In Chapter 10, Vonnegut used the saying "So it goes" many different times. Evey time that Billy explained how a character had died, he followed it by "So it goes". Even though it was one of the shortest chapters in the book, "So it goes" was used more than in any other chapter. For example, on a single page in chapter 10 it was used three times and in other chapters. "Martin Luther King was shot a month ago. He died. So it goes" Throughout the course of the novel, Vonnegut has frequently used "so it goes." Every death or reference to death is followed by "So it goes." I believe that Vonnegut does this because once someone has passed away, there is nothing that one can do about it. Every death in the novel that is followed by "So it goes" symbolizes that all the deaths are dealt with in the same way. So by saying "So it Goes" Vonnegut is showing us that that particular death is just another death. So it goes.
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Chapter 10 Motif
In Chapter 10, Vonnegut used the saying "So it goes" many different times. Evey time that Billy explained how a character had died, he followed it by "So it goes". Even though it was one of the shortest chapters in the book, "So it goes" was used more than in any other chapter. For example, on a single page in chapter 10 it was used three times and in other chapters. "Martin Luther King was shot a month ago. He died. So it goes" Throughout the course of the novel, Vonnegut has frequently used "so it goes." Every death or reference to death is followed by "So it goes." I believe that Vonnegut does this because once someone has passed away, there is nothing that one can do about it. Every death in the novel that is followed by "So it goes" symbolizes that all the deaths are dealt with in the same way. So by saying "So it Goes" Vonnegut is showing us that that particular death is just another death. So it goes.
Chapter 10 Poo-tee-weet?
In the last sentence of Slaughterhouse-five, Vonnegut brought back the bird from the beginning of the novel. "One bird said to Billy, 'Poo-tee-weet?'" Vonnegut used this sentence in the beginning of the novel when a massacre occured. He says this because what else are you suppose to say after a massacre. By using this sentence at the end of the book. It lets the reader know that a massacre has occured, and what are you suppose to say about that. "Poo-tee-weet" is about as an appropriate saying as anything else. What are you suppose to say after the loss of so many people? What are we suppose to say about was in general? Vonnegut shows us that at radical moments in our lives, sometimes there is nothing to say. Sometimes the only thing that can be said is "Poo-tee-weet?" Vonnegut used the bird's saying of "Poo-tee-weet" to pull the entire book together.
Chapter 9 Turning Your Life Arond
In chapter 9, we meet Robert, Billy's son. Billy's son is much like Michael Oher from the movie The Blindside. Robert is the person described as "a boy who flunked out of high school, who had been an alchoholic at sixteen, who had run with a rotten bunch of kids... he is all straightened out now." He is now in the military and has a purple heart and a silver and bronze star. Even though at one point in his life he was in a bad situation, he has turned his life around.
Robert, Billy's son, is similar to Michael Oher in The Blindside. Before Michael was taken in by the Touhy family, Michael was stuck in the wrong group of people. He was hanging out with the kind of people who all they cared about was drinking and doing drugs. He was able to break away from that group of people. Just as Robert was able to break away from his notorious group of friends. Now that Michael has broke away from his group of friends, he is playing football at the college of Ole Miss. He has completely turned his life around, just as Robert, Billy's son, did in Slaughterhouse-five.
Chapter 9 Motif
Motif: any element, subject, idea or concept that is constantly present through the entire body of literature. Using a motif refers to the repetition of a specific theme dominating the literary work.
At the beginning of chapter 9, the only word to describe the scene is endless love. The literary device of motif is seen through the endless love for Billy Pilgrim from Valencia. Throughout the novel, we have seen the love that Valencia has for Billy grow. Even to the end of her life, Valencia cared for Billy. Even the last moment of her life were spent caring for Billy. Her love for Billy was so strong that when she found out that he might die, she was overcome with emotions. She was so overcome with emotions that she wrecked her car to the point that she shouldn't be driving it. She didn't even consider any of the risks of driving her car to the hospital. All she cared about was Billy. From the time that we met Valencia, we knew that she was in love with Billy. Even through all of his hard times in the war, Valencia stood by his side and always loved him. From the first moment we met her to the last moment we saw her, her love for Billy continued to grow stronger than ever until the end.
At the beginning of chapter 9, the only word to describe the scene is endless love. The literary device of motif is seen through the endless love for Billy Pilgrim from Valencia. Throughout the novel, we have seen the love that Valencia has for Billy grow. Even to the end of her life, Valencia cared for Billy. Even the last moment of her life were spent caring for Billy. Her love for Billy was so strong that when she found out that he might die, she was overcome with emotions. She was so overcome with emotions that she wrecked her car to the point that she shouldn't be driving it. She didn't even consider any of the risks of driving her car to the hospital. All she cared about was Billy. From the time that we met Valencia, we knew that she was in love with Billy. Even through all of his hard times in the war, Valencia stood by his side and always loved him. From the first moment we met her to the last moment we saw her, her love for Billy continued to grow stronger than ever until the end.
Chapter 8 Money doesn't grow on Trees
During Chapter 8, we meet the character of Kilgore Trout. He is not only a failed author, but he is also sells newspapers. But no, he doesn't sell them himself, he makes children see them! Not only does he make them see them, but if they try and quit he just yells at him! During this chapter, he offers a trip to a winehouse to the person, and their parents, who sells the most magazines in the next two months. When a little girl asks if her sister can come along, he says "You think money grows on trees?" That question made me think of the cartoon above. When Trout says this, the reader learns a lot about the kind of person that Trout is. The reader learns that Trout is not a kid person, nor does he care about anyone. Even the people that consider him friends say "he has also become Trout's friend, to the extent that anyone can become a friend of Trout, who is a bitter man." Throughout this chapter, we learn a lot about the character of Kilgore Trout who is a friend and role model for Billy Pilgrim.
Chapter 8 Imagery
One the first page of Chapter 8, Howard W. Campbell Jr., an American who had become a nazi came to speak to the soldiers two days before Dresden was destroyed. On this page, Vonnegut used imagery to allow the reader to see what Howard W. Campbell Jr. really looked like. His fine detail allowed the reader to really visualize what Campbell looked like as he was speaking to the Americans.
"Campbell was an ordinary looking man, but he was extravagantly costumed in a uniform of his own design. He wore a white ten-gallon hat and black cowboy boots decorated with swastikas and stars. He was sheathed in a blue body stocking which had yellow stripes running from his armpits to his ankles. His shoulder patch was a silhouette of Abraham Lincoln's profile on a field of pale green. He had a broad armband which was red, with a blue swastika in a circle of white."
Vonnegut used imagery in this particular part of the chapter to allow the reader to see what the character actualy looked like. His specific attention to all the details made it easy for the reader to create a mental picture of what the soldiers were really seeing. The soldiers may have all been tired and ready to be done with the day, but after the statement that Campbell made in his clothing, he got their attention. Campbell really wanted them to join the front line of the Russians. Vonnegut's great use of imagery allowed the reader to really visualize Howard W. Campbell Jr.!!
"Campbell was an ordinary looking man, but he was extravagantly costumed in a uniform of his own design. He wore a white ten-gallon hat and black cowboy boots decorated with swastikas and stars. He was sheathed in a blue body stocking which had yellow stripes running from his armpits to his ankles. His shoulder patch was a silhouette of Abraham Lincoln's profile on a field of pale green. He had a broad armband which was red, with a blue swastika in a circle of white."
Vonnegut used imagery in this particular part of the chapter to allow the reader to see what the character actualy looked like. His specific attention to all the details made it easy for the reader to create a mental picture of what the soldiers were really seeing. The soldiers may have all been tired and ready to be done with the day, but after the statement that Campbell made in his clothing, he got their attention. Campbell really wanted them to join the front line of the Russians. Vonnegut's great use of imagery allowed the reader to really visualize Howard W. Campbell Jr.!!
Chapter 7 Unconscious Visions
During Chapter 7, Billy is moved to a different location and is given surgery. "A famous brain surgeon came from Boston and operated on him for three hours." During this operation, "Billy was unconscious for two days after that, and he dreamed millions of things, some of them true." This part of the book made me think of the book Heaven is for Real. In this book, a little boy is in the hospital having surgery just like Billy. Just as Billy did, the boy in the story had many different visions. One of his visions was that he had was that he went to heaven and back. Billy also had many visions, most of them were time traveling. Even though many people did not believe both of them, they both stand behind the visions that they had. During this, Billy traveled to Tralfamadore and when he returned to tell people his story, many thought that he was either crazy or had an insane imagination. The boy from the story also was questioned when he first began to explain what he saw during his sugery.Both the boy from Heaven is for Real and Billy Pilgrim from Slaughterhouse-five experienced many things during and after their surgeries that not many other people will experience and were questioned from their experiences.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)