"They didn't think it [Billy's mental illness] had anything to do with the war. They were sure Billy was going to pieces because his father had thrown him into the deep end of the Y.M.C.A. swimming pool when he was a little boy, and had then taken him to the rim of the Grand Canyon."
This quote bitingly attacks society, and especially those in authority. The satire of the U.S. throughout the book is the main focus. Billy knows what he saw in the war messed him up, but this is the age before people accepted PTSD as real, so the shrinks come up with baloney excuses to explain his mental illness and anxiety.
I see some connection to the idea of Eliot's Hollow Men in this novel. Billy's marriage is problematic as was the war. He doesn't love his wife at all, but feigned interest in her. His wife is rich, but that is not the main reason he married her, I think it had to do with his stumbling nature. People do not always do the right thing. The tone of the book is hollow as well. I find myself laughing, but then catching myself saying it isn't that funny.
The Tralfamadore plot is hilarious. The situation can be a bit vulgar at times, but I think it is necessary for Vonnegut to get his point across. In essence, the Tralfamadoreans create an artificial environment in the same way we have zoos, and Billy ends up with a woman he would have no chance with on Earth. In a way that parallels the war because both experiences involve huge, impersonal entities that cause people to do and experience things they otherwise would not. At the same time, each person is still making the choices, so his or her character is somewhat tested, but I am not sure if that is the main drive of this piece. Overall, I still like the book and definitely see potential.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Slaughterhouse-Five
To start off, I like this book. It is easy to read, but has me questioning a lot of the times what is going on. At least I am not always consciously aware of how Vonnegut is doing that which he does. I think that might be a good thing though.
The unstuckness of time in the novel is a key device. Although sleep can serve as a transition between events, when Billy Pilgrim wakes up it is not always tomorrow. Sometimes it took a little while for me to place the events within the context of time, especially Billy's stay in the mental hospital. Basically, there is a common thread and progression ideas that is not ordered around time, which is a great literary technique.
The Children's Crusade motif is a powerful aspect within the novel. Billy (a kid's name) is part of World War II, and very obviously it mentally scarred him, if not on more spiritual levels as well, even though he really did not kill anyone or do great sin or anything like that. Just that he saw the terror of Dresden and the war in general left a mark. The war is never idealized, but portrayed truthfully. Humans are not at their best. When he is wandering after the Battle of the Bulge one learns a lot about war in general. War is not black and white, "the Germans are evil" type thing. Weary, an American, is about as sick and twisted as it gets. He is obsessed with torture and because he is not accepted by the "cool kids" he takes out his anger and frustration on someone weaker than he is (Billy). He nearly breaks Billy's spine by kicking him while he is down. Ironically, Billy is saved by the Germans (in this case, old men, boys, and a whimpering German Shepherd), who then capture him and Weary. The novel challenges stereotypes of war in every way, especially by emphasizing the innocence of Billy and the other soldiers like him. Billy, like the Children Crusaders, went off with out even a weapon, but pretty much just his clothes.
I can't help but think of the whole Kony thing since it has lately gone viral on any and all forms of social media. For the record, I knew about him a couple months ahead of everyone else. I think he is doing something evil, but analyzing what makes it so evil may be of use to one's understanding of this novel. The coercion is a big no-no, which was prevalent during WWII. I think that the loss of innocence and the fact that Billy and everyone else really did not know what they were getting into is a bigger issue. Basically, in the case of WWII, Kony, and the Children's Crusade, adults (or at least people that knew what kind of a slaughter they were bringing the kids to) exploited children who did not know that they were even being taken advantage of, or were conditioned to think that they weren't. This is dark stuff.
In light of the darkness of the real heart issue of the novel, Vonnegut makes a big farce of it. Slaughterhouse-Five is akin to "A Modest Proposal" in that it does not use the direct and more surface oriented line of moral attack, but instead is more farcical. It crumbles the walls by digging under them, not by breaking them down.
Overall, I like the book so far, and cannot put it down.
The unstuckness of time in the novel is a key device. Although sleep can serve as a transition between events, when Billy Pilgrim wakes up it is not always tomorrow. Sometimes it took a little while for me to place the events within the context of time, especially Billy's stay in the mental hospital. Basically, there is a common thread and progression ideas that is not ordered around time, which is a great literary technique.
The Children's Crusade motif is a powerful aspect within the novel. Billy (a kid's name) is part of World War II, and very obviously it mentally scarred him, if not on more spiritual levels as well, even though he really did not kill anyone or do great sin or anything like that. Just that he saw the terror of Dresden and the war in general left a mark. The war is never idealized, but portrayed truthfully. Humans are not at their best. When he is wandering after the Battle of the Bulge one learns a lot about war in general. War is not black and white, "the Germans are evil" type thing. Weary, an American, is about as sick and twisted as it gets. He is obsessed with torture and because he is not accepted by the "cool kids" he takes out his anger and frustration on someone weaker than he is (Billy). He nearly breaks Billy's spine by kicking him while he is down. Ironically, Billy is saved by the Germans (in this case, old men, boys, and a whimpering German Shepherd), who then capture him and Weary. The novel challenges stereotypes of war in every way, especially by emphasizing the innocence of Billy and the other soldiers like him. Billy, like the Children Crusaders, went off with out even a weapon, but pretty much just his clothes.
I can't help but think of the whole Kony thing since it has lately gone viral on any and all forms of social media. For the record, I knew about him a couple months ahead of everyone else. I think he is doing something evil, but analyzing what makes it so evil may be of use to one's understanding of this novel. The coercion is a big no-no, which was prevalent during WWII. I think that the loss of innocence and the fact that Billy and everyone else really did not know what they were getting into is a bigger issue. Basically, in the case of WWII, Kony, and the Children's Crusade, adults (or at least people that knew what kind of a slaughter they were bringing the kids to) exploited children who did not know that they were even being taken advantage of, or were conditioned to think that they weren't. This is dark stuff.
In light of the darkness of the real heart issue of the novel, Vonnegut makes a big farce of it. Slaughterhouse-Five is akin to "A Modest Proposal" in that it does not use the direct and more surface oriented line of moral attack, but instead is more farcical. It crumbles the walls by digging under them, not by breaking them down.
Overall, I like the book so far, and cannot put it down.
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