The Laughter That Kills: A Critical Look at Black Comedy in Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five

Abstract

Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five employs black humour as a potent tool to critique the absurdities and horrors of war. By exploring the intricate relationship between Vonnegut's writing techniques and the representation of war in his novel, the present article questions the proposition that black comedy could effectively instigate significant social or political change, arguing that despite its potential for critique, humour may inadvertently blur the lines between dissent and complicity, encouraging passive spectatorship rather than active moral engagement. We aim to demonstrate that while black comedy provides a powerful tool for grappling with the absurdity of war, its use also risks trivializing the profound moral and existential implications of conflict. This may undercut the urgency of its anti-war message, foster a distorted understanding of human condition and create a dissonance between the absurdity of war and the gravity of its consequences. Ultimately, it may even frame suffering as a source of amusement.