A deep-dive into Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five and the echoes of “So it goes” in Ren Gill’s art.
Slaughterhouse-Five — “So It Goes”: Time, Trauma & Survival
Ren’s Reading Room | The Vault of Ren
Some books don’t just tell a story — they teach you how to survive one. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut is surreal, darkly funny, and heartbreakingly gentle. It follows Billy Pilgrim, a soldier who becomes “unstuck in time,” drifting through war, peace, and everything in between.
If you’re a Ren Gill fan, one line might sound familiar: “So it goes.” Ren has those words tattooed on his arm — a quiet nod to Vonnegut’s way of facing tragedy without giving it total power. It’s not defeatism; it’s the courage to keep moving, to tell the story anyway.
Why It Fits Ren’s World
- Time as a loop, not a line: Billy Pilgrim lives every moment at once — joy, pain, absurdity. Ren’s songs move the same way: flashbacks, inner monologues, childhood echoes. Hi Ren could sit beside Vonnegut on the same shelf of non-linear confession.
- Humour as armour: Vonnegut laughs so he doesn’t break; Ren jokes so we can breathe. That wink in the middle of despair — whether it’s “so it goes” or the dark humour running through Sick Boi — turns vulnerability into rebellion.
- Art as witness: The novel refuses to glamorise suffering. It just says, this happened. Ren does the same when he performs illness and recovery honestly, without filter or self-pity.
- Compassion as resistance: Vonnegut said, “There’s only one rule: you’ve got to be kind.” Ren’s mantra — be kind even if you disagree — keeps that rule alive.
Key Lines That Echo in Ren’s Work
“So it goes.”
“Everything was beautiful and nothing hurt.”
“Among the things Billy Pilgrim could not change were the past, the present, and the future.”
Themes to Notice
- Non-linear healing — memory doesn’t behave; it loops.
- Witness without spectacle — show pain, but never sell it.
- Systems vs. souls — from Dresden to Money Games, individuals lost in machinery.
- Performance of self — Billy’s passivity vs. Ren’s dialogue with his own shadow.
- Humour as grace — the laugh that stops the scream.
Renflections — Join the Discussion
“So it goes.” What does that phrase mean to you now?
When you hear it in Ren’s world — a lyric, a pause, a sigh — does it sound like acceptance, or resistance?
Add your reflection below and help shape the Reading Room conversation.