Slaughterhouse-Five

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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Arrival

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akersw — 9 years ago(November 22, 2016 04:56 AM)

This may have been posted on here already, my apologies if it has, but did any one else think of a possible correlation between Arrival and the Vonnegut novel, Slaughterhouse-Five? In both, aliens teach humanity that our perception of time is not, for lack of a better word, "correct', and teach humans not only that time is in fact non-linear, but how to actually view it in this way. Just thought that was some interesting food for thought!

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nocakeforyou — 9 years ago(November 22, 2016 05:16 AM)

I was thinking the same thing. The "time travel" is exactly like in that book.

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akersw — 9 years ago(November 22, 2016 05:35 AM)

Glad I wasn't the only one! On top of that, the tralfamadorians in Slaughterhouse are visually described as beings shaped somewhat like hands. I thought that was another interesting similarity.

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DarthJarJar — 9 years ago(November 22, 2016 09:16 AM)

Yes, it definitely has some similarities and I wouldn't be surprised if the story was infleunced by the novel, but they are completely different stories. They certainly both deal with free will and non-linear time but Slaughterhouse-Five was more satirical while Arrival is more dramatic. It's just a case where two different stories have the same themes but tell a story in different ways.
My name is Darth Jar Jar. Master of the Drunken Force technique. All of you will be my slaves.

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ctrout — 9 years ago(November 22, 2016 10:29 AM)

I was thinking the same thing. It also reminded me of the 1951 movie The Day the Earth Stood Still.

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JellyFish19 — 9 years ago(November 22, 2016 11:09 AM)

Completely forgot about that film. Didn't leave an impact, but now that you said it, there sure are some big similarities.

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larosat — 9 years ago(November 22, 2016 12:49 PM)

Yes they're both insufferably, tediously directed.