The Narrator's Acceptance of a Possible Afterlife - Siena H

Siena Hoaglund
American Studies 1/2 + 3/4
Ivory
1/1/16
The Narrator's Acceptance of a Possible Afterlife

On the second page of chapter 10, the narrator's voice seems to shift from third person to first person to talk about an interesting analogy about what Billy has learned from the Tralfamadorians, and to tell a story about one of the narrator's happiest moments. The analogy and the memory seem to suggest a continued human existence after death, that the narrator seems to have accepted as a possible afterlife.

In the chapter we learn from the narrator that "If what Billy Pilgrim learned from the Tralfamadorians is true, that we will all live forever...I am not overjoyed. Still- if I am going to spend eternity visiting this moment and that, I'm grateful that so many of those moments are nice." (Vonnegut, 211). Although the narrator is mostly likely Kurt Vonnegut, the speaker's identity is left unspoken. However, it is clear that the speaker is not pleased about revisiting memories after death, but some part of them still believes this to be a possible afterlife. They are able to accept that possibility, by reminding themselves that they have had mostly nice memories. The speaker then goes on to talk about their happiest memory, that they clearly wouldn't mind re-visiting.

Many authors, like Kurt Vonnegut, will change the point of view in their writing, to reflect on something that has happened in their story, as a way to reinforce a point in the reader's mind. A great example of this would be in the book Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion. In this book the main character "R" has been turned into a zombie. Despite being dead, he gets to fall in love with living girl named Julie, who slowly turns him back into a human. The whole book is written in R's point of view, except for two paragraphs in the last chapter of the book, that talk in third person about the R's children. The narrator gives the children the full scale of emotions when they get to see their father again and their new step mother. The author added these two paragraphs to reinforce the point that R loved his family, and his love for family is what brought him back to life.

I wonder if Vonnegut added in the first person shift as a way to reinforce a point in his story like Isaac Marion did, or if was simple a way to explain the narrator's thought's about what Billy learned from the Tralfamadorians.

The Significance Behind "So it goes."

Siena Hoaglund
American Studies 1/2 + 3/4 B
Ivory
1/1/16
The Significance Behind "So it goes."


To anyone who has read the book Slaughterhouse Five, it is obvious that the author says the phrase "So it goes" to explain when someone in the story has died, quite often. The frequency of the phrase displays to the reader the depressing commonality of death during World War II, but also shows the narrator's sort of disbelief of the concept of death.

The phrase "So it goes" is stated when Billy's friends or family die, it's stated when lice or other bugs die, and it's even stated when the idea of a "real soldier" is considered dead. The phrase is put in place to compare the commonality of death in Billy's life to the commonality of the death during World War II.  Every small thing that dies in the book, is symbolic to every person who died during the war.
However, the quote "Now, when I myself hear that somebody is dead, I simply shrug and say what the Tralfamadorains say about dead people, which is 'So it goes.' " (Vonnegut, 27) shows that the narrator doesn't quite believe in the concept of death. The Tralfamadorains have taught him that when someone dies in one time, they are still alive in another time. The narrator's use of the phrase "So it goes" can be their way of saying that the person that was previously stated as dead, may not actually be dead, but alive in another time period.

This concept of a never ending life is romanticized in the quote "Goodbyes are not forever, are not the end; it simply means I'll miss you until we meet again." (Unknown).

I wonder, if Vonnegut was still alive, what he would say was his reason behind the frequency of the phrase "So it goes". Did he use it just to explain when something died? Did he use it as a way to compare the commonality of death in Billy's life to the commonality of the death during World War II?  Or, did he use it to explain that he doesn't believe in the concept of death?

"All the Real Soldiers are Dead" Analyzed -Siena H

Siena Hoaglund

American Studies 1/2 + 3/4 B

Ivory
12/31/15

"All the Real Soldiers are Dead"

In chapter 7, all of the dehumanizing effects of the war are explained perfectly in one sentence: "All the real soldiers are dead..." (Vonnegut, 159). Not only does this statement show the opinion others had of the American soldiers, but it showed the state in which the soldiers minds would forever be stuck in. 

In the chapter, Billy and Gluck go to the slaughterhouse kitchen, where they meet a war widow. She asks Billy what he was supposed to be. When Billy responded by saying he didn't know, all she could say is "'All the real soldiers are dead...". The narrator agreed with her, stating that "It was true. So it goes." (Vonnegut, 159). 

The statements made by the widow and narrator were examples of how outsiders saw the American prisoners; not as soldiers, but as sad tormented men. Their opinions of them were not ones of respect. The men had lost their strong status as soldiers, and they were now looked at as nothing but people walking around with no life to them. The real soldiers they were before coming to Dresden, were dead, and they would now forever, mentally, feel dead inside. The narrator even brought back their common saying "So it goes.", that is only used to explain when someone has died, to back up the war widow's statement, that the real soldiers were now dead. 

Similar statements like the one made in chapter 7, can be found in the book All Quiet on the Westward Front, where the author frequently explains the dehumanized soldiers in World War I, as animals. The best quote that summarizes the effects of the war was the statement "We have become wild beasts" (Remarque, 113). 

I wonder if the statement made by the war widow will have a lasting effect on Billy. Since he agreed with her, will the statement kick start his depression? As he now accepts that he feels dead inside, and is less than a real solider.

Guest Staring: Kurt Vonnegut? -Siena H

Siena Hoaglund
American Studies 1/2 + 3/4 B
Ivory
12/30/15
Guest Staring: Kurt Vonnegut?

In chapter 5, Kurt Vonnegut, quite literally, guest stars in his own book. He appears when Billy wonders into the latrines, the night after a welcome feast with the Englishmen, to find that the banquet had made all of the American soldiers "...as sick as volcanoes." (Vonnegut, 125). Vonnegut is featured in the chapter in a bizarre way, as he is found wailing as he excretes everything and then, a few moments later, explaining that he just excreted his brains. However, the authors choice to present himself in such an awful situation in his own book, may have had a great meaning behind it.

The author purposely introduces himself  in such a way that it derails his appearance, by saying "An American near Billy wailed that he has excreted everything...That was I. That was me. That was the author of the book." (Vonnegut, 125). Vonnegut describes a sickened man who has had all of his modestly taken away from him, and then makes a point of explaining that he is that man.

This is not the only time authors have incorporated themselves into their stories. In the last book of the Stephen Kings series The Dark Tower the two main characters, Eddie and Jake, cross plains into a duplicate universe in which their lives are in a book. They actually track down the author, King, to see if he can help them fix the tower that holds all the worlds together. King is perceived in the story as a simple man who almost dies by being hit by a van. It may have been King's purpose to incorporate himself in the story this way, to make his readers believe him to be a simple man that can die in the most common of ways, like anyone else.

In Vonnegut's case, it seems as if Vonnegut wants the reader to not perceive him as a strong soldier, or a normal author who decided to write a book about a bombing. He wants the reader to seem him as a sad man, who went through a horrible event, and could be seen at his lowest moments, like any other soldier who experienced the war.

Could it also be possible that this out of ordinary scene introducing Vonnegut, will play a bigger piece in the story later on? Will Vonnegut ever be a part of the story again? In a less sickening way?

Time Travel-Chris Wood

I noticed that in chapter three Billy starts jumping to mostly war scenes but that was the case for chapter two, he was just jumping to random times then. I think that what he does on Tralfamadore will be related to things he went through in the war.

Vonnegut's style- Chris Wood

I think it is very interesting how Kurt explains everything and how he writes the book. When he try's to explain something he writes it like he's actually talking to you. I wonder if he will keep this up throughout the book.

Billy Pilgrim is an Alcoholic- Siena H

Siena Hoaglund
American Studies English
B-Day 1/2 + 3/4
Ivory
12/17/15

"Billy Pilgrim is an Alcoholic"

By the end of chapter 4, it  has become very clear that Billy Pilgrim has a major problem with alcohol. Not only does the narrator talk about him drinking several times, but Billy also refers to the smell of Alcohol on someones breath as "mustard gas and roses". Mustard gas and roses; disgusting but wonderful.

Reinforcements that Billy is an alcoholic is scattered throughout the story. Billy drinks himself drunk so that he can call old friends, he drank while he was a solider, and in chapter 4, Billy sees a simple bottle of champagne and says that the bottle was begging him to drink it. Most importantly though, on the second page of chapter 4, after a drunk person calls Billy by mistake, the book states that "There was a drunk on the other end. Billy could almost smell his breath-mustard gas and roses...Billy hung up. There was a soft drink bottle on the windowsill...it contained no nourishment what-soever." (Vonnegut, 73). To the reader, it would seem as though hearing the drunk person on the phone makes Billy want to drink, but not the soda next to him; alcohol. This shows Billy's need for alcohol, because he can't even listen to someone drunk, and not want to be drunk himself. Plus, the soft drink near him is said to have no nourishment to Billy, most likely, because it wont satisfy his need to get drunk.

However, when Billy constantly refers to the smell of someones bad alcohol breath as "mustard gas and roses" is when the narrator really speaks to the reader that Billy is an Alcoholic. Why? Because Billy enjoys the smell of Alcohol, even if its the bad after-smell on someone's breath. When Billy says that the smell is like mustard gas, it shows that he acknowledges that the smell is bad, but when he says that the smell is like roses, is shows that he doesn't care how bad it smells, it still smells wonderful to him, because it smells like alcohol. If Billy really enjoys the smell of alcohol so much that he can look past someone's bad breath to smell it, he has a problem.

Billy probably has a drinking issue because of his time in the war, he tries to drink his memories away. This way of thinking is creatively shown in the song lyrics from Liquor Store Blues, by Bruno Mars. "I'll take one shot for my pain. One drag for my sorrow. Get messed up today, I'll be okay tomorrow."

Of course, I am very against abusive drinking, but it is hard for me to not sympathize with Billy. I wonder if his drinking problem will ever get better, or if he will ever learn to handle his emotional struggles in a better way. Will Billy ever stop smelling the roses?