‘So it goes’ is a phrase that is constantly repeated in Kurt Vonnegut’s book Slaughterhouse Five; it always appears when someone, or even something, dies. In essence, the phrase reflects the Tralfamadorian (fictional alien race that appears in the book) philosophy of  death just being a bad condition at a particular moment in one’s existence, and that the same person is just fine in various other moments. To put it simply, even though someone dies, he probably had some good moments in his life as well, so why care so much? However, the passive phrase also reflects the desensitization towards death in war, which I find as the most interesting aspect of this repeated phrase. This attitude can be largely attributed to Kurt’s nihilistic perspective towards death, he even once said “When you’re dead, you’re dead. Also, make love when you can. It’s good for you.” If I put it very roughly, the phrase embodies Kurt’s philosophy of “I don’t care whether you die a hero, or got shot by a bullet while procrastinating with your comrades. I also really don’t care if you’re a random bird, or a human. If you’re dead you’re dead, and you’re just one of the millions of casualties in the war (by the way, not a real quote by Kurt, I just made it up).”