Chapter 5: MOTIF

The recurring phrase, "So it goes," is the main motif of Slaughterhouse Five. Vonnegut uses this phrase numerous times throughout the story. Furthermore, it is publicized an excessive amount in chapter five. He uses this phrase to develop into one of the major themes of the story; war's destructiveness. A man who labeled people dies in the war: "A slave laborer from Poland had done the stamping. He was dead now. So it goes" (91). I began to notice the motif because each time death was mentioned, the sentence was followed by the phrase: "So it goes." The phrase develops the theme showing that war causes death and destruction among a plethora of people.