Chapter 3 Golden Boots Anecdote

    In Chapter 3, Billy is lying on the black ice after all of his possesions, including his boots, were taken by the German soldiers. Vonnegut inserted the anecdote "One time a recruit was watching him bone and wax those golden boots, and he held one up to the recruit and said 'If you look in there deeply enough, you'll see Adam and Eve." Vonneguts purpose of putting this anecdote in this particular part of the story was to show what was going on in Billy's mind as he lost all of his possesions. The reality that he had lost everything that he had had not hit him yet, so he was dreaming. Vonnegut also wanted us to see how important those boots were to Billy and how special they were to him. By saying that he could see Adam and Eve in them, Vonngut showed the endless possibilities that those boots gave Billy. With those boots, he had all the protection in the world! But now that they have been taken away from him, his protection has been lost. The boots were more than just boots, they were his home.
     The anecdote can also be relevent in our daily lives. No we may not be soldiers that were just captured, but we all have had something that was very special to us taken away. It may have been the smallest thing when we look back at it now, but at the time it may have seemed like our entire world has come to a halt. It may have been one of those things that offered us many hours of fun and games. When that thing was taken away from us, we felt as Billy Pilgrim did when he lost his boots to the German soldiers. Just as the boots were the most important possessions that Billy had, before they were taken away, we have all had those special things in our lives. We have all faced the devastation of something special being taken away from us, just as Billy has his boots taken away!