Slaughterhouse-Five DresdenThe focal point of Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five is the devastating fire bombing of Dresden during World War II, an event experienced by the real Vonnegut as well as the fictional Billy Pilgrim. Through the novel, Vonnegut tells the story of an event that is in itself indescribable. To tell this story to the world, Vonnegut uses Billy Pilgrim's Tralfamadorian experience as a window that allows the reader some relief from the horrors of war. According to the author, the war was a traumatic experience practically impossible to describe. As Vonnegut says in the introduction, "...I also thought that [the novel] would be a masterpiece or at least make me a lot of money, since the subject matter was so big... but not many words about it ." Then Dresden came to mind" (Vonnegut 2). Following Vonnegut's involvement in the war, the tales depicted in the novel create a realistic image for the reader. Such accounts include Billy's journey to the actual slaughterhouse and the his stay there, which lasted for years. Vonnegut had the same experience. According to one source, "Sheltered in an underground meat warehouse, Vonnegut managed to survive a raid that devastated the city and killed about 135,000 people, more than the number of died in the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined" (Boomhower 1). Furthermore, all the characters mentioned in the novel are based on real people Vonnegut met during the war. At the beginning of the war the author states that all this "is success, more or less. The war parts, however, are more or less true... I changed all the names (Vonnegut 1)." Vonnegut makes it clear that he too has experienced Billy's difficulties. He does this by interjecting the fictional Billy's accounts with the his personal thoughts. In one case Vonnegut states: "...it would be a good epitaph for Billy Pilgrim - and for me too" (121). He would return there in 1945, two days after the city was destroyed. Now Billy and the others were led into the ruins by their guards. it was there. O'Hare was there" (212). Billy escapes from the nightmares and reality of his earthly life on the planet Tralfamadore..