Reading 2

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Not really knowing what to expect I opened up Slaughterhouse-Five on the beach over Spring Break feeling pretty indifferent about the assignment. After reading the first section of the book I closed it not feeling much different. Vonnegut’s narrative both of his own struggle to write the book as well as the struggle of Billy Pilgrim are captivating and easy to read. However, it took me a while to really get into the style of Vonnegut and to really enjoy the story. The more that I learn about Tralfamadore and Billy’s struggle, however, the more I have enjoyed the novel.

 “It is so short and jumbled and jangled, Sam, because there is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre.”

I know that critics of Slaughterhouse-five frequently bicker back and forth about if the book is anti-war or not, and I certainly am not really sure what I think at this point. Regardless of their opinions on the matter I think that this quote is very telling of the author’s opinion on war. I also think that Vonnegut uses the style of writing and jumbled thoughts of Pilgrim to portray the chaos that is war, and he obviously uses Pilgrim as the very embodiment of the chaos caused by war. I feel that there are intriguing arguments both ways as far as the books stance on war up to this point, and I look forward to seeing what side I take in the end.

Vonnegut is also skilled at enticing the reader with strange perspectives on time and life as offered by Billy, those he encounters, and especially the Tralfamadorians. These are the concepts that are most interesting to me. The whole Tralfmadorian view of time as a series of moments viewed similarly to a mountain range and these moments coexisting, and never changing or able to be changed is strange but entertaining to say the least. Vonnegut’s use of both the bizarre and unfamiliar through Tralfamadore in unison with the grotesque reality of war and the hardships of life are cleverly juxtaposed. There is never a moment that is allowed to continue for too long before Pilgrim is suddenly whisked back on to Tralfamadore on back into the war.

One of the gleaning examples of juxtaposition in the book thus far is the passage about Billy’s serenity prayer. “…It went like this: "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." Among the things Billy Pilgrim could not change: were the past, the present, and the future.” For a second you think “oh how nice” or “hey, I’ve heard that quote before” but then the optimism in the quote is quickly mitigated by Billy’s perspective. I think that this is especially interesting because this shows how the Tralfamadorians have influenced Billy, and it portrays an interesting intermingling of fantastical ideals with reality.

Vonnegut again shows this intertwining of Tralfamadorian ideals with Billy’s reality in his repetition of the phrase “so it goes” throughout the book. Billy utilizes this phrase after explaining that this is what Tralfamadorians say whenever something dies. I have always thought that repetition is an effective tool in literature. I also think that since death is such a huge component of this story that this repetition of “so it goes” really ties together all of the bizarre elements of Slaughterhouse-five well. While things can get far-fetched and jumbled in the story of war, having this recurring element is effective to ensure some consistency for the reader.

So far I have had a hard time identifying the comedic presence in Slaughterhouse-five; the book is well written and in many instances very ironic, but never extremely comedic. (Just perhaps a chuckle here or there at a minor anecdote.) My strongest reactions to the novel have been in disgust or in empathy for Billy. I have not gotten to the point of laughter in a superiority theory type of way because I just feel downright bad for the guy. I really hope there is something good ahead for Billy, although things don’t look great so far.