End of Slaughterhouse-Five!

I'm sure you're wondering if I'm happy I finished this novel, and I can honestly say that it is a huge weight lifted from my shoulders in terms of content and writing and stress. 

Let's get down to business.

Dresden Comparisons

Okay, there were actually quite a few comparisons to the video. This was expected, of course. One that really stood out was the horrifying descriptions of the corpse mines. I know they didn't specifically talk about this in the video, but they did talk about all the bodies all around (sometimes stacked up like walls) and I think that relates. At first it seemed kind of strange that they were digging into the rubble--of course, one would expect something like this if they were looking for survivors--but then they kept doing it. After they knew they had found bodies, the Americans and others kept having to dig up or burn these bodies. People died in this process of body searching. How strange.

Another comparison would be to all the rubble and to the extreme heat. They talked about how the ground was hot to touch and how shoes melted to the ground in the video and in the novel they complained about touching hot rocks on their corpse searches. 

In addition to all that, I believe they also mention coming out of this shelter after days inside, after ALL the bombings had stop. This means that there were the four bombings, as mentioned in the video. Nobody in the American troops seemed terribly concerned about it all though. However, this whole ordeal stuck with Billy.

It's very interesting that something like this would stick with Billy after all the things that did not affect him or that he was apathetic to. Why did Dresden haunt Billy and why did he feel the need to bring it up later to the rich man with the broken leg who shared his room?

But perhaps that's why the name of the novel is Slaughterhouse-Five. If anything should stick with us through the novel, if we should remember anything about it, it is that Dresden was horrific and no one believed them. 

Characters

I'd like to comment on three characters in this section. 

1. Edgar Derby

We were able to see much more of Derby's character in these few scenes. First of all, we saw how it seemed at first as if he wanted to switch sides with the American-turned-German, Howard W. Campbell Jr. Of course, we were all wrong. Derby was just being his static self and standing up for his ideals of Americanism and Patriotism. 

Classic Derby.

From there, we don't see a ton of Derby, but we do get to see his death. We see most people's death in this story. 

While they're going through the corpse mines, the Americans are also looking for souvenirs. Derby happens to take a teapot. He is shot for it. Of all the things they've been through, that's what finally gets Derby. 

2. Howard W. Campbell Jr. 

This guy is...interesting. He's like the Devil trying to get people to switch to the dark side. He's an American turned Nazi. He has a very neat outfit that he put together all himself that is the assimilation of Americanism and Nazism. It's like a blue jumpsuit with a bunch of red, white, and blue swastikas and a white, ten-gallon hat. He's like the cowboy of Germany. Except he's an American. 

He's also very rich and tries to bribe others with food to switch sides. He says that they'll end up on this side anyway, so why shouldn't they come now? He's wrong, but that's besides the point. 

I don't really know what to think of Mr. Campbell, or if he even deserves that title, but he was a comic addition to the story.

3. Kilgore Trout

Kilgore is a science fiction writer. He's also...interesting. No, actually, you know what, I hate this guy! He puts all these stupid ideas into Billy's head and that's probably what caused all of his troubles in the first place! Like, all of the things that Billy has hallucinations (I have a theory, based on pg. 190, that Billy's hallucinations are caused by his coma) about are either in his books or are suggested by him. 

For example, in Kilgore's book The Big Board, it says that "it was about an Earthling man and woman who were kidnapped by extra-terrestrials. They were put on display in a zoo on a planet called Zircon-212." (pg. 201) Clearly, this is an example of Montana and Billy on Tralfamadore. 

(Also, Montana Wildhack being a freaking porn star?? Reallllllly???? Not like I didn't expect this, but come on.)

Also Trout is just gross and only cares about himself and that whole disgusting disgusting disgusting paragraph about how Maggie Mae was the kind of woman a guy looks at and wants to "fill up with babies." That's sooooo gross it's the grossest most disgusting thing I've ever read. It makes me want to throw up with it's disgustingness. Trout is a vile and slimy character. 

???? EXTra bONuS !!!!!!!! ---->> KURT VONNEGUT INTERRUPTION

Vonnegut interrupts a few times. One that is particularly significant is the ending chapter where it just sort of switches back to his point of view. 

But another is on page 189 when he alludes to fear of old age with the man who has bad gas and is talking about how he knew it'd be bad, but never realized it would be this bad. 

Oh and I liked when Vonnegut recognized, on page 164, that he had basically no characters who do anything significant at all and they're all "listless playthings of enormous forces." It confirmed the things we've been saying.

Wrap-up

I feel like it didn't wrap up that well  in that you could tell that it was wrapping up. It was like the ending of a long speech where they have to let you know it's about to end so you can get ready to clap.

Banned Books

I don't know whether or not this novel should be banned. I don't think any books should be banned, so I'm just gonna say that first. I can see why it would be on a list of books that parents are uncomfortable with, though. 

One, it talks about death frequently, which is a scary topic for most. 

Two, it talks about war frequently, which is another scary topic.

Three, it talks about sexual things frankly and sometimes really graphically.

Four, there is just a lot of uncomfortable, weird stuff in this novel??

So, I could see why someone would want to ban it. But banning books is wrong. 

Pretty or Interesting or Lines I liked

• "The guards drew together instinctively, rolled their eyes. They experimented with one expression and then another, said nothing, though their mouths were often open. They looked like a silent film of a barbershop quartet. 'So long forever,' they might have been singing, 'old fellows and pals; So long forever, old sweethearts and pals--God bless 'em--'" (pg. 178, about Dresden)
• I liked that this was brought up when the rich guy keeps ignoring Billy when he tries to talk about Dresden. He says, "I just want you to know: I was there." (pg. 193) This is a common theme among soldiers, and I think that it was very important that this was recognized.
• "The window reflected the news. It was about power and sports and anger and death. So it goes." (pg. 200)
• "Billy thought maybe he had known this cracked messiah in Dresden somewhere." (pg. 167)

4-6 SL-5

Another day, another blog.

Video: "For the first time in history, a firestorm was consciously planned."

It seems like Dresden was a pretty spectacular place before the bombing. This is judging by book descriptions and alllll the footage about how amazing it was. However, how very horrible it was that so many refuges had come to the city to be saved only to have even more of a death toll. Some of the descriptions were terrifying. What was especially horrible to me was the shoes melting to the asphalt and the story about the woman pulled out of the way and a beam falling right where she was. The emotions of the people telling the stories about the bombing were off the charts. One more horrifying part was how they waited two hours to bomb again. This was because they wanted the ambulances and everyone there so they could kill more people, I suppose.

There was one part of the video where they agreed with the book (or the book agreed with the video) about how Dresden was assumed safe. Dresden could never be bombed. It was off the radar. It also said that the people of Dresden put their trust into the Americans and English, which relates back. Also, interestingly enough, it was mostly all women speaking about these horrors. This relates to our novel because the men never want to speak about it (sometimes the women don't either, admittedly).

Unrelated, but it could be related later, some Czechs came and laughed at the destruction and took the clothes from people . And, the quote from Winston Churchill that says: "looks like we slaughtered the wrong pig." I suppose that could also relate to our novel's title.

After watching this video I felt their emotions, but I was having trouble imagining the ruined city. So instead, I imagined my block and my hometown ruined and in millions of little pieces with no reason behind the attack. It made me want to cry and made me feel very numb. I can understand how they felt, though never completely.

Video: "I'm not Billy Pilgrim."

So Edward Crone is supposed to be Billy Pilgrim and he died of the thousand mile stare. He was buried in Dresden and his parents came and finally found him. He said Billy Pilgrim didn't understand anything at all.

However, Vonnegut seems to definitely not care about his life and have a lot of survivor's guilt. He also makes it seem like he had it worst when he's talking with his friend. I mean, possibly he did, but whatever. The point is that they both fought in the war.

I kind of feel like maybe possibly Billy Pilgrim did exist, but what Vonnegut did was pour his own feelings of detachment and apathy into this character. This makes it okay because he it wasn't hIM who was the "dirty flamingo." It was just this kid Billy Pilgrim who didn't understand anything about the war.

Tralfamadore

I don't think Tralfamadore exists. This novel isn't fantasy/sci-fi for one, and second, Billy is suffering from severe PTSD. This means that he is probably having hallucinations. That would be my main guess. In the novel, certain objects or situations transport Billy to the planet. I believe you even said something about objects in his house relating to the form of the aliens. We have already talked about this a little, but not extensively.

I think Billy believes it exists because 1) the familiar household objects give a sense of security and realism, and 2) PTSD hallucinations are very, very real while happening. In general, Billy was not given (obviously) the correct treatment in the mental hospital. This was common though.

I think the reason Billy is imagining these "aliens" because he wants to get away or escape from life (or war tore him from reality) and aliens in a spaceship could be about the easiest way to do it. He lives a normal life inside the terrarium on Tralfamadore and even comforts himself with the "death is just a point in time." I think that makes him feel better about war n general.

Characters

I thought that Roland Weary was an interesting character, and you said so also. I liked how he was so prepared for war and to kill, but what he really wanted was to be a part of something ("Three Musketeers;" by the way, what is up with that candy bar??). I think while Weary seems mean, he's just trying to fit in. His redeeming quality is the "we" or "team" thing.

Paul Lazarro is also a very fascinating character. He is purely mean-spirited. This is cool for a character because he's so flat and unchanging (always keeps his word). But I suppose his one human quality is trying anything to save himself. I think what he wants, at times, is just respect. That's why he damages others.

Edgar Derby is the quintessential "fight for my country" soldier bro. He taught English, took care of his body (and later others), and got in the army when he was older. Derby is very human and caring, but I also don't think it's what he wants to do, he just feels it's his duty. All the characters are different archetypes you see in war novels.

Commentaries

I like that the human-against-human aspect of war is shown. It's very murky. It's not just one man against another. Especially the scene with the Russian guy speaking gently to Billy at night by the fence. That's probably been one of my favorite parts of this novel. Human-ness and humanity are what attract me to stories and novels.

Free Will

And I believe we spoke about free will and how there are varying degrees of it.

Slaughterhouse-Five Blog #1

First of all, the introduction was interesting. If you could even call it an introduction. I think that it's a little funny, too, that we are just talking about introductions in English 101 with The Turn of the Screw and if they are necessary or not. I'm not sure about this one. Originally, it was a little confusing. However, looking back, I think it gives away more than it hides. It makes it seem like this is less fiction than real life and that Slaughterhouse-Five could actually be real. This brings in an element of interest because this could all be real stuff and real people and you could be reading a true story--even if it says it's fiction.

There were quite a few instances of satire in the first chapter, too. Most of the things that came out of Vonnegut's writing were either making fun of something or presenting a completely uncomfortable similar thing. For example, on page 4 when he talks about "getting this disease late at night" but really he's just talking about he himself getting drunk because he's sad. Also, when he talks about the anti-war and anti-glacier books.

((I also thought that the line, "The destruction of Dresden was represented by a vertical band of orange cross-hatching, and all the lines that were still alive passed through it, came out the other side" (pg. 5), related to the poem "Buttons" we read. Basically that entire paragraph. Just the juxtaposition of crayon on paper to the actual atrocities happening.))

[Oh! and a related line to City of Thieves that I found very interesting: "...who took us to the slaughterhouse where we had been locked up at night as prisoners of war." (pg. 1) This is opposed to CoT's "In the slaughterhouse where we first kissed, the air still stank from the blood of the lambs."]

The view on war in this book seems to be that it was useless and futile because everyone is going to die one way or another anyway. However, the view on death seems really optimistic, somehow? Especially the lines on I-don't-know-what-page about death being a point in time where you're not alive, but you are alive in some other point in time. It's kind of strangely comforting. Most people in these few chapters realize that war is bad and no one is going to make it out (relating back to the poem about duty), but some people were a little more optimistic. This is seen in the two snipers (were they snipers?) who try to leave "the three musketeers" but are shot. Additionally, a lot of terrible things in this book--like the packed train to the camp--were represented not at all terribly. This kind of relates to CoT with how a lot of very terrible things didn't sound that terrible to them because they'd had worse. 

On to structure. I kind of really, really don't like the structure of this novel. Stream-of-consciousness makes me so upset because you get all this unnecessary, round-about information that no one actually wants and you take away from the actual story. Sure, you get some details/thoughts you may not have before, but you don't get the actual elements of plot. Going off of that, this style left me with little to no understanding of what the hell was happening. 

Questions:

• I really don't understand anything about the "unstuck in time" thing. It's confusing and I know things about the story I don't want to know yet. I feel like I read the ending before reading the beginning. It's a little frustrating. Half the time I have to read over what I just read about five times before I realize that this isn't present day or this isn't during the war. The only explanation that I really found while reading could be a kind of PTSD thing. I honestly don't know.
• Billy Pilgrim makes me want to smack him. He obviously has some form of PTSD but also he is a drag and boring and apathetic.
• The "So it goes" lines seem to happen after every death. That's interesting.

Cool lines:

• "Through the valley flowed a Mississippi of humiliated Americans." pg. 64
• "Now they were dying in the snow, feeling nothing, turning the snow to the color of raspberry sherbet." pg. 54
• page 53 3rd paragraph