Slaughterhouse Five Section 2 (Part IV)

Vonnegut makes great use of repetition throughout the novel. Of course, the phrase "so it goes" has occurred many times. The phrase "so it goes" seems to always end a paragraph that talks about death. This is the death of anything such as a person, champagne, or a dog. I think the explanation of this phrase come from Tralfamadorian's attitude toward unfortunate events. The speaker talks of death very matter-of-factly. I think this has to do with how people view death. Outside of war, people are devastated when a single person dies tragically from cancer or a car crash. However, the public reacts almost nonchalantly about the death of a soldier in a war because they think it is a part of war. I think Vonnegut is trying to convey that death is death regardless of the situation, death is inevitable, and so it goes. I think the inevitability of death relates to the inevitability of war.

In addition to the repetition of  "so it goes", Vonnegut also brings back other lines from early in the novel. For example, " 'My God, my God' - I said to myself, 'It's the Children's Crusade.' (p.106)" The repetition of the Children's Crusade highlights another one of the themes of how war is practically fought by children. The novel wants to highlight the tragedies of war, and this is accomplished through this phrase about the Children's Crusade.