I am finished!

I am not going to lie. That was actually a pretty good book. I had my doubts in the beginning, but it turned out well! I did not think it was too boring like a few other books I have read in school. I like Vonnegut's humor, and I was unable to guess what would happen next because he was all over the place with the time traveling. It did seem weird at times, but it did not ruin the fact that I liked the book. I am not a big reader, and it is very hard to find a book that I like. I was not too excited to read a novel over summer break, but I am happy that I read this novel.

Chapter 10: Entry #2

“They didn’t smell bad at first, were wax museums” (Vonnegut 132). Billy is talking about when he was forced to dig for bodies and they found buildings were bodies were left. Wax museums are exhibitions of wax dummies, typically representing famous people and fictional characters. This sentence by Vonnegut makes me recall back in fifth grade when St. Barnabas did our wax museum. We each were able to choose our own famous person to impersonate. I chose Jesse Owens. Jesse Owens was African American and a sprinter in the Olympics. Meanwhile, I am a red head who does not tan very well. It was very interesting to wear my short shorts and tank top. From the appearance standpoint, I was not a very good Jesse Owens. It was fun though and I was able to learn a lot about the different famous people in history. It is funny that one sentence from a novel can cause one to remember different events from one’s past.

Chapter 10: Motif

“So it goes” (Vonnegut 133). This phrase appears too many times to count throughout this novel. At first I did not quite understand why he put it in the story so much. After four or five chapters, I started to realize that “So it goes” occurs after death or dying. I still do not know if I know exactly why he puts it yet. My guess and what I believe is that he uses this phrase to show that death will always occur. It is simply part of life. According to Billy’s new point of view and the Tralfamadorians, no one is truly dead. They are just absent in that moment. They are still living in the past moments: somewhere else at some other time. To me, this is very similar to my outlook on heaven. Although the soul moves on to be with God in heaven, the memories stay with us. “And so on.” (Vonnegut 31).  One’s time on earth is how they will be remembered after they are deceased and their soul moves on to the next life. “So it goes.”

Chapter 9: Entry #2

“It cost a quarter to look into a machine for one minute” (Vonnegut 125).  Billy stumbles across this machine while looking for books in the “book” store. This machine costs a quarter in return for the user to look at different discreet pictures of woman for just one minute. One day, I was watching Pawn Stars when a man wanted to sell his machine. The machine is called a peep show machine. I had never heard of one until I recently saw that episode of Pawn Stars. They did not buy the machine, and I honestly do not blame them. Although the book store does not turn out to be what he was expecting, he still finds a Kilgore Trout book that he is interested in so his time in the store is not completely wasted.

Chapter 9: Allusion

“Before Billy opened his eyes, it seemed to him that the tones might have been those used by the friends of Jesus when they took His ruined body down from His cross” (Vonnegut 122). This is obviously comparing the way the man and woman were talking along the road to the way Jesus’ friends were speaking when he was crucified. This is a sorrowful tone. Vonnegut is showing us that they were mourning the physical nature of the horse at the present time. The horse was badly hurt with bleeding hooves and it still carried Billy and the others along. The horse was sacrificing its health to carry Billy. The couple was able to get Billy’s attention and help the horse. They got out of the carriage and left the horse. The fact that the couple cared that much about the horse shows that they are very compassionate people much like the friends of Jesus.

Chapter 8: Entry #2

“‘You looked as though you’d seen a ghost,’ said Valencia” (Vonnegut 108). This quote may be more commonly said than the rhetorical question above. I have only heard it said when someone is either worn out or looks scared. It obviously does not mean the person has actually seen a ghost. Although I have watched a television series called “Ghost Hunters” and in that aspect it is used in its literal form.  I did some research, and the reason Billy was so pale and “out of it” is because he remembered a moment from the bombing. When he looked over at the Febs with their mouth open, it reminded him of the Dresden bombing. The guards watching the prisoners in the safe haven had the same look on their face during the actual bombing.

Chapter 8: Rhetorical Question

“‘What are we going to do with you?’” (Vonnegut 104). Billy’s daughter is asking Billy this. This is a widely used question around my house. When anyone does something wrong, I hear my mom asking asking my siblings this question question a lot. I sometimes find myself asking the same thing to certain siblings. The question is not meant to have an answer. When one is asked this question, one knows they have done something wrong. Over the years, Billy’s daughter feels as if she has “put up” with a lot. Shes heard his fictional stories of being abducted by aliens and his new outlook on life. This leads her to ask her father, “What are we going to do with you?” The fact that his daughter is asking him this makes it seem as if he is very childlike. It seems like she treats Billy as if he is a child and does not know between right and wrong.

Chapter 7: Entry #2

                “The syrup tasted like thin honey laced with hickory smoke, and everybody who worked in the factory secretly spooned it all day” (Vonnegut 101). This is very funny to me because this occurs at my job. I am a fountain boy for Steak N’ Shake. Throughout my shifts, many employees walk by the different candies used for the milkshakes. We are not technically supposed to take any of these candies but it does not stop anyone from doing it. We will get in trouble if we are caught doing it, but the consequences will not be as harsh as they are for the prisoners of war. The peanut butter used for the Nutter Butter milkshakes is very thin and delicious. That is the main food that my fellow employees like to take. Although after eating too much of it, I do begin to feel quite sick.

Chapter 7: Personification

“A moment went by, and then every cell in Billy’s body shook him with ravenous gratitude and applause” (Vonnegut 101). This occurred after Billy ate a spoonful of the pregnancy syrup. Vonnegut uses personification to reveal how Billy’s cells reacted to their portion of the syrup. We all know that cells can not physically applaud and show their feelings. I really like how he uses personification to show how the cells feel though. Many people can relate to that feeling, especially when we eat something very good. After work, I will eat and it feels as if my body is rejoicing that I finally ate something. That is probably a very similar feeling as the one Vonnegut is describing. I like how Vonnegut takes natural feelings and is able to describe it in a deeper perspective.

Chapter 6: Entry #2

“Roguish fauns and naked nymphs peeked down at Billy from festooned cornices” (Vonnegut 95). Billy is so enchanted by the city’s architecture. This quotation makes me think of the movie Hunchback of Notre Dame. It seems as if the statues are coming alive and watching Billy as he walks through Dresden. I was not very sure of what cornices were but after a little research I found that it is the horizontal molded projection that crowns a building. On the Americans entrance to Dresden, it seemed as if everyone was staring at them including the architecture. Dresden had this magical appearance to the prisoners of war because it was one of the few European cities not influenced or harmed by war, yet. Everything was so peaceful so it gave the city a dreamlike appearance.

Chapter 6: Dramatic Irony

“Derby was imagining letters to home, his lips worked tremulously: Dear Margaret- We are leaving for Dresden today. Don’t worry. It will never be bombed. It is an open city” (Vonnegut 93). This is the epitome of dramatic irony because Vonnegut has already informed us that Dresden will be bombed, yet Derby does not know that yet. He writes a letter to his wife telling her that everything will be okay, although everything does not turn out to be fine. Although Derby does not die due to the bombing, he does not return from war. We know that he is shot by a firing squad. For what reason was he shot? We do not know yet. Dresden was an “open city” that is why it had little defense. Their army was worthless and open to attack. During a world war, an open city is not where I would feel safe.

Chapter 5: Entry #2

“‘What we love in our books are the depths of many marvelous moments seen al l at one time’” (Vonngut 60).

          I am fond of this citation because it tells us a large number about the lifestyle of the Tralfamadorians. The Tralfamadorians see the past, present and future all at once. This is shown through the phrase, “the depths of many marvelous moments seen all at one time.” Their literature fits their way of society perfectly. They have no free will or free choice to write or do anything. They already know what will happen and what they will chose to do. We are a diverse society, and we have free choice and free will. This is very evident in our earthling novels. We have all different themes, styles and genres. My favorite theme would be adventure and autobiographies because it has actually happened to that person. I feel as if Vonnegut is telling me that different cultures have different themes and genres to their literature because they live in a different society. Just because we do not see “eye to eye” with that culture, does not always mean it is wrong.

Chapter 5: Simile

“She [Valencia] was as big as a house because she couldn’t stop eating” (Vonnegut 70). I think this quotation is hilarious. He uses a simile to tell us that his fiancée is a rather large woman. Billy tells us that “she couldn’t stop eating” and this apparent throughout the novel. Almost every time Valencia is acknowledged in the story, she is eating something. Much of the time what she is feasting on is candy bars. This shows that she has a “sweet tooth.” This quote from above makes me believe that Billy does not truly love Valencia. On the following page, it says, “Billy didn’t want to marry ugly Valencia. She was one of the symptoms of his disease.” This backs up my belief. I like Vonnegut’s humor with Valencia. It makes the novel more interesting.

Chapter 4: Entry #2

“Out of the shower heads gushed scalding rain. The rain was a blowtorch that did not warm. It jazzed and jangled Billy’s skin without thawing the ice in the narrow of his long bones” (Vonnegut 58).  Billy is talking about when he took a shower in the prisoners’ camp.  Many people who live in regions with cold winters can relate to this. Last winter I can recall spending hours playing with my siblings outside. When I went inside, I decided to take a steaming shower. Although this shower was hot, I did not seem to be able to regain heat to my body. This is the same situation that Billy was in. He had just spent hours in the freezing cold, and when it came time for him to take a hot shower, his body responded the same way mine had when I took my shower. I like how he stated, “It jazzed and jangled Billy’s skin without thawing the ice.” To me, it sounds like his skin is having many little spasms as the water hits it. I have never really thought of it that way, but it seems like a very good comparison.

Chapter 4: Irony

“On the ninth day, the forty year old hobo died. So it goes. His last words were, ‘You think this is bad? This ain’t bad.’” (Vonnegut 55). This is a prime example of irony. Although he was about to die, the hobo still reiterated this line “You think this is bad? This ain’t bad.” The hobo reveals that he has been in worse conditions, than being locked up in that train with many other prisoners of war. This is ironic because he was able to survive the other shoddier conditions but passes away in these conditions. This also tells us that the hobo has been through a lot during his life. For one to think that being a POW is not that bad, reveals that the person is not used to luxury or anything close to a lavish lifestyle. It also talked about how the hobo was the only one who would sleep near Billy. Everybody else in the train forced him to sleep while standing because they did not like how he would yell and thrash in his sleep. I think Vonnegut uses this ironic quote as humor; in addition to showing that there are many people in this world who do have it worse than many of us.

Chapter 3: Entry #2

“Blood Brother”

“‘Blood Brother’ said a message written in pink paint on the side of a shattered grocery store” (Vonnegut 42). The phrase “blood brother” can mean two things: two males who are related by birth or a male is sworn to treat another man as his brother usually through a ceremony involving the mingling of blood.  I did some research and found that the origins of the “blood brother” dates back to a Norwegian warrior named Örvar-Oddr who wanted to fight his enemy Hjalmar, a Swedish warrior. When the battle began, there was much blood lost, and after two days of fighting, the battle ended in a draw. Both warriors saw that they were equals and decided to become sworn brothers by letting their blood flow under a strand of turf raised by a spear. Then, the strand of turf was put back during oaths and incantations. This is one of the first accounts of the “Blood Brothers” but it says that this type of brotherhood was very common in Ancient Mediterranean Europe.  I always thought that this phrase was contemporary. My guess is that in the novel it was a gang who wrote this phrase on the shattered grocery store. Pink is not the choice color for a gang but it shows that they used whatever they could find. Another thing that shows that it is a poor part of town is that it was written on a “shattered grocery store.”

Chapter 3: Foreshadowing

“There was another long silence, with the colonel dying and dying, drowning where he stood” (Vonnegut 48). This is an example of foreshadowing in the novel because Kurt Vonnegut is informing the audience that “Wild Bob” was in very bad condition and was about to die. Vonnegut doesn’t try to hide the fact that he is going to die because of the way he phrased it “with the colonel dying and dying.” He also informs the reader on how he will die too. He will suffocate or drown in his own blood. By saying “drowning where he stood,” this leads me to believe that he must have internal bleeding occurring. A few pages later it is revealed that “Wild Bob” does in fact die.

Chapter 2: Entry #2

“How did I get so old?”

            When Billy Pilgrim visited Pine Knoll, an old people’s home, his mother asked him a very intriguing question, “How did I get so old?” (Vonnegut 34). My grandparents will sometimes ask a question similar to Pilgrim’s mother’s question. My grandparents tend to ask it in a humorous way unlike the tone portrayed in the story. His mother’s tone seemed to be more somber and depressed. Although my grandparents’ tone is humorous, I am able to tell that they truly do wonder the same thing in a more serious attitude. This question is always on the mind of the aging. It seems as if their youth flies by, and they are stuck wondering why and how. This question flows very well with Billy Pilgrim’s “time travel” to the different years throughout his life. This helps to show that life passes quickly before our eyes and it will be close to the end before we know it. It seems as if one minute people are enjoying life as an adolescent and the next moment they are wondering, ““How did I get so old?”

Allusion- Chapter 2: entry #1

“The Three Musketeers pushed and carried and dragged the college kid all the way back to their own lines, Weary’s story went. They saved his God damned hide for him” (Vonnegut 31). An allusion is a reference to someone or something that is known from history, literature, religion, politics, sports, science or other branch of culture. In this case the allusion here is “The Three Musketeers.” The Three Musketeers is a very famous novel by Alexandre Dumas that later transformed into a movie/television shows, comics, games, etc. Roland Weary makes up this long exaggerated story to tell his family when he returns from war. He compares himself and the two other scouts to “The Three Musketeers.” This comparison is meant to make Weary and the two other men look like heroes. Weary and the two other scouts “save” Billy Pilgrim, who’s portrayed as the poor, helpless scholar in need of help. This makes the three men seem more heroic in their actions.

Chapter 1: Entry 2

In the novel, Kurt Vonnegut was visiting the house of Bernard O’ Hare trying to remember stories he could include into his Dresden book he was writing. Mary O’ Hare was obviously irate about something Vonnegut was a part of. When she left the room and “was moving all over the house, opening and shutting doors, even moving furniture around to work off anger” (Vonnegut 14). This is very entertaining because many people including myself can relate to this action. When someone or something happens and I am not too thrilled about it, I find myself doing something either to annoy or show the person I am not pleased with something they did or I work off my anger by participating in some physical work.  Mary was also very open with telling Kurt Vonnegut what infuriated her too. She was livid because she thought that they will “pretend they were men instead of babies, and they will be played in the movies by Frank Sinatra and John Wayne” (Vonnegut 14). She also felt like they would change the gloomy plot to make war look wonderful. This is very true with society today. Hollywood changes war movies and biographies around to make the action more appealing to the audience. In the movie Blind Side, they made Michael Oher appear as he had never played football before, but this is not true. Michael Oher had been playing football before he was taken in by his foster family. This just shows that Mary’s concerns are still relevant to the world today.

Indirect Characterization: Chapter 1

                “I have this disease late at night sometimes, involving alcohol and the telephone. I get drunk, and drive my wife away with a breath like mustard gas and roses. And then speaking gravely and elegantly into the telephone, I ask the telephone operators to connect me with this friend or that one, from whom I have not heard in years” (Vonnegut 8). This quote is an example of indirect characterization because his actions are revealing a few tendencies that Kurt Vonnegut exercises at nighttime which help the audience understand what type of person the author is. He refers to this obsession of drinking alcohol and calling old acquaintances as a disease because he must be doing this quite often. This obsession is not something he is able to stop doing. Vonnegut uses oxymoron to describe his breath and the way he talks into the phone. The fact that he describes his “breath like mustard gas and roses” and the way he talks into the phone is “grave and elegant” is also very humorous. These oxymoron shows that he feels that he is charming and inviting like roses, but at the same time he is polluted like mustard gas. Kurt Vonnegut also called old acquaintances that he had not heard from in years. This shows that he is a friendly man and likes to communicate with people from his pasts.

About to read the novel

About to begin reading and blogging about the novel, Slaughterhouse Five.