Color Motifs/Imagery in Slaughterhouse Five      Nikhil Meka 12th Grade

In a literary text, imagery enables the author to appeal to human senses through the use of vivid and descriptive language. Kurt Vonnegut incorporates this rhetorical device throughout the text of his novel Slaughterhouse Five, through the use of color motifs and olfactory imagery. Vonnegut uses imagery to convey the emotions and personal qualities of the protagonist of the novel, Billy. He is able to achieve this by connecting Billy’s character to several motifs that continuously appear throughout the plot of Slaughterhouse Five. Thus, the presence of color motifs and olfactory imagery in Slaughterhouse Five advances and strengthens the characterization of Billy Pilgrim throughout the course of the novel.

Early on in the novel, Billy writes a letter to the Ilium newspaper regarding his experience on planet Tralfamadore. He works on this letter in the cool environment of his basement, where “the temperature in the house was…fifty degrees” since “The oil burner had quit” (26). The cool environment also affects Billy’s body as “his bare feet were blue and ivory” (26). However, “The cockles of Billy’s heart, at any rate, were glowing coals. What made them so hot was Billy’s belief that he was going to comfort so many people with...