A Cinderella Story

Kurt Vonnegut's use of the Cinderella story in his Slaughterhouse V reveals much of what he thinks about literature: that while a story may be great, it is easy to replicate, and eternal happiness is unrealistic.

Vonnegut introduces us to the idea of Cinderella on page 96, while the men have just arrived at the British officer's "banquet hall." We learn that that night the British will be putting on a show, their own "musical version of Cinderella" (pg 96) for the Americans. After experiencing the horrific events that he did, the first thing Billy wants to do when he arrives at the camp is "call his mother, to tell her he [is] alive and well" (pg. 97), but he can't. This is a direct reflection of Cinderella; she is placed in a less than ideal situation and the reason for it is that she no longer has access to her mother.

Next, the Englishmen see Billy and immediately start to pick over his appearance and state of being. They say remarks such as "Is that coat a joke?" and "Where did you get such a thing?" (pg. 97). In doing so, the Englishmen are replicating Cinderella's Fairy Godmother in the scene in which she appears to her in the garden, becomes very distressed at her appearance, and decides to do something in her favor. Much like the Fairy Godmother, the Englishmen don't stop at the remarks. They go on to feed, clothe, and entertain Billy, becoming his very own Fairy Godmothers.

When the play reaches the scene in which Cinderella proclaims:

"Goodness me, the clock has struck--
Alackday, and f*ck my luck" (pg. 98).

Billy "shrieked" and has to be carried into the hospital. Billy's reaction to the clock striking twelve is much like Cinderella's in that his luck runs out and he plummets back into a negative situation.

Vonnegut throws us a curveball, though, in that he doesn't finish Billy's Cinderella story the same way the original author had so many years ago. Instead, when Billy finds his version of the glass slippers, "the boots fit perfectly" (pg. 145), but do nothing to change the course of the story. I believe this is Vonnegut's way of acknowledging the fact that Cinderella is a classic, while simultaneously saying that a story doesn't have to have a happy ending for it to be entertaining.