Chapter 10: Response/Thoughts

The way Vonnegut ended the novel was an excellent way to wrap everything back together, so the reader could fully comprehend the message. The message that war and massacre are senseless. As I received this message, I began to accept events such as the Olympics even more than I already do. And as an athlete, I like the Olympics a lot. Anyway, I became more infatuated with the idea because it is a non-violent way for countries to compete without harming one another. War and massacre are senseless, and the questions why they occur cannot be answered.

Chapter 10: RHETORICAL QUESTION

In the final chapter, Vonnegut repeats a previous rhetorical question. As Vonnegut ends the novel, a question that appeared in chapter 1 reappears: "One bird said to Billy Pilgrim, "Poo-tee-weet?"" (215). This question first shows up in chapter 1, when Vonnegut is describing a massacre. He says there is no intelligent response to a massacre. The things birds say make no sense, therefore there is no sense in replying. He makes the connection that bird talk makes no sense just as anybody's talk about war. The question, "Poo-tee-weet?" is unanswerable. It is simply a question meant to effect what the reader acquires from the novel.

Chapter 9: Response/Thoughts

The end of chapter 9 was quite intriguing. The way Billy tried to announce to the world that there are far more complex beings besides humans, is like a man trying to proclaim that the world really is going to end. A man in the film 2012 held his own radio station with all sorts of updates about the end of the world. However, not a single person took him seriously. This situation is somewhat similar to Billy's predicament. Billy tried to inform the Earthlings of the astonishing Tralfamadorians, but no one believed him. He was escorted from the radio station building. Both of these men had incredible news to report. Unfortunately, people do not believe these 'crazy' stories.

Chapter 9: SYMBOL

Near the end of chapter 9, Vonnegut becomes even more of a symbolic writer. The time-traveling continues after the bombing, when "Billy and five other American prisoners were riding in a coffin-shaped green wagon" (193-194). It came to my attention that maybe the coffin-shaped wagon symbolized all who had died in the Dresden bombing. The coffin-shaped wagon is a symbolic death suffered by the survivors of the brutal war. Then, when the two Germans make it known to Billy the condition of the horses pulling the wagon, Billy understands his history withholds his own defeat. This part of chapter 9 results in a complex thought process connecting everything that has occurred thus far.

Chapter 8: Response/Thoughts

This chapter's main topic was getting to know Kilgore Trout. He turned out to be a crude and selfish man. When Vonnegut first began describing Trout, my first thoughts compared him to Ebenezer Scrooge. Both are nasty men, as far as personalities. Although Trout is an entertaining man, he is rude to children and uses his wit to fool people. In the beginning, Kilgore seems like a surly man because he is not as successful as he wants. His personality compares to Scrooge's in that both men are not happy unless they are happy.

Chapter 8: FORESHADOWING

Since this novel is all about time travel, the amount of foreshadowing is obvious. Vonnegut makes clever use of his foreshadowing skills. However, I noticed more use in chapter 8 than in any other chapter. The most important event that Vonnegut begins to foreshadow is the Dresden bombing: "It was the next night that about one hundred and thirty thousand people in Dresden would die" (165). The constant build-up to this life changingoccurance was foreshadowed in the beginning pages. Vonnegut had been foreshadowing the event the entire novel, then the next night, the city of Dresden is vanquished.

Chapter 7: Response/Thoughts

Although brief, chapter 7 held many events critical to the novels continuance. The final happenings of the chapter, when Billy and Edgar Derby are sneakily eating syrup, reminds me of my younger cousins. Children always seem to be sneaking a cookie out of the cookie jar. Then, when someone begins to approach, they quickly eat it or put it back. Billy does this to Edgar at the end of the chapter. He quickly stuffs the syrup lollipop into Edgar's mouth and hides it before the person gets to them.

Chapter 7: IRONY

In chapter 7, something very tragic occurs. Billy Pilgrim and his father are on a plane to an optometrist convention in Montreal, when their plane crashes. The only survivors were Billy and the copilot. Now, what is ironic about this, is that the barbershop quartet on the plane was singing, ""Wait Till the Sun Shines, Nelly," when the plane smacked into the top of Sugarbush Mountain in Vermont" (156). The song's lyrics mention being happy and sun shine. The irony in this is a barbershop quartet singing about being happy right before the plane crashes, and everybody perishes, excluding two people.

Chapter 6: Response/Thoughts

In this chapter, poor old Edgar Derby is elected to be the leader of the Americans who are being shipped to Dresden. Edgar was nominated because of his maturity and long time of dealing with people. When I read this, and I looked back on it; it reminded me of high school sports. The oldest player, senior, is expected to lead his/her team. Edgar was the most mature man, therefore making him the "senior." Edgar took responsibility over the rest of the Americans, wanting nothing but saftey for them. He wanted a win; nobody getting killed.

Chapter 6: STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS

In chapter 6, Vonnegut shows us the sinister side of Paul Lazzaro. Whenever Vonnegut begins to write about Lazzaro, the stream of consciousness changes. Paul brings up an encounter with a dog that had bitten him once. Being the cruel man Lazzaro is he "put points on the ends of the pieces. They were sharp as razor blades. [He] stuck 'em into the steak - way inside" (189). He then fed the steak to the dog as his revenge. Whenever Paul Lazzaro is brought into the picture, the story's writing becomes incredibly violent. Several other cases show the vile thoughts of Paul Lazzaro.

Chapter 5: Response/Thoughts

Vonnegut's use of the phrase. "So it goes," exmplifies his care for the matter at hand; being death. He shows that he cares for people, yet knows that war will never be resolved. He tries to explain that no matter how great the death toll is, each death counts. His disgust for massive annihilation is portrayed through this phrase. He uses this phrase as a gateway to his theme of the terrible outcomes of war.

Chapter 5: MOTIF

The recurring phrase, "So it goes," is the main motif of Slaughterhouse Five. Vonnegut uses this phrase numerous times throughout the story. Furthermore, it is publicized an excessive amount in chapter five. He uses this phrase to develop into one of the major themes of the story; war's destructiveness. A man who labeled people dies in the war: "A slave laborer from Poland had done the stamping. He was dead now. So it goes" (91). I began to notice the motif because each time death was mentioned, the sentence was followed by the phrase: "So it goes." The phrase develops the theme showing that war causes death and destruction among a plethora of people.

Chapter 4: Response/Thoughts

In chapter 4, Billy comes in contact with the Tralfamadorians. Billy is told by the Tralfamadorians that free will has never been heard of anywhere other than Earth. The Tralfamadorians believe that there is no such thing as free will. When I first read this, the film, The Adjustment Bureau, popped into my head. In this movie, the Adjustment Bureau is an agency that controls the events in a person's life: who they come in contact with, where they eat, etc. The idea the Tralfamadorians have is similar to the films portrayal of life. This is, emphasizing the role of fate forming life, not free will.

Chapter 4: SIMILE

Slaughterhouse 5 has already had many poetic aspects appear. The most frequent type of poetry has been Vonnegut's similes. A large component of chapter 4 was a rather complex simile. Billy is told that, "All time is all time. It does not change.... Take it moment by moment, and you will find that we are all, as I've said before, bugs in amber" (86). The Tralfamadorian explains that people are are trapped in life's moments like bugs trapped in amber. Billy begins to understand the Tralfamadorian's idea of no free will.

Chapter 3: Overall Thoughts

While reading chapter three, the vision of death and fright was compelled into my mind. Vonnegut's writing tone is identical to that of Edgar Allen Poe. Each writer develops a bloodcurling factor in his story. A recent  horror film, "The Raven," which is about the life and works of Edgar Allen Poe displays the frightful aspects of his writing. With all that Vonnegut has described already, there is no telling the horrors that are approaching.

Chapter 3: STYLE

Chapter three is consistent with examples of Vonnegut's style. The way he uses short, choppy sentences displays the directness of the story. When he describes an event or character, his senetences become short and exact: "She was shivering. Her tail was between her legs" (52). Also, Vonnegut's use of vivid adjectives and verbs exemplifies his creative diction. His diction gives the story a chilling tone. The tone he applies to the story is perfect because of the subject: war.

Chapter 2: Overall Thoughts

As I read deeper into chapter two, I was bamboozled by Billy's traveling between different worlds. I understood them as flashbacks. However, as I read into the chapter, I began to figure out what was happening. The ideas that intrigued me the most though was the description of Billy Pilgrim. I find it quite difficult to keep calm in certain situations, but Billy is said to never get angry. The possibility of not becoming enraged at somebody like Weary is overwhelmingly hard to understand. I have witnissed anger management therapists get irate about little incidents. So, I am hoping to see a change in attitude for Billy as the story progresses.

Chapter 2: FLASHBACK

Although the beginning of chapter 2 describes the life of Billy Pilgrim, throughout the rest of the chapter, Billy has several flashbacks. The "time travel" that occurs in chapter two are linked to occurances that happened in Billy's life. At one point in the story Billy has a significant flashback: "Billy blinked in 1965, traveled in time to 1958" (45). Billy travels time a couple other times. Each time Billy time travels, he relives an event or partaking that happened in his life or another world. I accepted each "time traveling" event as a type of flashback that Billy experienced. Although, sometimes he was taken into an entirely separate, fantasy world.

Chapter 1: Overall Thoughts

While reading the beginning of this story, I could not stop thinking about the peculiarity of the subjects he described with such feeling. He seems like a writer who is attempting to draw several different emotions from his readers. It reminds me of modern poetry. He is using emotion to envelop the readers into the world of Slaughterhouse Five. Like modern poets, Vonnegut is using the emotions of the reader to develop their understanding of the story. He uses sadness in the first couple pages, and then he combines it with humor in the following pages. I am looking forward to reading deeper into the book, as well as discovering where Vonnegut will take the story.

CHARACTERIZATION!

Throughout chapter one, Vonnegut continuously identifies the characters with characterization. He characterizes the personality of himself as old and forgetful. However, he wants to reveal the truth about what happened at Dresden. Vonnegut portrays himself as a man who cannot remember the significant events pertaining to the massacre at Dresden. As the chapter approaches the ending, he reveals his true feelings about Dresden. The thought of the annihilation that occured at Dresden supports his reason to tell "my sons that they are not under any circumstances to take part in massacres..." (19). Further comprehension helps uncover his values of being against partaking in such horrific events.

This is Nichols Littrell's blog... I almost mispelled my last name