Chapter 7: Flashback

           An example of a flashback can be found quite early in chapter seven. This example is found in the passage, "Speaking of people from Poland: Billy Pilgrim accidentally saw a Pole hanged in public, about three days after Billy got to Dresden. Billy just happened to be walking to work with some others shortly after sunrise, and they came to a gallows and a small crowd in front of a soccer stadium. The Pole was a farm laborer who was being hanged for having had sexual intercourse with a German woman. So it goes" (Vonnegut 155-156). I find it interesting how Vonnegut informs the reader of this event in a flashback, instead of Billy time traveling. Vonnegut could have gone greater into details of the story by having Billy time travel, but rather there is just a flashback. With this flashback, I am starting to appreciate more the style of writing Vonnegut possess. His writing style is much more interesting then having numerous flashbacks because of the constant time travel.

          Since I was lazy the past few days, I procrastinated in finishing my posts. I am wishing the quality of the post stay the same even with the shortened time period. Anyways, I hope everyone is enjoying the last few weeks of summer! 

Chapter 6: Blue and Ivory

       The representation of the colors of blue and ivory are used by Vonnegut in communicating a theme to the reader. The first incident in which these colors appear is when Billy is about to be abducted by the saucer. Vonnegut goes on to describe Billy's feet as blue and ivory. Vonnegut uses blue and ivory again in the passage, "Someone had taken his [Hobo's] boots. His bare feet were blue and ivory. It was all right, somehow, his being dead. So it goes" (Vonnegut 148). When I first read this passage, it puzzled me. As I stated, it was used to describe Billy's feet with the saucer, and also while in war. At first, I could not find a connection between this motif and the rest of the novel, but then came SparkNotes.

        According to SparkNotes, the phrase "blue and ivory" is used to represent the thin membrane between life and death. This is when it made sense to me. These blue and ivory feet appeared on both Billy and the corpse of the hobo, allowing the reader to make the connection: the corpse is dead and Billy is alive; yet, they share the same physical feature, making them closer in bodily state than what is thought. Vonnegut is trying to show the reader that life and death are not as separated as people may think.

        I believe that this is one of the major themes of Slaughterhouse-Five, being an anti-war novel and all. This is a theme, when thought about deeply, makes sense since life is extremely precious and can be taken away at any moment. In the mindset of Vonnegut, life and death are not as far apart as it may appear.

Chapter 6: Dramatic Irony

        In chapter six, there is a perfect example of dramatic irony, a type of irony in which the reader knows something that a character does not. This type of irony is shown in the passage, "'You needn't worry about bombs, by the way. Dresden is an open city. It is undefended, and contains no war industries or troop concentrations of any importance"' (Vonnegut 146). This passage was spoken by an Englishman, when describing where the American prisoners will be moving to. It was stated earlier in the novel that Dresden would be bombed, and Billy has made multiple references to the Dresden bombing. In recalling this, the reader can understand right away that the passage above is dramatic irony, seeing how the Englishman has no clue that Dresden will be bombed later in the novel, and the reader does know.

        Sorry this post is shorter then my other ones. I feel like this literary term is almost self explanatory. Anyways, I am starting to really get into Slaughterhouse-Five and some of its themes. This novel has been great so far!

Chapter 5: Hail, Hail, the Gang's All Here

      In this post, I wanted to talk about a topic that I was more curious about rather then it being important to the novel. When I was reading chapter five, I came across the passage, "The door was flung open from inside. Light leaped out through the door, escaped from prison at 186,000 miles per second. Out marched fifty middle-aged Englishmen. They were singing 'Hail, Hail, the Gang's All Here' from the Pirates of Penzance" (Vonnegut 93). After coming across this passage, I was instantly curious on what this song even was, so I decided to do some more research on the song. The lyrics go something like this:

Hail, hail, the gang's all here

What the heck do we care

What the heck do we care

Hail, hail, the gang's all here

What the heck do we care now

      According to the Wikipedia article that I read, this song was popular in the United States, being written in 1917. When I read this, I found it quite odd. Why would Englishmen be singing a song that was popular in America? Could it be because they are trying to make the American prisoners of war feel comfortable and welcomed? Honestly, I believe that is what they are doing. Anyways, I will place a link of the Wikipedia article below just in case anyone wants to read it.

                           http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hail,_Hail,_the_Gang's_All_Here

          

Chapter 5: Internal Conflict

      

       Throughout Slaughterhouse-Five, Billy struggles with the internal conflict of if he considers himself insane or not. This conflict is shown in the passage, "He [Billy] knew he was going crazy when he heard himself proposing marriage to her [Valencia], when he begged her to take the diamond ring and be his companion for life" (Vonnegut 107). Billy, much to his disappointment, is starting to believe that he is going insane because of the types of actions and thoughts he has become accustomed to.

       I, for reasonable examples, have reason to believe Billy is not completely insane. Billy graduated from Optometry school as the third best in his class of forty-seven, which shows that he is a sophisticated man. Optometry is a practice that an everyday Joe cannot be an expert in. This being the case, Billy has become wealthy by the means of his high-class Optometry office. This has to show that Billy has not completely lost his mind, yet.

       Even though there are some reasons to believe Billy is not insane, there are numerous reasons to believe that he is. First of all, he is continuously time traveling through events in his life, which sounds extremely insane. Second, many soldiers came back showing signs of being insane after events they experienced in World War Two. Billy could be a prime example of this by witnessing and surviving the bombing of Dresden. Lastly, Billy does not even realize that the room is cold, even when the furnace has gone out.

       So the question is, has Billy become insane? At the beginning of the novel, there was not much reason to believe that Billy is insane, but by reading further, I am starting to believe that he is. By the actions and the characteristics that he demonstrates, Billy is starting to make me a believer in him being insane. Well, I guess I will have to continue reading and find out.  

           

Chapter 4: Free Will

       Billy's thought of "free will" seems to be challenged by the Tralfamadorians, when the topic of "bugs in amber" is the center of discussion. The "bugs in amber" logic is we are trapped in the current moment, and there is nothing we can do about it. The Tralfamadorians have the belief that all moments have already happened, so they just accept their fate because they feel powerless in changing them. The Tralfamadorians state that they have only heard of "free will" on Earth even after visiting 31 other planets.

        Free will, a topic I have never put much thought into, is a controversial topic. My own personal definition of free will is the ability to make decisions by yourself and not being forced to do them. They are many different tasks, activities, and jobs that take this ability away. It may sound silly, but even little tasks like being forced to do the dishes takes away our free will.

        Throughout Slaughterhouse-Five, Billy loses his ability of free will. When Billy was younger, his father threw him in a pool trying to teach Billy how to swim. To his father's dismay, Billy enjoys the bottom of the pool more, but against Billy's free will, his father takes him out of the pool. Another example of Billy losing his ability of free will is being drafted and forced to fight in World War Two.

         Overall, I believe free will is something that does exist throughout life. Although it may seem nonexistence, free will is always there, but can be taken away for a given period of time.    

Chapter 4: Foreshadowing

         Foreshadowing is a term that can be difficult to find in Slaughterhouse-Five, but I believe that I have found an example of it. During chapter 4, conditions for the American prisoners started to become worse with each passing day. Sadly, on the ninth day of imprisonment, Roland Weary passes away from gangrene that started in his foot. With his last moments, he asked to be avenged for his death, caused by Billy.

          Shortly after this, Vonnegut "randomly" describes a car thief from Cicero, Illinois, named Paul Lazzaro. The passage, "Lazzaro, too, had been on Roland Weary's boxcar, and had given his word of honor to Weary that he would find some way to make Billy Pilgrim pay for Weary's death. He was looking around now, wondering which naked human being was Billy" shows that Paul Lazzaro is truly devoted to avenging Weary.

          This passage made me believe that Vonnegut was trying to foreshadow the reader something. The audience already knows that Billy lives to be a middle-aged man, which means he survived the war. But Vonnegut never describes how Billy dies... Could it be that Lazzaro sticks to his promise to Weary and attempts to avenge him by killing Billy even after all this time? I believe that this could be a possibility, but I'm not entirely sure.

          All in all, when I read this passage, it made me believe that it was an example of foreshadowing. I'm honestly not sure if this is an example of foreshadowing, but I think it could possibly be one. Well, I guess I'll have to wait and find out.