Death is not the worst thing

In this first chapter, the way Vonnegut speaks of death caught my attention. It is almost some kind of mockery. Death is the only thing we are certain of, the only thing we cannot prevent from happening. The use of the phrase “so it goes” is a way of preventing lamentation and mourning over a death. It inspires a kind of humor, it is almost a way of saying, “well, it was bound to happen anyway”. We usually make such a big deal out of death, that we forget that it is just a part of life, that in reality, death doesn’t really mean that much, and we and our lives don’t mean that much either. We are so self absorbed that we forget that our lives are merely insignificant specks in a world where there are countless numbers of other beings. I remember reading this once in a novel “those who think dying is the worst that can happen don’t know a thing about life” (Sue Monk Kidd). I find that this relates to Slaughter House Five because this is what I think Vonnegut is trying to say, that there really are worst things than death. That death is not the end.