At first glance, the title Slaughterhouse-Five might seem to be the best harbinger of the events to come; however, the direction of the novel is better foreshadowed by Vonnegut’s subtitle and the self-descriptive text that follows. The subtitle and self-description are arguably more important the title itself, for they epitomize Vonnegut’s sarcastic, disdainful tone towards war. Printed on the novel’s title page, beneath the title itself, is the prominent heading,  “The Children’s Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death,” after the supposed historical event where children were sent to fight for Christendom, only to find themselves enslaved. In Chapter One of the novel, Vonnegut-as-character realizes after a meeting with a friend that this is what he must name his book; the friend’s wife believes that war is not something to be glorified, for it is ultimately “fought by babies,” referring to the young age of many enlistees. Vonnegut replies, “...there won’t be a part for Frank Sinatra or John Wayne... I tell you what... I’ll call it ‘The Children’s Crusade’”. The subtitle, therefore, serves as Vonnegut’s confession to the reader, his admission that he is fulfilling a promise to present war as it is—unadulterated by Hollywood or historians. In addition, “[the subtitle] shows how language falsifies war: ‘The Children’s Crusade’ transforms brutality into sentimental heroism, calculation into innocence”. In this manner, Vonnegut refutes the idea that war is fought by heroes in a “crusade”; warfare damages the most innocent members of society, “children.” Thus, the reader understands that Vonnegut’s book will be no ordinary war story.
Continuing down the title page, Vonnegut has included a short self-description of sorts to the novel; the introduction on the title page foreshadows Vonnegut’s approach to telling the story, again clarifying that the novel was written from his real-life experiences. The text reads, in part, “A fourth generation German-American... who, as an American infantry scout... witnessed the fire-bombing of Dresden... This is a novel somewhat in the telegraphic schizophrenic manner of tales of the planet Tralfamadore”. The text serves as advance warning to the reader that the story must be taken not as the unordered events presented, but as a conglomerate whole. Schatt claims that “[this] description might very well be the best one of a work that abandons the novel’s conventional linear plot for a Gestalt approach that asks readers to observe a series of seemingly unrelated episodes and then to share Vonnegut’s view of both war and death.” Thus, the title page text invites readers to understand how Vonnegut disdains war; he is simply asking the audience to bear with him through a confusing journey that, he promises, will lead to a great truth.
As one flips past the title page and attempts even a cursory reading of the novel, Vonnegut’s strange style of delivery becomes apparent. 