Chapter 10- The Circle of Life

     Throughout the novel, life and death were major themes. For example, the use of "So it goes." revolves around the concept that death is inevitable. Although this may seem ominious or macabre, the novel also hinges on the Tralfamadorian idea that no one truly dies. This is illustrated in chapter one as Billy Pilgrim says, "'When a Tralfamadorian sees a corpse, all he thinks is that the dead person is in bad condition in that particular moment, but that the same person is just fine in plenty of other moments.'" (27). In chapter ten, this same idea is presented through the mentioning of Charles Darwin "who taught that those who die are meant to die, that corpses are improvements. So it goes." (210). Darwin is viewed by Tralfamadorians to be the "most engaging Earthling figure" because of his teachings regarding death. As I discussed in my onomatopoeia blog post, I am reminded of a circle because of these elements, a circle of life, to be more exact. As soon as this phrase entered my mind, I thought of Disney's circle of life in the movie The Lion King. The movie's opening song focuses on the fact that life is a circle with people dying and new lives replacing the old which is evident by the new life of Simba the lion. This can be connected to Slaughterhouse Five since a circle of life has been a theme throughout the entire novel. The applied message that I can take away is that everyone only has a limited amount of time to life; therefore, we must make our own impact before it is too late.
For now, we'll let Disney prove this point.

Chapter 10- Onomatopoeia

     As mentioned in chapter one, Slaughterhouse Five ends with a bird saying to Billy Pilgrim, "'Poo-tee-weet?'". This example of onomatopoeia connects the novel to its beginning. In Mr. Milroy's Speech class last year, I learned that a technique of good speaking is to create unity by mentioning an element from the opening of the speech at the conclusion of it. Vonnegut uses this techinique so that the reader will remember the beginning and the purpose for his writing of the book. Additionally, Vonnegut may have used this techinque in order to symbolize the passage of time. I am reminded of a circle by this technique; therefore, Vonnegut wanted to the reader to realize that life is a cycle. As a part of this cycle, death occurs, and new life begins. This theme is constantly reiterated by the use of the phrase "So it goes.". Hence, Vonnegut wanted the readers to take away the fact that life is a connected circle which includes the reality of death.

Chapter 9- Afterlife

     On Tralfamadore, Billy Pilgrim experienced the Tralfamadorian view of death which was that no one truly dies, for they are always alive somewhere else. Billy Pilgrim traveled to New York in order to share this lesson from the Tralfamadorians among others. While in the city, he checked into a hotel room that had previously belonged George Nathan Jean who was now deceased. Billy Pilgrim was reminded of Tralfamadore upon learning this and mused, "According to the Tralfamadorian concept, of course, Nathan was still alive somewhere and always would be." (199). In my mind, this triggered images of Heaven and Hell, and I was reminded of the television show called, I Survived: Beyond and Back. In this program, actual people recapitulate their stories of coming back to life after their hearts had stopped. One man told simply of being surrounded by warmth and a feeling of love so powerful that he did not want to leave; therefore, returning to life was bittersweet. Through these short glimpses of a possible afterlife, humans are given hope that an extraordinary afterlife exists just as the Tralfamadorians believe.

Chapter 9- Quatrain

The cattle are lowing,

The Baby awakes.

But the little Lord Jesus

No crying he makes.



     Upon reading this popular Christmas quatrain in the epigraph of the book, I was intrigued because I could not figure out the reasoning behind it. However, Vonnegut shares his reasoning through Billy Pilgrim's character in chapter nine. Since Billy "cried very little, though he often saw things worth crying about" (197), he is compared to the infant Jesus who is described peacefully in the carol. Additionally, Billy reveals that he only cries privately which reminded me of Jesus who suffered silently at the hands of his persecutors. Often, Billy Pilgrim "sees things worth crying about", but he does not show his emotions through tears in those situations. Jesus also did not allow others to see his moments of weakness especially when imploring God the Father to let the cup pass from him before his crucifixion. Although Billy Pilgrim does not consider himself to be Christ-like, the quatrain comparison produced a connection between them.

Chapter 8- Remind me, what is this war for?

     Once again, I have connected my blog to the negative aspects of war since I feel like it is a theme of the novel. Vonnegut shares the reality of war which is that "people are discouraged from being characters" (164). Therefore, the novel contains few characters in Vonnegut's opinion.  One phrase that I could relate to the Twilight Saga: Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer is "most of the people in it [war] are so sick and so much the listless playthings of enormous forces" (164). Although the Twilight Saga is often the subject of ridicule, blatant parallels exist between this statement in chapter eight and Eclipse. In the third installment of Bella and Edward's love story, a vengeful vampire named Victoria creates a bloodthirsty army (literally!) in order to kill Bella. Her army of newborn vampires can only recognize their addiction to human blood since they have just been created. Because the army is consumed with their thirst, they are in a state of bedlam and consternation. None of the newborns are aware that their purpose is to unite as an army. Manipulating the newborns who will do anything to satisfy their insatiable thirst, Victoria is the mastermind behind this entire plan. Hence she is an "enormous force" just as the warring nations in WWII are enormous forces that use soldiers to achieve the end goal of victory without realizing the gruesome consequences.

Chapter 8- Antihero

     Introduced in chapter eight, Howard W. Campbell Jr., "an American who had become a Nazi", can be described an an antihero (162). The very idea that an American could morph into a person who practices Nazi values practically screams "antihero"; moreover, Campbell proves to be an antihero through his words and actions. His dress included a motley of American elements coupled with Nazi symbols which is a disgrace to America. Since America's foundation is the principle that all men are created equal, American ideals and Nazi principles are on different wave lengths entirely. By disgracing the American name through his clothing, Campbell is an antihero who is hated by the American soldiers at Dresden. One of the especially vocal soldiers was Edgar Derby who could not allow Campbell to behave so despicably. Derby confronted Campbell by referring to him as "something much lower than a snake or a rat- or even a blood-filled tick" (164). Additionally, Edgar Derby reiterates the fact that Nazis are loathed by Americans by "speaking of the brotherhood between the Americans and the Russian people, and how those two nations were going to crush the disease of Nazism, which wanted to infect the whole world" (164). In response to Derby's name calling, "Campbell smiled". His nearly sinister reaction further illustrates the fact that Howard W. Campbell Jr. lacks morality which seals his status as an antihero.

Chapter 7- Go to your happy place...

      Due to his time travels, Billy Pilgrim already knows that the plane he chartered to a convention in Montreal will crash and that everyone except himself and the copilot will perish. Therefore, minutes before the plane was to meet its demise, Billy Pilgrim "closed his eyes, traveled in time back to 1944" (156). Since my summer has been mainly consumed with summer work and Friends reruns, I thought of an episode that I had recently watched. In this episode, Phoebe tells Chandler to go to his happy place after breaking up with his girlfriend. I couldn't help but relate Billy Pilgrim to Phoebe's advice because he unknowingly followed it. Often, people block out bad memories or current inopportune situations by thinking "happy thoughts". This is a defense mechanism that can be used to focus on good memories rather than unfortunate occurances. Billy Pilgrim employs this coping method in order to escape the grim reality of the plane crash.