A Spiritual Ecological Interpretation Of Slaughterhouse-Five

The famous American writer Kurt Vonnegut is known as the spokesman for the zeitgeist of the 1960s. His masterpiece Slaughterhouse-Five gains universal praise by experts and scholars with its unique artistic practices, profound themes, and original genres. Using the relevant theory of the spiritual ecology, this thesis attempts to interpret the novel and reveal the spirit of the postmodern people reflected in it.This thesis is divided into five parts. The first part gives a brief account of Vonnegut's life and the plot of Slaughterhouse-Five. Also in this part, the situation of the current studies of the novel at home and abroad and the theory of spiritual ecology are introduced.The second part studies the spiritual vacuum described in Slaughterhouse-Five. The spirit of emptiness existing widely in postmodern society permeates the whole novel. Vonnegut exposes people's disappointment with religion, mockery of God. God is dead. All the values of the world have lost rationality, as a result, man's value of existence lacks criteria to judge.The third part explores fetishism revealed in Slaughterhouse-Five. In order to overcome the spiritual emptiness, postmodern people have to continue to look for the alternatives of God within the soul. Only in this way can they find permanent homes for their souls and achieve the harmony of souls. Hence, fetishism becomes the sole way to measure one's own value.The fourth part analyzes the relationship between the situation of man and spiritual alienation. The novel deeply reflects alienation between man and nature, alienation between man and others, and alienation between man and inner world. The three kinds of alienation cause postmodern people's spiritual alienation: weakness, loneliness, and emptiness, which results in the incompetence of behavior. Under the invisible physical and psychological pressure, they feel gratuitous stress and anxiety. And the spiritual alienation is strengthened.The fifth part is the conclusion of the thesis. It summarizes the spiritual state of postmodern people, and advances the argument that the destruction of spiritual ecology will surely prevent social development and progress and have a devastating effect on mankind.