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.”