"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.