In this section, there is a part in the story when Billy is unconscious after being in a plane accident, one that Billy knew was going to happen. After the crash, he is taken to a hospital where he has a surgeon fix his brain and he rests unconscious for two days. What happens while he's unconscious disprooves my idea that his time travels were dreams or desires he wanted. It turns out that Billy dreamt a million, wonderful things, according to the author, some of them true, while others weren't. "The true things were time-travel," (Vonnegut 157). Apparently really is able to see the world more like Tralfamadorians than like humans, meaning that he is close to seeing life in four dimensions. Billy can witness different moments and periods in his life, but we don't know if he can do them on purpose. Also, how do we know that each Billy is not a different Billy. What I mean is what if Billy might be a different person (personality-wise, still same body and person) during the war than say the plane accident. How do we know that the two Billys are the same? He is looking at two different moments in his life, one Billy might be a strange, immature kid while other might be a full grown, professional man.
If we relate Slaughterhouse - Five to Gulliver's Travels, one can see that in both stories the protagonist's change from their true way of being. For example, Billy began to time-travel when he was walking through the forest with the Three Musketeers (this scene might have some special importance since Billy keeps recurring through it and it's where he first time-travelled) and began looking at the world in a different way. He began to see and live like the Tralfamadorians, being able to see different moments in time. He began to think like another "species", like a Tralfamadorian, not like a human being. The protagonist in Gulliver's Travels is an Englishman, a European and most importantly a human being. The protagonist visits the land of the Houyhnhnms, a sort of horse-people. he lives with them and acquires their customs, their way of regarding others, like Yahoos (himself one). He even begins to speak like them. When the protagonist arrives at the island with the Portuguese men, they ask him where he's from. He responds he's an Englishman coming from the land of Houyhnhnms and that he was a Yahoo, just like them. The Portuguese did not know what a Yahoo or Houyhnhnm was, and they laughed at the fact that he spoke strangely, like a horse neighing, probably because of the Houyhnhnms' influence. Both protagonists adapt to a different way of being.
During his eighteenth anniversary party, Billy has some guests over including the extravagant, outspoken Kilgore Trout. Author of many unsuccessful comics, Trout is worshipped by Billy. What is Trout's importance in the story? Probably something about his books, the themes they discuss. Do they relate somehow to the story? The author mentions that Trout does write sci-fi stories, maybe it's through this that they relate to Billy Pilgrim. Weird stories about unusual things. Also interesting, is the fact that during a song in the party, Billy is shockled at hearing it, blown away, and he remembers a memory of the night of the Dresden bombing., where he was with four guards. The singing quartet reminded him of the Dresden quartet. The author mentions that, even though Billy does remember the incident, he doesn't travel back to it. "He didn't travel in time to the experience. He remembered it shimmeringly..." (Vonnegut 177). Why is this? Perhaps Billy only travels or visits places he wants to see, places that are appealing to him, that might show some desire of his. Maybe Billy is afraid to travel to certain moments in time, and he just wants to see moments where he has something he desires.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Slaughterhouse - Five Reading Entry Pages 136-153
Billy once again finds himself in the war in a latrine. He feels a magnetic impulse somewhere near, and finds the magnetism is coming from two objects inside his coat lining. One looks like a pea and the other resembles a tiny horseshoe. What is the author's purpose to mentioning this? Apart from when he tells Billy senses a message which tells him not to ponder on the objects, Vonnegut doesn't mentiion them again at all. It just leaves it hanging there, as if he just mentioned them because he felt like it. It left me wondering, what do these objects represent? Does the horseshoe perhaps have anything to do with luck? I hope the author will mention them in future chapters and hopefully shed some light on the subject because I'm stumped. Billy however, is once again sleeping on morphine. He is sleeping but doesn't travel through time. What made him feel the magnetic impulses? Was it, in some way, the Tralfamadorians? Maybe it was just the morphine kicking in, but who knows.
Billy had met two fellow Americans: Edgar Derby and Paul Lazzaro, another crazy guy who adores revenge and doesn't care for others, just like Weary. Coincidentally, Weary and Lazzaro were buddies in the cargo trains, where, just before he died, Weary told Lazzaro that he wanted Billy dead. Lazzaro gives Billy the warning, but he already knows, thanks to his time traveling abilities. Billy had visited his death many times. This scene might somehow show that Billy has these visions about things he really wants, his desires. Just before he is shot, he is giving a speech on time-traveling, on the mysteries of time, and saying goodbye. He is standing before a huge crowd, which loves him. Maybe that's all Billy wants, attention. He wnats to feel wanted and praised, as if he;d done something significant, in this case it would be revealing the mysteries of time. Maybe this was another dream where he is the center of attention and gets what he desires. What I don't get is why he is so indifferent to the fact that he is going to die and he accepts it. It reminds me of Camus' The Stranger, where Mersault knows he's going to die and he just accepts the fact that everyone is against him and he's alone in the world. If I knew when I was going to die, I would do anything possible to keep that from happening. However, maybe Vonnegut just wants to show that there are few things one has the power to change.
Billy had met two fellow Americans: Edgar Derby and Paul Lazzaro, another crazy guy who adores revenge and doesn't care for others, just like Weary. Coincidentally, Weary and Lazzaro were buddies in the cargo trains, where, just before he died, Weary told Lazzaro that he wanted Billy dead. Lazzaro gives Billy the warning, but he already knows, thanks to his time traveling abilities. Billy had visited his death many times. This scene might somehow show that Billy has these visions about things he really wants, his desires. Just before he is shot, he is giving a speech on time-traveling, on the mysteries of time, and saying goodbye. He is standing before a huge crowd, which loves him. Maybe that's all Billy wants, attention. He wnats to feel wanted and praised, as if he;d done something significant, in this case it would be revealing the mysteries of time. Maybe this was another dream where he is the center of attention and gets what he desires. What I don't get is why he is so indifferent to the fact that he is going to die and he accepts it. It reminds me of Camus' The Stranger, where Mersault knows he's going to die and he just accepts the fact that everyone is against him and he's alone in the world. If I knew when I was going to die, I would do anything possible to keep that from happening. However, maybe Vonnegut just wants to show that there are few things one has the power to change.
Slaughterhouse - Five Reading Entry Pages 119-136
Billy finds himself in bed with his wife on the night of their honeymoon. He is practically ignoring, barely answering her question and from the way it's written you can feel that he's thinking about something else, maybe even wnadering off in time. "You must have secrets about the war..."
"No."
"I'm proud you were a soldier. Do you know that?"
"Good."
"Was it awful?"
"Sometimes." (Vonnegut 121). Billy is barely paying attention to his wife, wandering off into space, or in his case, time. After this conversation he gets up to go to the bathroom, and arrives to the war, where funnily enough he still has to go to the bathroom. It seems as though he is living the same feelings even though he is in two completely different moments. Another example of this would be when he is in the Tralfamadorian zoo sleeping with Montana Wildhack, and suddenly he awakens in his own bed realizing that it was just a wet dream (Vonnegut 135). This brings us to the question of is Billy really travelling through time? What if these trips are all dreams that happen when he is forced to rest, like his honeymoon bed or his daughter forcing him to sleep after a patient's mother freaked out and said Billy was crazy? It just makes me feel that it's just dreams representing something he wnats. maybe he wants to remember what the war was like while talking to his new wife. Maybe he wanted to feel he was with Montana Wildhack, the famous actress. The trips could be real or represent desires, either memories or hopes.
In this chapter, the author makes a reference to himself. When Billy travels back to the war after getting up to go to the bathroom, he encounters a Russian, ignores him, walks into a latrine filled with sick Americans. He steps over on who says he had "excreted everything but his brains" and who would later say "There they go." "That was I. That was me. That was the author of this book." (Vonnegut 125). Why would the author make a reference to himself, especially in the type of situation he is? Why would he want to show himself in that state? Probably to show the hardships that a soldier was forced to live in and that he was a part of that. This reminds me a bit of Don Quixote, in which the author, Miguel de Cervantes, makes constant references to himself having a part in the story by presenting the "original" author's (Cid Hamete Benengeli) story. It is the same as Vonnegut, except for the fact that Vonnegut seems proud of having a part in the story, whereas Cervantes is constantly avoiding the fact that he truly wrote the novel, he mentions he is merely passing it on.
"No."
"I'm proud you were a soldier. Do you know that?"
"Good."
"Was it awful?"
"Sometimes." (Vonnegut 121). Billy is barely paying attention to his wife, wandering off into space, or in his case, time. After this conversation he gets up to go to the bathroom, and arrives to the war, where funnily enough he still has to go to the bathroom. It seems as though he is living the same feelings even though he is in two completely different moments. Another example of this would be when he is in the Tralfamadorian zoo sleeping with Montana Wildhack, and suddenly he awakens in his own bed realizing that it was just a wet dream (Vonnegut 135). This brings us to the question of is Billy really travelling through time? What if these trips are all dreams that happen when he is forced to rest, like his honeymoon bed or his daughter forcing him to sleep after a patient's mother freaked out and said Billy was crazy? It just makes me feel that it's just dreams representing something he wnats. maybe he wants to remember what the war was like while talking to his new wife. Maybe he wanted to feel he was with Montana Wildhack, the famous actress. The trips could be real or represent desires, either memories or hopes.
In this chapter, the author makes a reference to himself. When Billy travels back to the war after getting up to go to the bathroom, he encounters a Russian, ignores him, walks into a latrine filled with sick Americans. He steps over on who says he had "excreted everything but his brains" and who would later say "There they go." "That was I. That was me. That was the author of this book." (Vonnegut 125). Why would the author make a reference to himself, especially in the type of situation he is? Why would he want to show himself in that state? Probably to show the hardships that a soldier was forced to live in and that he was a part of that. This reminds me a bit of Don Quixote, in which the author, Miguel de Cervantes, makes constant references to himself having a part in the story by presenting the "original" author's (Cid Hamete Benengeli) story. It is the same as Vonnegut, except for the fact that Vonnegut seems proud of having a part in the story, whereas Cervantes is constantly avoiding the fact that he truly wrote the novel, he mentions he is merely passing it on.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Slaughterhouse-Five Fourth Reading Entry
Billy is taken to a British camp where they have sympathy for him due to the fact that he's in a horrible state. They ask him why he has that coat given to him by "Jerry" (Germany), when they were trying to make fun of him. Billy still doesn't seem to care about anything. The British tell him this and he's completely indifferent to this, as well as to everything.
The author mentions that after laughing so hard in the Cinderella production, Billy had to be given morphine, making him dream things out of this world. Is there some special significance that the author is trying to give to this dream? To the giraffes in the dream? What's the purpose for putting them in the story. After this billy travels in time again to when he's in the Ilium hospital. I guess every place he visits has some special importance to him, in this case he discovers his favorite books are science-fiction books. Other important (significant) trips for him might have been the one with his family to the Grand Canyon, where he remebers a French tourist asking if people ever killed themselves by jumping off. The author once again mentions "So it goes" but now he doesn't mention it when just people die, but when material things "die". For example, the dead champagne in chapter 4. What it really means is that there's no gas in the champagne but the author still uses "so it goes". Does this represent the idea that we can't change anything, that we must accept the facts by saying "so it goes"?
Billy is shown in a Tralfamadorian zoo, where "people" ask him questions. He tries to figure some stuff out about time and life and the Universe, but the Tralfamadorians already know anything, so they just tell him every answer but tell him to forget it because it's already happening. I would get pretty annoyed if they would keep giving me the same answer, that every moment will always happen. If you know that you are going to destroy the universe, you might as well try and stop it from happening. What I mean is you don't have the power to change a lot of things, but when you have the chance to make a difference, one should try to do it.
The author mentions that after laughing so hard in the Cinderella production, Billy had to be given morphine, making him dream things out of this world. Is there some special significance that the author is trying to give to this dream? To the giraffes in the dream? What's the purpose for putting them in the story. After this billy travels in time again to when he's in the Ilium hospital. I guess every place he visits has some special importance to him, in this case he discovers his favorite books are science-fiction books. Other important (significant) trips for him might have been the one with his family to the Grand Canyon, where he remebers a French tourist asking if people ever killed themselves by jumping off. The author once again mentions "So it goes" but now he doesn't mention it when just people die, but when material things "die". For example, the dead champagne in chapter 4. What it really means is that there's no gas in the champagne but the author still uses "so it goes". Does this represent the idea that we can't change anything, that we must accept the facts by saying "so it goes"?
Billy is shown in a Tralfamadorian zoo, where "people" ask him questions. He tries to figure some stuff out about time and life and the Universe, but the Tralfamadorians already know anything, so they just tell him every answer but tell him to forget it because it's already happening. I would get pretty annoyed if they would keep giving me the same answer, that every moment will always happen. If you know that you are going to destroy the universe, you might as well try and stop it from happening. What I mean is you don't have the power to change a lot of things, but when you have the chance to make a difference, one should try to do it.
Slaughterhouse-Five Third Reading Entry
The third chapter starts out with Billy waking up on the night of his daughter's wedding and not being able to sleep. Here he starts to see time a bit like the Tralfamadorians, he starts watching a movie backwards. Eventually, he starts seeing everything backwards, the whole history of his life, including the war, and the history of mankind which is destined (though backwards) to lead to two people only: Adam and Eve. This is the second time the author makes reference to these two characters. Is there a certain importance to this? Why are Adam and Eve important to the story, if they are important at all?
Something else that caught my attention is the author has mentioned twice how a dog's bark is interpreted by Billy Pilgrim. "Somwhere a dog barked. With the help of fear and echoes and winter silences, that dog had a voice like big bronze gong."(Vonnegut 82). The author also mentioned a dog barking in the beginning of the third chapter. Is there an importance to the way dogs bark? If not, why does the author mention this? Why does he keep bringing up points that make no sense? For example, the bit on Newton's Third law of Motion, and his wife having no uterus. I just think that the author sometimes includes stuff that is not really necessary.
How does Billy know he is going to be abducted by the Tralfamadorians? Is he crazy and just thinks about all of this in his mind? I think Vonnegut is trying to make a point about something with this time travel thing, but I just don't know what it could be. Maybe he is trying to tell us not to try and manipulate things, things are meant to be and they will happen, just live your life. "Only on Earth is there talk of free will."(Vonnegut 86) This says that according to the Tralfamadorians, everything has happened and always will happen, we can't change anything.
Something else that caught my attention is the author has mentioned twice how a dog's bark is interpreted by Billy Pilgrim. "Somwhere a dog barked. With the help of fear and echoes and winter silences, that dog had a voice like big bronze gong."(Vonnegut 82). The author also mentioned a dog barking in the beginning of the third chapter. Is there an importance to the way dogs bark? If not, why does the author mention this? Why does he keep bringing up points that make no sense? For example, the bit on Newton's Third law of Motion, and his wife having no uterus. I just think that the author sometimes includes stuff that is not really necessary.
How does Billy know he is going to be abducted by the Tralfamadorians? Is he crazy and just thinks about all of this in his mind? I think Vonnegut is trying to make a point about something with this time travel thing, but I just don't know what it could be. Maybe he is trying to tell us not to try and manipulate things, things are meant to be and they will happen, just live your life. "Only on Earth is there talk of free will."(Vonnegut 86) This says that according to the Tralfamadorians, everything has happened and always will happen, we can't change anything.
Slaughterhouse Five Second Reading Entry
This chapter of the book continues to talk about Billy Pilgrim's life during the war. However, in this chapter he travels through time even more. The thing I don't understand is why these flashbacks just happen all of a sudden and take him to an unpredictable place. Do these places in time have an important meaning? Are they important to the story or events that are really important in Billy's life? Was it important that he fell asleep during an optometrist examination? maybe it was something in his life that really bothered him.
Another thing I find very interesting with the way Vonnegut writes is the way he focuses on small details that might otherwise seem unimportant. For example, what is the purpose for mentioning that the golden boots the german general had on had an inscription of Adam and Eve on them? What did it matter if the German's took the dirty picture Weary kept? I like the way Vonnegut writes, because he gives a certain importance to every single detail he is describing.
Vonnegut also mentions a certain prayer that Billy keeps his optometrist office that his patients like: "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference." It is one of the greatest prayers I myself have ever read, and I also keep a copy of it. It shows us that one does not have the power to do everything, and even though life may seem hard, one just has to do the best to move on. Maybe this is why billy remembers it, during his trip to his optometrist days. He wants to know that he must move on, that there's nothing he can do about being a prisoner of war and he might as well accept it.
The story itself is pretty good. There's a good plot to it and I just feel that this book teaches something important. Vonnegut writes in a way that you know something is going to happen and you just want to keep reading.
Another thing I find very interesting with the way Vonnegut writes is the way he focuses on small details that might otherwise seem unimportant. For example, what is the purpose for mentioning that the golden boots the german general had on had an inscription of Adam and Eve on them? What did it matter if the German's took the dirty picture Weary kept? I like the way Vonnegut writes, because he gives a certain importance to every single detail he is describing.
Vonnegut also mentions a certain prayer that Billy keeps his optometrist office that his patients like: "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference." It is one of the greatest prayers I myself have ever read, and I also keep a copy of it. It shows us that one does not have the power to do everything, and even though life may seem hard, one just has to do the best to move on. Maybe this is why billy remembers it, during his trip to his optometrist days. He wants to know that he must move on, that there's nothing he can do about being a prisoner of war and he might as well accept it.
The story itself is pretty good. There's a good plot to it and I just feel that this book teaches something important. Vonnegut writes in a way that you know something is going to happen and you just want to keep reading.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Journal Entry Second Chapter, Slaughterhouse-Five
This new chapter takes on a whole different trun than the first chapter. Here is where the story really begins. the previous chapter was sort of like an introduction, where the character gives a bit of background information about himself and what his purpose, be it as a goal or in his life as a whole, is. One thing that I noticed was the change in narrator from one chapter to the other. The first chapter is told in first person, where as the second chapter is told in third person, in which the narrator is omniscient.
The second chapter starts telling the actual story of Billy Pilgrim, his youth, his service in th emilitary, his life back home and his crazy stories about aliens who can see and travel through time at the same time. Throughout this chapter, the narrator mentions people whom Billy knew and connections of these people. Every paragraph with a description of a "flash-back" ends with the phrase "So it goes." What does the phrase mean? What is the author's purpose for using it? the only answer i could think of to this is that Billy thinks the way the aliens do, he "sees" through time, so he can see different stages of a person's life at the same time. He can visit any momente he wishes and he knows that you can't change anything. "So it goes" could make a reference to the fact that when a person dies, there's nothing you can do about it, just accept it and remember good moments of that person's life.
When Billy first "travels" through time, he is in the German woods during the Second World War, wlaking with the two scouts and with Weary. Did being alone and separated from everyone help him enter that trance-like state and travel through time? Was it being so far away from home that he was able to let go of all his thoughts and feel free, mentally? Maybe, these trip through time aren't really true, they just happen in Billy's head as a way of relaxing, or letting go of reality. He's in a tough situation, walking through the woods with a crazy teenager who is obsessed with torture, running away from the Germans, and having to stand really cold weather. Maybe he lets himself fly mentally, and just get away from everything.
The second chapter starts telling the actual story of Billy Pilgrim, his youth, his service in th emilitary, his life back home and his crazy stories about aliens who can see and travel through time at the same time. Throughout this chapter, the narrator mentions people whom Billy knew and connections of these people. Every paragraph with a description of a "flash-back" ends with the phrase "So it goes." What does the phrase mean? What is the author's purpose for using it? the only answer i could think of to this is that Billy thinks the way the aliens do, he "sees" through time, so he can see different stages of a person's life at the same time. He can visit any momente he wishes and he knows that you can't change anything. "So it goes" could make a reference to the fact that when a person dies, there's nothing you can do about it, just accept it and remember good moments of that person's life.
When Billy first "travels" through time, he is in the German woods during the Second World War, wlaking with the two scouts and with Weary. Did being alone and separated from everyone help him enter that trance-like state and travel through time? Was it being so far away from home that he was able to let go of all his thoughts and feel free, mentally? Maybe, these trip through time aren't really true, they just happen in Billy's head as a way of relaxing, or letting go of reality. He's in a tough situation, walking through the woods with a crazy teenager who is obsessed with torture, running away from the Germans, and having to stand really cold weather. Maybe he lets himself fly mentally, and just get away from everything.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Essay Answers
1. According to the author, there are many differences between books and blogs. These include that books are fast while blogs are slow, books are to stay within the covers while blogs are to stray, and many more. However, the most obvious difference between a blog and book is the following. A blog is online, one can share information with others, discuss your points of view, follow links, post stuff about yourself, you follow links, etc., while a book is just the story. You can't share information with others (save the information the author is sharing with you) and you can't write whatever you write in a book. It has to make some sort of sense, while in a blog it doesn't necessarily have to. Writing in a blog is much more informal than that of a book.
2. The early blogs used to be a sort of filter for the web. They would include links that would lead to a certain webpage to discuss articles, politics, whatever. Recent blogs are about personal information and more importantly about "being found". People try to post things that will gain attention to themselves and have more people every day visiting their own blogs, ultimately becoming a "blogebrity", the term used by the author.
3. You might read a blog for many different reasons. You might want to learn or talk (express your opinions) about a certain topic, whether it be gossip, sports, economy or politics. Whatever topic you're interested in, you can find it. Aside from wanting to read about certain topics, people might look at blogs to find friends or look at their friends' profiles.
4. There is reason to doubt the objectiveness of a blog due to the fact that what people write on blogs are opinions (some might even post fake information). Opinions are subjective and therefore one does not know that what the blog is showing is fair, or written with good arguments. Therefore, one must doubt the objectiveness of a blog.
5. My Blog.
2. The early blogs used to be a sort of filter for the web. They would include links that would lead to a certain webpage to discuss articles, politics, whatever. Recent blogs are about personal information and more importantly about "being found". People try to post things that will gain attention to themselves and have more people every day visiting their own blogs, ultimately becoming a "blogebrity", the term used by the author.
3. You might read a blog for many different reasons. You might want to learn or talk (express your opinions) about a certain topic, whether it be gossip, sports, economy or politics. Whatever topic you're interested in, you can find it. Aside from wanting to read about certain topics, people might look at blogs to find friends or look at their friends' profiles.
4. There is reason to doubt the objectiveness of a blog due to the fact that what people write on blogs are opinions (some might even post fake information). Opinions are subjective and therefore one does not know that what the blog is showing is fair, or written with good arguments. Therefore, one must doubt the objectiveness of a blog.
5. My Blog.
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