Slaughterhouse-Five: Chapter 2

by Kurt Vonnegut
Loosely based on the author, the narrator sets out to write a book about his experiences during World War II, but ends up telling about Billy Pilgrim, a soldier who gets "unstuck in time" and travels throughout moments of his life both on Earth and the planet Tralfamadore.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapters 3–4, Chapters 5–6, Chapters 7–10
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. senile
    mentally or physically infirm with age
    Billy has gone to sleep a senile widower and awakened on his wedding day.
    Note all the contrasts in this sentence. To Billy, they are evidence of him being unstuck in time. To the readers, they emphasize the schizophrenic nature of Billy's perception of his life, which could've been brought on by his senility, war experiences, and recently fractured skull.
  2. optometrist
    a person skilled in testing for defects of vision
    Early in 1968, a group of optometrists, with Billy among them, chartered an airplane to fly them from Ilium to an international convention of optometrists in Montreal.
  3. recuperate
    get over an illness or shock
    While Billy was recuperating in a hospital in Vermont, his wife died accidentally of carbon-monoxide poisoning.
  4. addled
    confused and vague; used especially of thinking
    Billy stood there politely, giving the marksman another chance. It was his addled understanding of the rules of warfare that the marksman should be given a second chance.
  5. pretext
    a fictitious reason that conceals the real reason
    When Weary was ditched, he would find somebody who was even more unpopular than himself, and he would horse around with that person for a while, pretending to be friendly. And then he would find some pretext for beating...
  6. contemplate
    think intently and at length, as for spiritual purposes
    Billy, after all, had contemplated torture and hideous wounds at the beginning and the end of nearly every day of his childhood.
  7. unambiguous
    admitting of no doubt or misunderstanding
    Four inches of unmarked snow blanketed the ground. The Americans had no choice but to leave trails in the snow as unambiguous as diagrams in a book on ballroom dancing — step, slide, rest — step, slide, rest.
  8. resolute
    characterized by quickness and firmness
    He has directly challenged the authority of the government, and future discipline depends upon a resolute reply to this challenge.
  9. retribution
    the act of taking revenge
    If the death penalty is ever to be imposed for desertion, it should be imposed in this case, not as a punitive measure nor as retribution, but to maintain that discipline upon which alone an army can succeed against the enemy.
    Another definition of "retribution" is "a justly deserved penalty"—this would not fit the example sentence because it would be a repetition of "punitive measure." Additionally, the judge is arguing that the government should impose the death penalty for the crime of desertion — because it needs to maintain a discipline that would prevent future desertions that could weaken the army, and not because it needs to take revenge for a challenge against its authority.
  10. clemency
    leniency and compassion shown toward offenders
    There was no recommendation for clemency in the case and none is here recommended.
  11. infinitesimal
    immeasurably small
    They studied the infinitesimal effects of spit on snow and history.
  12. reedy
    thin and high-pitched in tone
    They would hear his reedy voice, the one he’d had in the war. He swallowed, knew that all he had for a voice box was a little whistle cut from a willow switch.
  13. resonant
    characterized by a loud deep sound
    Billy opened his mouth, and out came a deep, resonant tone. His voice was a gorgeous instrument.
    A resonant voice would be loud and deep; a resonant speech would be one filled with ideas that could touch something within the audience's hearts and minds. Billy is surprised to find that the scared, reedy voice he had during the war had matured into a gorgeous instrument that is able to deliver a speech that could make grown men laugh with him instead of at him.
  14. humility
    a lack of arrogance or false pride
    It grew serious, told jokes again, and ended on a note of humility.
Created on Tue Mar 12 14:07:12 EDT 2013 (updated Fri Jul 25 12:37:17 EDT 2025)

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