choosing to do it at all and that the choice was already made. In Catch 22
the theme is the same just brought to our attention in a different way. Catch 22 is a
paradox, leaving no way of escaping from a dilemma. No matter what we do or say we
can't escape it thus leaving us with no free will. Catch 22 is best described in the book
when Yossarian states, You don't have to fly anymore missions if you're crazy, but you
have to ask first and if you ask than you're not crazy because anyone that wants to get out
of combat is not crazy (Heller 46). The utter simplicity of this "catch" at one-point makes
Yossarian let out a whistle. So in essence both of these characters are plagued with the
fact that they have no free will. Billy Pilgrim because everything in life is predestined so
he has no say in what goes on and Yossarian because he has to keep flying more missions
because of Catch 22.

Another major theme that comes across in these books is the anti-war hero....