Vonnegut creates many similarities between Billy's life as a prisoner of war and his experiences on Tralfamadore. For example, in the excerpt above, Billy is told to take off his clothes by the Germans running the POW camp. When Billy first arrives at Tralfamadore, he is also told to take off his clothes. In both instances, Billy is thoroughly examined as if he is a wild, unknown creature. Billy's experience in the war is different than his experience with the aliens because the aliens were only examining him for discovery of different creatures. In the war, all the men were HUMAN. There was no reason for the Germans men (who were also human, believe it or not) to be examining the POW's like wild animals.
In both situations, men are dehumanized; however, the dehumanization of humans by other humans only takes place because of war. Again, the author points out the error of war. Without war, humans are relatively civilized with concrete values and morals. War causes all dignity to be thrown out the window. As seen before, human beings are treated as animals by other human beings. With violence, the human connection is lost.
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