Living Without Judgement

In Chapter 5, Billy in imprisoned at a zoo in Tralfamadore. While he has no way to escape and has no human contact, he still appears to be happy. He is living in a world where the beings have no context of beauty and physical standards. Billy is okay with being naked in front of the aliens, because they assume that he is average, there is no context for his appearance.

"Most Tralfamadorians had no way of knowing Billy's body and face were not beautiful. They supposed that he was a splendid specimen. This had a pleasant effect on Billy, who began to enjoy his body for the first time." (p.113)

Billy clearly is happy with his body because he know that no one is judging him. The Tralfamadorians don't know a healthy individual from an unhealthy one, therefore Billy knows that he cannot be compared to standards. Even in front of a huge group, Billy feels comfortable. If you where in that situation, would you be comfortable as well?

Kurt Vonnegut: A pacifist?

In Chapter Four, we see Billy watch a movie backwards, because he is going backwards in time. The movie is about American bombers in WWII. The narrator describes the bombs being absorbed into planes, then going back to the US, where they are dismantled and components are returned to the earth. This passage is amusing, but it also shows Vonnegut's attitude to war.

"When the bombers go back to their base, the steel cylinders were taken from their racks and shipped back to the United States of America....The minerals were then shipped to specialists in remote areas. It was their business to put them into the ground, to hide them cleverly, so they would never hurt anybody ever again" (p.74,75).

I think that this passage shows the author's stance on war. After witnessing the horrors in Dresden, Vonnegut was clearly appalled and forever changed, and this passage is one of the first times where we clearly see his ideas about war. The last sentence of the passage most clearly shows Vonnegut's hatred and pacifist attitude towards the use of weapons He clearly thinks that the use of bombs on anyone is shameful, as he wishes "they would never hurt anyone ever again" (p.75). While Vonnegut has demonstrated his feeling on the use of weapons, do you think that he is a full on pacifist? If so, why?

Beauty in War

In Chapter 3 we also see Billy Pilgrim getting arrested by German soldiers. As he and his comrade are taken into custody, he sees a young German boy. The boy is one of extreme beauty, and Billy notes his presence and his angel-like appearance. 

"Billy looked up at the face that went with the clogs. It was the face of a blond angel, of a fifteen-year-old boy. The boy was as beautiful as Eve"(53)

Kurt Vonnegut makes many biblical references throughout the book, but this one is probably the most odd. Billy describes the boy as Eve, the female counterpart of Adam. This comment has significance, as to note a boy in terms of female beauty indicates innocence and purity. WWII affected everyone, and required that even the youngest go through events no adult should experience. Billy notes his purity, as the war had yet to change both his appearance and innocence. The boy is also compared to an angel. I found it odd that Billy calls his enemy an angel. Why do you think that the boy was compared to both an angel and Eve?

Billy Pilgrim: His life out of War

In Chapter 3 of Slaughterhouse 5 we are brought to Billy's life after the war. Billy seems to be successful and happy in Ilium. His childhood home has been destroyed in the construction of new town buildings, but he shows no sadness to this event. The lack of emotion over this destruction shows another example of the Tralfamadorian's philosophy of  death being a moment in time, and that the person, or thing, is simply in bad shape. Billy clearly believes that his house has been in better shape, he does not see the "death" of both his home and childhood.

On page 59, Billy demonstrates that his is content with the demolition of his old home. "Billy drove through a scene of even greater desolation. It looked like Dresden after it was fire-bombed- like the surface of the moon. The house where Billy had grown up used to be somewhere in what was so empty now. This was urban renewal...That was all right with Billy Pilgrim."

Billy is clearly okay with the destruction of is home, as he sees, just as the Tralfamadorians, that the loss of someone or something is never gone, as it has exsisted in time before. While this is a logical reason for Billy to show no sadness or remorse over the desturction, perhaps there are other reasons for this lack of emotion. As we read more into the book, do you think that we will find more about Billy's childhood that could add another reason for his content with the demolition? 

Example Posts - Meets and Exceeds

The following are two posts that may serve as models for your own. These posts use The Grapes of Wrath as the considered text, but the requirements are the same. The first is an example of a post that MEETS the standard; the second is an example that EXCEEDS the standard.

Meets:

It became apparent in chapter 5 that the narrative of the Joad family is only one perspective of the struggles people faced in the 1930s. The use of racial slurs and culturally insensitive language reminds us that the Joads, although they are a poor family lacking many basic resources, they do have the privilege of being white. The use of the word "nigger" and the highly insensitive way of speaking about Native Americans remind us that whiteness was a privilege that could elevate the status of even the most desperate farmer.

I wonder how this theme of race and culture will continue to develop over the course of the novel. What will the presence of race and racism continue to teach us about the social fabric of the U.S. in the '30s?

Exceeds:

The description of the land in Chapter 5 tells us a lot about the tensions arising out of the industrialization of farming. The physical connection to the land is broken, and this seems to lead to a bigger gap that transcends the physical.

In chapter 5, we learn that the tractor driver "could not see the land as it was, he could not smell the land as it smelled; his feet did not stamp the clods or feel the warmth and power of the earth...Men ate what they had not raised, had no connection with the bread. The land bore under iron, and under iron gradually died; for it was not loved or hated, it had no prayers or curses" (35, 36).

Humans are being replaced by machines, and these machines will never love and appreciate the land (and what the land provides) as much as the humans who farmed it with their own hands. I am curious to see how this theme continues to play out in the novel - will the divide between the human and the machine continue to grow, and will it cause the farmers' struggle to become increasingly bitter and devastating?

Notes:

• Please consider your grammar and spelling. These posts should be thoughtful and well-crafted. 
• As you can see, the posts need not be long. A few sentences, or a small paragraph or two is sufficient. Remember - quality over quantity! 
• Please title your post purposefully - your title should help give a heads-up about the content of your post.