Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five and Joseph Heller's Catch-22 both have a striking similarity between their anti-war and free will themes. Both do not come in full force at first but become more noticeable over time. Both novels focus on one character throughout the novel, and each protagonist is affected by all the events surrounding them. It changes their perspective and how they see life as a whole. Both Billy in Slaughterhouse Five and Yossarian in Catch -22, dislike war and are known as anti-war heroes. They also believe in the idea that they have free will and that their actions can be controlled. What makes these two novels so different from other war novels is that both protagonists don't die for their country, they live until the end to see the world change around them. The idea of ​​free will is enjoyed by all. In both novels, each protagonist comes to a certain point where he or she must make a decision. Instead of waiting for that decision to happen, the event happens anyway (EXAMPLE QUOTE). In Slaughterhouse Five, Vonnegut proclaims that there is no such thing as free will and that what will happen cannot be changed. The Tralfamadorians told protagonist Billy Pilgrim that they see time in chronological order and that nothing can change or be changed. No matter what we choose to do, all the choices we make are made unconsciously. Similarly in Catch-22, the theory is the same but presented differently. Catch-22 is a paradox, with no clear outcome. No matter what you say or do, escape is not an option, so there is no such thing as free will. The problem is described very well when Yossarian states: “You no longer have to do missions if you're crazy, but you have to... middle of paper... y. Change the world around them permanently. In Billy's case the defeat of the Germans was a cause for celebration but at the same time it was a time of mourning due to the bombing of Dresden. For Yossarian, countless lives were lost just so Milo could earn some extra money. Milo took the war as a joke and did not care if his country won or lost the war. He was only there to reap profits, which could be seen as an example of a pacifist. The protagonists feel like toys thrown around to do the bidding of the commanding officers. The soldiers had no free will as they had to listen to their orders and do what they were told. Eventually the world around them had changed due to the events of the war. Works Cited Heller, Joseph. Capture-22. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1961. Vonnegut, Kurt. Slaughterhouse Five. New York: Random House Inc., 1969. Print.