In chapter five Billy Pilgrim arrives at the work camp with all of the other American prisoners of war (POW's). The camp was divided in half, one half Russians, and one half Americans/British. The American/British half only had fifty British prisoners, who had been there for about four years, which was almost the whole war at that point. These men had barely seen war, and definitely had not seen how big it became, they were blind to the true tragedies of war.

When Billy started to talk about the Englishmen he said, "They made war look stylish and reasonable, and fun"(Vonnegut 94). This quote shows how these men had been protected from the outside world, and treated well, and don't understand how bad war really is.

The word "reasonable" can be related back to the first chapter when Mary O' Hare scolded Billy about how she thought he would write his book. Mary thought that Billy would pretend he wasn't as young and he was, and he would make himself a hero and make war sound good. Up until this point, Billy has not written his book as Mary thought he would. Once Billy saw these Englishmen he wrote about what they were really like, which sounded like the kind of story Mary thought Billy would write.

Do you think Kurt Vonnegut added the part about Mary O' Hare knowing it would relate to this moment? Do you think Kurt Vonnegut will change how he writes his book after he has seen that war for everyone is not as it was for him?

Right from the beginning we can tell that the book Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. is all disorganized. On one page he could be in the war and on the next he could be in his seat in college. A lot of the stories Billy goes around is related to the Tralfamadorians and there way of life, and understanding of time travel.

I believe that Billy is struggling with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and is just making these stories up to cope with what he went through in Dresden.  

So it goes

Following every death in the novel is the phrase "so it goes," which does multiple things in the story. Firstly, it functions as a transition from the death in which it follows. Secondly, this 'labeling' of death throughout the novel makes it much more emphasized on just how many people died, and how frequently it occurred.

Lastly, it serves as a 'life goes on' type of reaction. As the Tralfamadorians put it, "... The dead person is in a bad condition in that particular moment, but that same person is just fine in plenty of other moments" (Pg 27). These other moments can be accessed via time travel, used in this novel frequently, making those who die able to live within their past. Through time travel, Vonnegut seems to be attempting to make the statement that life is eternal, is he not? Perhaps just the opposite; death is an inevitable event that will occur, period. Perhaps this is Vonnegut's method of coping with the idea of death through the optimism found within the Tralfamadorians.

As far as connecting to something within the text, it isn't that simple. Death occurs endlessly, constantly, and inevitably throughout the book, therefor 'so it goes' occurs endlessly, constantly, and inevitably. The largest connection I can make to the rest of the text is the fact that Vonnegut does a great job of using repetition to emphasize important details.

In chapter one we see how war impacts a whole family. Bernard O'Hare, is one of Billy's friends from the war, and while the two were talking about old memories Bernard's wife accuses Billy of how she thinks he will write his story. She said to Billy, " 'You'll pretend you were men instead of babies... And war will look just wonderful, so we'll have a lot more' "(Vonnegut 14).

This shows how a wife, or any other family member could change their opinion on war, or worsen their opinion on war after a family member returns after years of service. Also, Mary Bernard is a mother of very young children, and is very protective of them. When Mary accused Billy of writing the story in an encouraging way, it was her way of trying to prevent the promotion of war, and her way of protecting her babies and every other baby. Clearly the effects of war extend beyond the person who fought in that war.

On page 60, it talks about the prayer framed on Billy's office wall. The prayer asked God to helped him tell the difference between what he can and cannot change. "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".

 I think this has something to do with the very first sentence of the book- "All of this happened, more or less". My thoughts are, the reason for writing about things that he knows aren't true are his way of  changing what he can like the prayer says to do. Perhaps this prayer was the cause for why the book as written the way it was. what do you think the importance of putting the prayer in the book was? And do you also think it was the reason for the structure of the book?

Almost immediately in the first and second chapter we noticed that the timeline of Slaughter House Five, by Kurt Vonnegut, is very jumbled up. While the narrator, Yon Yonson, is telling the story of Billy Pilgrim, the stories told come in a very unorganized manner. On one page Billy could be hiding from German soldiers, but on the next page he could be back in college. Most of the stories Billy jumps around to connect back to the Tralfamadorians' way of life, or the concept of time travel.

I think that during and after the war "Billy" made up the idea of these Tralfamadorians to cope with what he witnessed in Dresden. Do you think that Billy will explain more about how he thought of these Tralfamadorians and why? Do you think that Billy came up with these creatures for the same reason I do?

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.