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.