In response to Slaughterhouse Five
Poem
(Kurt Vonnegut's perspective; Effects of War)
Effects
Twenty years it took to write a short story
About war and the damage
And here we are again in another war
When will it stop
The destruction, the death, the death by the destruction
The numb feeling because of what I endured, what many endured
War is not what it seems
It is not a joy to fight for your county
It is hard and damaging and cruel and demoralizing
Books and movies making it seem glamorous
Well
There is no glamor in killing people doing the same thing for their country
Fighting for what is right is not right to them
And them fighting for what is right is not right to you
Where does this leave us?
Dead.
Numb.
Cold.
No beginning
No middle
No end
No suspense
No morals
No cause or effect
Just time going by
With no feeling or remorse
Nothing at all
Tuesday, September 27, 2016
9. I Am Sorry
In response to Slaughterhouse Five Chapter 10 (page 95-97)
Letter -in a different way
(Kurt Vonnegut's perspective; brings in connections between himself and Billy Pilgrim's character and expresses all the loss that occurred)
Dear Billy,
You may be a character, but you are more than that to me.
Thank you for letting me morph you and your experiences and letting me reflect my life onto yours. While some of it may have been completely unrealistic and confusing, it helped me. It took me over twenty years and a whole other war starting to finish writing your story, but it is done, finally.
This started out as an antiwar book, sharing all the horrible things about war, but it became more that that, and you started to exist and change my perspective.
The majority of what happened to you during war and Dresden, that is my story. It was hard and horrible and I'm sorry I made you experience it too. But it helped me, I guess cope and grieve with what had happened to me and let in all the pain. War pretty much screwed me over. My head was messed up and I wanted to show that in the story to express how damaging war is, not only during, but the after effects as well. With you and your character, I felt I was able to show what I wanted to show and express what I wanted to express. You helped me immensely and for that I thank you.
However, this was not all me. It was you too. As I developed your character, you inspired me and grasped onto my imagination to make this story come to life.
This was about war, the cruelty and damage that becomes of it, humanity destroying itself, and so much more.
When people read this story, there will be different reactions. They may think you are crazy, or may think you are absolutely right, or may not care either way. I hope you are prepared for that.
While creating this, I wrote you in somewhat numbed to what was surrounding you, not only in the war, but in a lot of aspects throughout the story. I'm sorry about that as well. It really helped capture the message though. War was horrible and demoralizing. I hardly could do anything right after I got out, and it damaged me more than I knew, which is what I mirrored onto you.
I hope it wasn't too hard on you, being that way. I had to express that when I was writing though. People don't understand how hard it is really. I want them to be able to realize what happens to people during war, and what happens to them after it.
You made it though. I had to let you make it through. You are stronger than you know and I am forever grateful for the creation we made together.
Sincerely,
K.Vonnegut
Letter -in a different way
(Kurt Vonnegut's perspective; brings in connections between himself and Billy Pilgrim's character and expresses all the loss that occurred)
Dear Billy,
You may be a character, but you are more than that to me.
Thank you for letting me morph you and your experiences and letting me reflect my life onto yours. While some of it may have been completely unrealistic and confusing, it helped me. It took me over twenty years and a whole other war starting to finish writing your story, but it is done, finally.
This started out as an antiwar book, sharing all the horrible things about war, but it became more that that, and you started to exist and change my perspective.
The majority of what happened to you during war and Dresden, that is my story. It was hard and horrible and I'm sorry I made you experience it too. But it helped me, I guess cope and grieve with what had happened to me and let in all the pain. War pretty much screwed me over. My head was messed up and I wanted to show that in the story to express how damaging war is, not only during, but the after effects as well. With you and your character, I felt I was able to show what I wanted to show and express what I wanted to express. You helped me immensely and for that I thank you.
However, this was not all me. It was you too. As I developed your character, you inspired me and grasped onto my imagination to make this story come to life.
This was about war, the cruelty and damage that becomes of it, humanity destroying itself, and so much more.
When people read this story, there will be different reactions. They may think you are crazy, or may think you are absolutely right, or may not care either way. I hope you are prepared for that.
While creating this, I wrote you in somewhat numbed to what was surrounding you, not only in the war, but in a lot of aspects throughout the story. I'm sorry about that as well. It really helped capture the message though. War was horrible and demoralizing. I hardly could do anything right after I got out, and it damaged me more than I knew, which is what I mirrored onto you.
I hope it wasn't too hard on you, being that way. I had to express that when I was writing though. People don't understand how hard it is really. I want them to be able to realize what happens to people during war, and what happens to them after it.
You made it though. I had to let you make it through. You are stronger than you know and I am forever grateful for the creation we made together.
Sincerely,
K.Vonnegut
8. The Crash
In response to Slaughterhouse Five Chapter 9 (page 83-95)
Diary Entry
(Billy Pilgrim's perspective; After a plane crash, Billy is in the hospital and while his wife is on her way there, she dies. Billy time travels while he is in the hospital to after the war, then is brought home. He goes to NYC to be on the radio, then is back on Tralfamadore.)
Dear Journal,
Here is what happened after the crash.
Well, Valencia died. It was quite tragic really. I, unfortunately, was not even awake during most of what happened, and could not attend her funeral.
I was in a hospital in Vermont. When Valencia heard of the crash, she was hysterical. They told her I might die and that really shook her. On her drive to the hospital, she missed a turn off and braked, then got slammed from behind.
Both drivers were fine, but our Cadillac suffered. The trunk and fender were crushed, and the exhaust system was on the floor.
Valencia didn't care though. The other driver came to see if she was okay, but she was sobbing too much, then she sped away to the hospital. When she drove up people heard the car. It roared, and people thought it was some sort of bomber.
I guess when she turned off the engine, she slumped against the wheel. Some doctors came out to find her unconscious from carbon monoxide, and an hour later, she was gone. So it goes.
I was too sick to go to the funeral, however I was no longer unconscious and delirious. However the old man in the hospital next to me, Rumfoord, thought otherwise. He honest to God thought I had Echolalia. Him and his way-too-young-wife were talking about Dresden, and when I told them that I had been there during the war, he thought I was mental.
Anyways, while in the hospital I had done some time traveling back to a couple days after the war. What an experience that was. Once I was back to the hospital after the crash, Barbara took me home. I wasn't suppose to go out of the house or do anything for a while, but what is the fun in that? I went to New York. This is where I went on the radio to talk about Tralfamadorians and Time. Long story short, they kicked me out during a commercial. Maybe they were just busy.
Then I was back on Tralfamadore with Montana Wildhack. She was feeding our baby.
She had an interesting necklace on. It said "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom always to tell the difference." Maybe that was her piece of Earth.
Billy
Diary Entry
(Billy Pilgrim's perspective; After a plane crash, Billy is in the hospital and while his wife is on her way there, she dies. Billy time travels while he is in the hospital to after the war, then is brought home. He goes to NYC to be on the radio, then is back on Tralfamadore.)
Dear Journal,
Here is what happened after the crash.
Well, Valencia died. It was quite tragic really. I, unfortunately, was not even awake during most of what happened, and could not attend her funeral.
I was in a hospital in Vermont. When Valencia heard of the crash, she was hysterical. They told her I might die and that really shook her. On her drive to the hospital, she missed a turn off and braked, then got slammed from behind.
Both drivers were fine, but our Cadillac suffered. The trunk and fender were crushed, and the exhaust system was on the floor.
Valencia didn't care though. The other driver came to see if she was okay, but she was sobbing too much, then she sped away to the hospital. When she drove up people heard the car. It roared, and people thought it was some sort of bomber.
I guess when she turned off the engine, she slumped against the wheel. Some doctors came out to find her unconscious from carbon monoxide, and an hour later, she was gone. So it goes.
I was too sick to go to the funeral, however I was no longer unconscious and delirious. However the old man in the hospital next to me, Rumfoord, thought otherwise. He honest to God thought I had Echolalia. Him and his way-too-young-wife were talking about Dresden, and when I told them that I had been there during the war, he thought I was mental.
Anyways, while in the hospital I had done some time traveling back to a couple days after the war. What an experience that was. Once I was back to the hospital after the crash, Barbara took me home. I wasn't suppose to go out of the house or do anything for a while, but what is the fun in that? I went to New York. This is where I went on the radio to talk about Tralfamadorians and Time. Long story short, they kicked me out during a commercial. Maybe they were just busy.
Then I was back on Tralfamadore with Montana Wildhack. She was feeding our baby.
She had an interesting necklace on. It said "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom always to tell the difference." Maybe that was her piece of Earth.
Billy
7. Unkown Damage
In response to Slaughterhouse Five Chapter 8 (page 74-83)
Quote and response
(Billy Pilgrim's perspective; Billy is in Dresden. He time travels to a conversation with his daughter years later then talks about Kilgore Trout. Them travels to his wedding anniversary where he has some sort of panic attack/flashback, recalls Dresden, then is back in Tralfamadore talking about the war.)
“'Really— I’m O.K.' And he was, too, except that he could find no explanation for why the song had affected him so grotesquely. He had supposed for years that he had no secrets from himself. Here was proof that he had a great big secret somewhere inside, and he could not imagine what it was" (Vonnegut, 79).
"The guards drew together instinctively, rolled their eyes. They experimented with one expression and then another, said nothing, though their mouths were often open. They looked like a silent film of a barbershop quartet. 'So long forever,' they might have been singing, 'old fellows and pals; So long forever, old sweethearts and pals— God bless ’em—'"(Vonnegut, 81).
These two quotes are able to capture the entire theme of effects of war on people without being completely blatant about it. In this scene of the first quote, Billy Pilgrim is at his eighteenth wedding anniversary. A few of his friends start singing a song as a quartet, and it suddenly upsets him in a grand way. He felt like it was torture listening to the music and that it is suffocating. His reaction draws attention from the crowd and his wife runs over to make sure he is okay. And he is indeed okay, however he does not know why the song effected him so much. He had seen his life in moments time and time again, yet he never saw or felt this. And he was at a complete loss. This ties in with the second quote. Pilgrim had gone upstairs away from the party, because the music was becoming too much to bare, and he thought about Dresden. He remembered the night it was attacked and that he was in the slaughterhouse meat locker. The quote took place after the attack when it was safe for everyone who was alive, to come out from hiding. The guards "looked like a silent film of a barbershop quartet" and that is why at the party, the group had effected him so much. This perfectly shows effects of war. Billy had not completely remembered each detail from Dresden, but it was etched in his mind somewhere, which caused the reaction. Seeing the guards in Dresden do almost the same thing his friends were doing at a party was too much, and brought back haunting memories of a horrific time in his life. It is interesting how he couldn't identify where the reaction had come from automatically, and he had to really think about his time at war to find it. Also, Billy had seen these moments many times, yet he never saw this moment from the party. Billy may not have really known he had been suffering from war, till it became torturous for him.
Quote and response
(Billy Pilgrim's perspective; Billy is in Dresden. He time travels to a conversation with his daughter years later then talks about Kilgore Trout. Them travels to his wedding anniversary where he has some sort of panic attack/flashback, recalls Dresden, then is back in Tralfamadore talking about the war.)
“'Really— I’m O.K.' And he was, too, except that he could find no explanation for why the song had affected him so grotesquely. He had supposed for years that he had no secrets from himself. Here was proof that he had a great big secret somewhere inside, and he could not imagine what it was" (Vonnegut, 79).
"The guards drew together instinctively, rolled their eyes. They experimented with one expression and then another, said nothing, though their mouths were often open. They looked like a silent film of a barbershop quartet. 'So long forever,' they might have been singing, 'old fellows and pals; So long forever, old sweethearts and pals— God bless ’em—'"(Vonnegut, 81).
These two quotes are able to capture the entire theme of effects of war on people without being completely blatant about it. In this scene of the first quote, Billy Pilgrim is at his eighteenth wedding anniversary. A few of his friends start singing a song as a quartet, and it suddenly upsets him in a grand way. He felt like it was torture listening to the music and that it is suffocating. His reaction draws attention from the crowd and his wife runs over to make sure he is okay. And he is indeed okay, however he does not know why the song effected him so much. He had seen his life in moments time and time again, yet he never saw or felt this. And he was at a complete loss. This ties in with the second quote. Pilgrim had gone upstairs away from the party, because the music was becoming too much to bare, and he thought about Dresden. He remembered the night it was attacked and that he was in the slaughterhouse meat locker. The quote took place after the attack when it was safe for everyone who was alive, to come out from hiding. The guards "looked like a silent film of a barbershop quartet" and that is why at the party, the group had effected him so much. This perfectly shows effects of war. Billy had not completely remembered each detail from Dresden, but it was etched in his mind somewhere, which caused the reaction. Seeing the guards in Dresden do almost the same thing his friends were doing at a party was too much, and brought back haunting memories of a horrific time in his life. It is interesting how he couldn't identify where the reaction had come from automatically, and he had to really think about his time at war to find it. Also, Billy had seen these moments many times, yet he never saw this moment from the party. Billy may not have really known he had been suffering from war, till it became torturous for him.
6. I'm Dead, And Alive
In response to Slaughterhouse Five Chapter 6 (page 63-71)
Diary Entry
(Billy Pilgrim's perspective; Billy's journey to Dresden. Billy time travels to his moment of death then back to war.)
Dear Journal,
The day before we went to Dresden, I was in the hospital. When I woke up that day, I was with Lazzaro and Derby, and boy, was Lazzaro pissed. I think he had some anger issues. He told me that day that whenever people messed with him, they were always sorry. He told me his plan for the Blue Godmother who hurt him, how he planned to let him be for a few years, then one day someone'll knock on his door, and they'll say "Paul Lazzaro sent me" and shoot him.
He talked about Roland Weary.
Then, he proceeded to tell me that he was gonna shoot me after war because of what I did to Weary.
I suppose I should have been scared, but I already knew that was true. I'd seen it before.
"I, Billy Pilgrim, will die, have died, and always will die February 13, 1976" (Vonnegut, 66). I'm in Chicago, talking about the Tralfamadorians and Time. Ironically, I talk about the threat that is the cause of my death within the hour it happens.
I tell the crowd about Lazzaro and his threat and how he is an old man now, but he still intends to keep his promise that night. However, death isn't something I would ever fear, because I know it is not real. That is what the Tralfamadorians taught me.
Anyways, after the speech, some police offer to stay with me, but I don't let them. There, a laser gun is aimed at me from a dark press box...
I'm dead.
Then I'm back in 1945, a little while after Lazzaro threatened me. We all got dressed and headed to the theater. An english man gave a lecture on the importance of hygiene, which was rather odd if I'm being honest. Then he spoke about Dresden.
"Dresden is a beautiful city" he said. "You needn't worry about bombs" he said. "It is an open city" he said. "There are no war industries or troop concentrations of any importance" he said. If only.
Then, we marched.
It took about two hours to get there. It was quite beautiful, lovely really. Pretty much every other city in Germany was bombed, but Dresden was okay.
Walking through Dresden and passing people, it was strange. Unfortunate that I knew they would all be blown to pieces in a matter of days.
Well, we approached the Slaughterhouse. There was a number five on the door outside. This was the home for the American prisoners of war. Slaughterhouse five was our new home. For a littlw while at least.
There, that was the journey to Dresden.
How it was before it crumbled.
And if anyone or any book says different, they weren't there. They don't know.
Billy
Diary Entry
(Billy Pilgrim's perspective; Billy's journey to Dresden. Billy time travels to his moment of death then back to war.)
Dear Journal,
The day before we went to Dresden, I was in the hospital. When I woke up that day, I was with Lazzaro and Derby, and boy, was Lazzaro pissed. I think he had some anger issues. He told me that day that whenever people messed with him, they were always sorry. He told me his plan for the Blue Godmother who hurt him, how he planned to let him be for a few years, then one day someone'll knock on his door, and they'll say "Paul Lazzaro sent me" and shoot him.
He talked about Roland Weary.
Then, he proceeded to tell me that he was gonna shoot me after war because of what I did to Weary.
I suppose I should have been scared, but I already knew that was true. I'd seen it before.
"I, Billy Pilgrim, will die, have died, and always will die February 13, 1976" (Vonnegut, 66). I'm in Chicago, talking about the Tralfamadorians and Time. Ironically, I talk about the threat that is the cause of my death within the hour it happens.
I tell the crowd about Lazzaro and his threat and how he is an old man now, but he still intends to keep his promise that night. However, death isn't something I would ever fear, because I know it is not real. That is what the Tralfamadorians taught me.
Anyways, after the speech, some police offer to stay with me, but I don't let them. There, a laser gun is aimed at me from a dark press box...
I'm dead.
Then I'm back in 1945, a little while after Lazzaro threatened me. We all got dressed and headed to the theater. An english man gave a lecture on the importance of hygiene, which was rather odd if I'm being honest. Then he spoke about Dresden.
"Dresden is a beautiful city" he said. "You needn't worry about bombs" he said. "It is an open city" he said. "There are no war industries or troop concentrations of any importance" he said. If only.
Then, we marched.
It took about two hours to get there. It was quite beautiful, lovely really. Pretty much every other city in Germany was bombed, but Dresden was okay.
Walking through Dresden and passing people, it was strange. Unfortunate that I knew they would all be blown to pieces in a matter of days.
Well, we approached the Slaughterhouse. There was a number five on the door outside. This was the home for the American prisoners of war. Slaughterhouse five was our new home. For a littlw while at least.
There, that was the journey to Dresden.
How it was before it crumbled.
And if anyone or any book says different, they weren't there. They don't know.
Billy
Monday, September 19, 2016
5. War
In response to Slaughterhouse Five Chapter 5 (page 42-63)
Quote and response
(Billy Pilgrim's perspective; time traveling between prison camp at war, after war in a mental hospital, Tralfamadore, home writing letters to the news, etc)
"An American had muttered something which a guard did not like. The guard knew English, and he hauled the American out of ranks, knocked him down. The American was astonished. He stood up shakily, spitting blood. He’d had two teeth knocked out. He had meant no harm by what he’d said, evidently, had no idea that the guard would hear and understand. 'Why me?' he asked the guard. The guard shoved him back into ranks. 'Vy you? Vy anybody?' he said" (Vonnegut, 43-44).
This piece of text is able to show the incredible amount of horror within the war and for soldiers who were captured. The American was a soldier that had been caught by the Germans, and this had taken place in a prison camp. The Germans were able to treat the prisoners with absolutely zero respect and abuse them for no reason. This connects with the theme of danger and cruelty in war. The war zone mindset has to be dominate or be dominated and kill or be killed which is terrifying to think about. When the soldier asks, "Why me?" and the guard responds with "[Why] you? [Why] anybody?" it puts the domination into effect. The German guard believes has to do this or he could be overpowered, which is true for any of the German people, or in war in general. It is interesting to think about the aspect of how both of these people were/are fighting for their country and what they believe is right, and one is able to just completely dehumanize the other and treat them like they are nothing.
"Rosewater was twice as smart as Billy, but he and Billy were dealing with similar crises in similar ways. They had both found life meaningless, partly because of what they had seen in war. Rosewater, for instance, had shot a fourteen-year-old fireman, mistaking him for a German soldier. So it goes. And Billy had seen the greatest massacre in European history, which was the fire-bombing of Dresden. So it goes" (Vonnegut, 48).
The after effects of war can be horrifying, and that is able to be seen through this passage. Billy had checked himself into a mental hospital some years after the war ended, and Rosewater was the patient next to him, dealing with a similar situation. Billy had many people believing that he was crazy, even himself. While not many doctors had believed it was because of war, there is not a truly logical explanation besides war that had made him go crazy. There is not a detailed amount of information Rosewater and why he is there, but in this bit of text, both of them are in this hospital because of what they had seen in war. Both Rosewater and Billy seem to be quite different people, but they have similar problems that are drawn from the same source, War. Both had very traumatic experiences whether they knew it or not, and the fact that they had to go to a mental hospital because they were going insane is very sad, and it able to show the effects of war.
Quote and response
(Billy Pilgrim's perspective; time traveling between prison camp at war, after war in a mental hospital, Tralfamadore, home writing letters to the news, etc)
"An American had muttered something which a guard did not like. The guard knew English, and he hauled the American out of ranks, knocked him down. The American was astonished. He stood up shakily, spitting blood. He’d had two teeth knocked out. He had meant no harm by what he’d said, evidently, had no idea that the guard would hear and understand. 'Why me?' he asked the guard. The guard shoved him back into ranks. 'Vy you? Vy anybody?' he said" (Vonnegut, 43-44).
This piece of text is able to show the incredible amount of horror within the war and for soldiers who were captured. The American was a soldier that had been caught by the Germans, and this had taken place in a prison camp. The Germans were able to treat the prisoners with absolutely zero respect and abuse them for no reason. This connects with the theme of danger and cruelty in war. The war zone mindset has to be dominate or be dominated and kill or be killed which is terrifying to think about. When the soldier asks, "Why me?" and the guard responds with "[Why] you? [Why] anybody?" it puts the domination into effect. The German guard believes has to do this or he could be overpowered, which is true for any of the German people, or in war in general. It is interesting to think about the aspect of how both of these people were/are fighting for their country and what they believe is right, and one is able to just completely dehumanize the other and treat them like they are nothing.
"Rosewater was twice as smart as Billy, but he and Billy were dealing with similar crises in similar ways. They had both found life meaningless, partly because of what they had seen in war. Rosewater, for instance, had shot a fourteen-year-old fireman, mistaking him for a German soldier. So it goes. And Billy had seen the greatest massacre in European history, which was the fire-bombing of Dresden. So it goes" (Vonnegut, 48).
The after effects of war can be horrifying, and that is able to be seen through this passage. Billy had checked himself into a mental hospital some years after the war ended, and Rosewater was the patient next to him, dealing with a similar situation. Billy had many people believing that he was crazy, even himself. While not many doctors had believed it was because of war, there is not a truly logical explanation besides war that had made him go crazy. There is not a detailed amount of information Rosewater and why he is there, but in this bit of text, both of them are in this hospital because of what they had seen in war. Both Rosewater and Billy seem to be quite different people, but they have similar problems that are drawn from the same source, War. Both had very traumatic experiences whether they knew it or not, and the fact that they had to go to a mental hospital because they were going insane is very sad, and it able to show the effects of war.
4. Time Is Not What You Think
In response to Slaughterhouse Five Chapter 4 (page 35-42)
Letter to Billy's daughter
(Billy Pilgrim's perspective; captured by Tralfamadorians)
Dear Barbara,
I know you are upset with me, although I do not really understand why. I am telling people what they need to know about Time and the Tralfamadorians. However, I am sorry I did not tell you about the kidnapping before the plane crash, I did not see the point and it was not the proper time. I want you to understand fully what happened to me before the News Leader publishes the story.
It was the night of your wedding. I couldn't sleep so I got out of bed. I shuffled around the house, and I knew I was going to be abducted. I saw it and felt it happen before, and knew it would be that exact night.
I grabbed a bottle of champagne, and I started watching a movie on the War. I saw it forwards and backwards and it brought back memories.
I went into the backyard. Thats where the flying saucer would be and get me, and I knew it. I heard a sound above me, and it sounded like a melodious owl, but it wasn't. It was the Tralfamadorians and their ship. It was one-hundred feet in diameter, which portholes around its rim. There was a purple light from the portholes. I was enclosed in a cylinder of purple light. The saucer opened and down came a ladder. My mind was momentarily paralyzed by some sort of gun and all I could do was grab ahold of the ladder as I was pulled up. then once I was in the airlock, my mind was working again.
I saw the aliens. They had no voice boxes, they communicated telepathically. They spoke to me through a computer that knew Earth language. I asked why they took me, and they said that there was no why. The moment simply is.
They gave me an anesthetic, so I could fall asleep. As the flying saucer took off, it bounced me out of time. I was back in the war. I was in the cars, and I couldn't sleep laying down, because I was awful rowdy in my sleep. Days would pass. People died. We had arrived at the prison camp.
Then I was back as a child. A baby. Then back as an optometrist.
I woke up and I was on Tralfamadore. This is where they told me about time. The Tralfamadorians said, "All time is all time. It does not change. It does not lend itself to warnings or explanations. It simply is. Take it moment by moment, and you will find that we are all, as I’ve said before, bugs in amber” (Vonnegut, 41).
Now do you see? Please tell me you do. I'm not crazy like you think. This happened and this is why I have to tell everyone. Time does not change. And I must tell everyone the truth.
I will see you soon.
Dad
Letter to Billy's daughter
(Billy Pilgrim's perspective; captured by Tralfamadorians)
Dear Barbara,
I know you are upset with me, although I do not really understand why. I am telling people what they need to know about Time and the Tralfamadorians. However, I am sorry I did not tell you about the kidnapping before the plane crash, I did not see the point and it was not the proper time. I want you to understand fully what happened to me before the News Leader publishes the story.
It was the night of your wedding. I couldn't sleep so I got out of bed. I shuffled around the house, and I knew I was going to be abducted. I saw it and felt it happen before, and knew it would be that exact night.
I grabbed a bottle of champagne, and I started watching a movie on the War. I saw it forwards and backwards and it brought back memories.
I went into the backyard. Thats where the flying saucer would be and get me, and I knew it. I heard a sound above me, and it sounded like a melodious owl, but it wasn't. It was the Tralfamadorians and their ship. It was one-hundred feet in diameter, which portholes around its rim. There was a purple light from the portholes. I was enclosed in a cylinder of purple light. The saucer opened and down came a ladder. My mind was momentarily paralyzed by some sort of gun and all I could do was grab ahold of the ladder as I was pulled up. then once I was in the airlock, my mind was working again.
I saw the aliens. They had no voice boxes, they communicated telepathically. They spoke to me through a computer that knew Earth language. I asked why they took me, and they said that there was no why. The moment simply is.
They gave me an anesthetic, so I could fall asleep. As the flying saucer took off, it bounced me out of time. I was back in the war. I was in the cars, and I couldn't sleep laying down, because I was awful rowdy in my sleep. Days would pass. People died. We had arrived at the prison camp.
Then I was back as a child. A baby. Then back as an optometrist.
I woke up and I was on Tralfamadore. This is where they told me about time. The Tralfamadorians said, "All time is all time. It does not change. It does not lend itself to warnings or explanations. It simply is. Take it moment by moment, and you will find that we are all, as I’ve said before, bugs in amber” (Vonnegut, 41).
Now do you see? Please tell me you do. I'm not crazy like you think. This happened and this is why I have to tell everyone. Time does not change. And I must tell everyone the truth.
I will see you soon.
Dad
3. Prisoner of War
In response to Slaughterhouse Five Chapter 3 (page 27-35)
Poem
(Billy Pilgrim's perspective; captured by the Germans)
Prisoner of War
Fear in the sounds around me
A slight movement of a branch near by
Or ferocious sounds far away
Wanting to let go, to stop, to find someone to surrender to
And maybe I should have
Before they got me
Now
I am a prisoner of war
Two young German boys and a middle aged commander
Those are the ones who came for us
They searched us
For any weapons which I did not have
But still feeling disarmed
Then we walked and walked
And we stopped once we saw the others who were captured
I am a prisoner of war
Nobody talked
Nobody thought of anything
There was nothing to say and nothing to think of
Staring into the flames of a small fire
Tears in my eyes
Miserable with fear
In a river of humiliation
I am a prisoner of war
Surrounded by violent, windburned, bristly soldiers
Dragon's teeth, killing machines, corpses with ivory and blue feet
Death everywhere I could see
So it goes
Never not scared for my life
I want to let go, stop this
Pain and hurt
I am a prisoner of war
Poem
(Billy Pilgrim's perspective; captured by the Germans)
Prisoner of War
Fear in the sounds around me
A slight movement of a branch near by
Or ferocious sounds far away
Wanting to let go, to stop, to find someone to surrender to
And maybe I should have
Before they got me
Now
I am a prisoner of war
Two young German boys and a middle aged commander
Those are the ones who came for us
They searched us
For any weapons which I did not have
But still feeling disarmed
Then we walked and walked
And we stopped once we saw the others who were captured
I am a prisoner of war
Nobody talked
Nobody thought of anything
There was nothing to say and nothing to think of
Staring into the flames of a small fire
Tears in my eyes
Miserable with fear
In a river of humiliation
I am a prisoner of war
Surrounded by violent, windburned, bristly soldiers
Dragon's teeth, killing machines, corpses with ivory and blue feet
Death everywhere I could see
So it goes
Never not scared for my life
I want to let go, stop this
Pain and hurt
I am a prisoner of war
2. I'm Not Crazy
In response to Slaughterhouse Five Chapter 2 (page 14-26)
Diary Entry
(Billy Pilgrim's perspective; start of story)
Dear Journal,
I will tell you right now so we don't have any problems in the future; I am not crazy.
Now let me introduce myself to you. I am Billy Pilgrim. Born in 1922 in Ilium, New York. I graduated from Ilium High School (top third of my class), then took night classes at Ilium School of Optometry for a semester before I was drafted. Yes, I was drafted in the the war to fight against Germany.
And I started time traveling while in battle. I would go from before birth to forty
After that nightmare, I again enrolled into the School of Optometry and got engaged to a real fine woman.
Oh, and I may have suffered a mild collapse, but after the shock treatments I was fine.
I got married and finished school, then became an optometrist, and I must say I did great with money. I had two kids and they grew up.
Oh, and I was in a plane crash where everyone died but me, then my wife died by accidental carbon-monoxide poisoning.
I went to New York after that. I got on a radio station and I finally told everyone what had happened in 1967. And be warned, this is where some people think I've lost it, but I can swear to you, journal, I have not.
I was abducted by Tralfamadorians and taken to their planet, Tralfamadore. These strange creatures were two feet tall and green, but they were friendly. They saw in four dimensions, which is unfortunate how we only see in three.
They took me to teach me.
About time.
When a person dies, they only appear to die. Every moment ever, past, present, and future, have always and will always exist. They do not go away like we believe. Once a moment is gone, is it not gone forever.
Tralfamadorians are able to see any moment they want, and see how permanent all moments are. And now, when someone tells me someone has died, I know it is not a big deal. I have adopted a term the small aliens use when a person has died, "so it goes." I am actually currently writing a letter the the Ilium News Leader to tell them the truth about time and what the Tralfamadorians taught me. Because, I must spread this information, I have to. I need to tell everyone so they can find comfort in the truth.
Well now you know.
I must go back to my writing. Now that you know, I need to inform everyone else.
Billy
Diary Entry
(Billy Pilgrim's perspective; start of story)
Dear Journal,
I will tell you right now so we don't have any problems in the future; I am not crazy.
Now let me introduce myself to you. I am Billy Pilgrim. Born in 1922 in Ilium, New York. I graduated from Ilium High School (top third of my class), then took night classes at Ilium School of Optometry for a semester before I was drafted. Yes, I was drafted in the the war to fight against Germany.
And I started time traveling while in battle. I would go from before birth to forty
After that nightmare, I again enrolled into the School of Optometry and got engaged to a real fine woman.
Oh, and I may have suffered a mild collapse, but after the shock treatments I was fine.
I got married and finished school, then became an optometrist, and I must say I did great with money. I had two kids and they grew up.
Oh, and I was in a plane crash where everyone died but me, then my wife died by accidental carbon-monoxide poisoning.
I went to New York after that. I got on a radio station and I finally told everyone what had happened in 1967. And be warned, this is where some people think I've lost it, but I can swear to you, journal, I have not.
I was abducted by Tralfamadorians and taken to their planet, Tralfamadore. These strange creatures were two feet tall and green, but they were friendly. They saw in four dimensions, which is unfortunate how we only see in three.
They took me to teach me.
About time.
When a person dies, they only appear to die. Every moment ever, past, present, and future, have always and will always exist. They do not go away like we believe. Once a moment is gone, is it not gone forever.
Tralfamadorians are able to see any moment they want, and see how permanent all moments are. And now, when someone tells me someone has died, I know it is not a big deal. I have adopted a term the small aliens use when a person has died, "so it goes." I am actually currently writing a letter the the Ilium News Leader to tell them the truth about time and what the Tralfamadorians taught me. Because, I must spread this information, I have to. I need to tell everyone so they can find comfort in the truth.
Well now you know.
I must go back to my writing. Now that you know, I need to inform everyone else.
Billy
1. The Start
In response to Slaughterhouse Five Chapter 1 (page 5-14)
Quote and Response
(Vonnegut's perspective; an introduction before the real story begins)
"When I got home from the Second World War twenty-three years ago, I thought it would be easy for me to write about the destruction of Dresden, since all I would have to do would be to report what I had seen... But not many words about Dresden came from my mind then— not enough of them to make a book, anyway. And not many words come now, either" (Vonnegut, 5).
When Vonnegut first got home from the war, he believed it would have been easy to write a book on war, and maybe it should have been; After all, he was writing about what he had just lived through and experience in Germany for some years. However, this is not what happened. Vonnegut was a prisoner of war, both literally and figuratively. Yes, he had in fact been trapped during the war by the Germans, but it seems as if the war had a much bigger impact on him than he expected in his post-war life, considering it took him twenty-three years to finish the story. Also, his writing that there were not enough words for him to make a book can mean that he somewhat blocked out the memories of war, making him believe he did not remember them. War is something so intense, and it is not hard to believe that someone would want to block those moments out.
"There would always be wars, that they were as easy to stop as glaciers... And even if wars didn’t keep coming like glaciers, there would still be plain old death" (Vonnegut, 6).
Here, Vonnegut is recalling a conversation with a man talking about the anti-war book he was writing. The man told him that instead of writing an anti-war book he should write an "anti-glacier book," then continues into the quote with what the man meant. The man and Vonnegut both agree that war at the point is almost seemingly inevitable, and they were impossible to stop from happening and impacting people. This plays on the theme of danger in war and humans destroying humans through war. Going to war and being a soldier is an ultimate death for many, and the more wars that happen and continue, the more deaths occur that could have been avoided. However, here this quote is saying that even without war, death is still inevitable, which is true, but people can live longer and fuller lives without needing to be drafted in war. This quote is an interesting way of interpreting that message, but is still able to get these themes across in an almost callous way.
"It is so short and jumbled and jangled, Sam, because there is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre. Everybody is supposed to be dead, to never say anything or want anything ever again. Everything is supposed to be very quiet after a massacre, and it always is" (Vonnegut, 13).
Vonnegut, here, is apologizing to his publisher for how jumbled and somewhat incoherent his story is and his reasoning of why it is so disoriented. Vonnegut really is able to show the message of how war is in general completely messed up and not able to be understood. War is senseless and has mass destruction on everything in its path. People die not only physically but mentally as well. War truly does kill a person on the inside and out, which again also shows the theme of human destruction through war. This quote truly is able to set the scene for what is to come in the rest of the novel of a man living and fighting in the war and the impact it has on his mind and sanity.
Quote and Response
(Vonnegut's perspective; an introduction before the real story begins)
"When I got home from the Second World War twenty-three years ago, I thought it would be easy for me to write about the destruction of Dresden, since all I would have to do would be to report what I had seen... But not many words about Dresden came from my mind then— not enough of them to make a book, anyway. And not many words come now, either" (Vonnegut, 5).
When Vonnegut first got home from the war, he believed it would have been easy to write a book on war, and maybe it should have been; After all, he was writing about what he had just lived through and experience in Germany for some years. However, this is not what happened. Vonnegut was a prisoner of war, both literally and figuratively. Yes, he had in fact been trapped during the war by the Germans, but it seems as if the war had a much bigger impact on him than he expected in his post-war life, considering it took him twenty-three years to finish the story. Also, his writing that there were not enough words for him to make a book can mean that he somewhat blocked out the memories of war, making him believe he did not remember them. War is something so intense, and it is not hard to believe that someone would want to block those moments out.
"There would always be wars, that they were as easy to stop as glaciers... And even if wars didn’t keep coming like glaciers, there would still be plain old death" (Vonnegut, 6).
Here, Vonnegut is recalling a conversation with a man talking about the anti-war book he was writing. The man told him that instead of writing an anti-war book he should write an "anti-glacier book," then continues into the quote with what the man meant. The man and Vonnegut both agree that war at the point is almost seemingly inevitable, and they were impossible to stop from happening and impacting people. This plays on the theme of danger in war and humans destroying humans through war. Going to war and being a soldier is an ultimate death for many, and the more wars that happen and continue, the more deaths occur that could have been avoided. However, here this quote is saying that even without war, death is still inevitable, which is true, but people can live longer and fuller lives without needing to be drafted in war. This quote is an interesting way of interpreting that message, but is still able to get these themes across in an almost callous way.
"It is so short and jumbled and jangled, Sam, because there is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre. Everybody is supposed to be dead, to never say anything or want anything ever again. Everything is supposed to be very quiet after a massacre, and it always is" (Vonnegut, 13).
Vonnegut, here, is apologizing to his publisher for how jumbled and somewhat incoherent his story is and his reasoning of why it is so disoriented. Vonnegut really is able to show the message of how war is in general completely messed up and not able to be understood. War is senseless and has mass destruction on everything in its path. People die not only physically but mentally as well. War truly does kill a person on the inside and out, which again also shows the theme of human destruction through war. This quote truly is able to set the scene for what is to come in the rest of the novel of a man living and fighting in the war and the impact it has on his mind and sanity.
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