Poo-tee-weet

“Poo-tee-weet” is what a bird says to Billy shortly after the war is over. This shows how there is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre. There is really nothing to say about a massacre besides “Poo-tee-weet.”

Motif

The motif “so it goes” has appeared throughout the entire book. At first I thought it was that Billy didn’t know if the person had died or he wanted the reader to think that the person might still be alive. Now that I am done reading the book, I think Billy said “so it goes” after someones death, because everyone else thought the person was dead, but not Billy. Billy knew that the person was still very alive and not to be sadden by their death. The phrase “so it goes” allows the reader to recognize this.

Airplane

The situational irony in this chapter reminded me of the movie Airplane. It was almost funny that Valencia died on the way to a hospital. In the movie Airplane, there is a lot of situational irony and dry humor. Valencia’s death is something that I could see being in the movie.

Situational Irony

There is situational irony in chapter nine. The fact that Valencia dies from carbon monoxide poisoning on her way to Billy who is recovering in the hospital is ironic. Also, she gets in a car wreck and Billy was in a plane crash. Vonnegut writes, “Poor Valencia was unconscious, overcome by carbon monoxide. She was a heavenly azure. One hour later she was dead. So it goes.” (Vonnegut 183). Valencia dies while trying to get to the hospital is situational irony.

Music

Billy heard a song that gave him a descriptive memory he had. Many times I will hear a song and think of memory of mine. This is true for a lot of people. A song has the power to remind a person of something.

Tone

Billy’s tone changes in chapter 8 to a sad and somber one. He is reminded of the bombings in Dresden at his eighteenth wedding anniversary. Vonnegut states, “He did not travel in time to the experience. He remembered it shimmeringly-as follows” (Vonnegut 177). This time Billy remembers the moment and does not need to travel to it.

Schindler's List

The fact that Billy allowed all those people to die is unbelievable. He had the chance to save so many lives and just let them die. This reminds me of the movie Schindler’s List. At the end, Schindler is crying and says, “I could of saved more, I could of saved more.” Schindler was upset with himself, because in his mind he could of saved more people. Billy on the other hand doesn’t even bother trying to save people from a plane crash.

Irony

Chapter seven is full of irony. Billy gets on a plane that he knows will crash. Vonnegut writes “He knewit was going to crash, but he didn’t want to make a fool of himself by saying so” (Vonnegut 154). He knows that he and the pilot will be the only survivors. Billy doesn’t warn any of the people boarding the plane. He just lets it all happen while he stands by.

Deja vu

This chapter reminds me of the movie Deja vu. In this movie a man sees what happens and tries to stop it. He sees a terrible tragedy and knows he has to try and stop it. He does all he can to stop it. Finally he stops it from happening. Billy however, does not doing anything to stop his fate from happening. Instead he just sits around and knows what will happen, but is ok with it.   

Foreshadowing

Billy foreshadows to his death and sees that Lazzraro is the one that kills him. It is crazy to think Billy knows who will kill him and he does nothing. He does not even try and kill Lazzaro. He could doing something to stop it, but chooses not to. It just amazes me that Billy stands by and doesn’t try to change anything.

Magic Tree House

In Chapter five, Billy meets Eliot Rosewater. Eliot is next to him in the mental hospital. Elliot introduces Billy to some not so popular science fictional books. These books remind me of the series of Magic Tree House. Although the magic tree house books don’t deal with aliens, I still was reminded of them for some reason. I think it was because in this series the two kids are unstuck in time like Billy.

Antihero

Billy Pilgrim is an antihero. He is not courageous or brave in anything he does. He allowed a sniper to take multiple shots at him while he stood in the road. Weary had to grab him and pull him in the ditch to save him.  In Chapter five, when the army fines Billy they have to put him in a mental hospital. He isn’t someone that could go and fight for them. It states, “Billy was put to bed and tied down, and given a shot of morphine” (Vonnegut 98). Billy can’t even function right and is being held in a mental hospital. There is no way he could be a hero.

Free Will

The Tralfamadorians try and have Billy describe bad decisions if there is no free will. They exclaim what if there was a predetermined plan for each and everyone one of us. Though if one is a believer of the Catholic faith, he or she knows that this is not true. That God gives us free will and it is our choice to do good or bad. God does not plan that one person is going to be a drug addict and the other is going to be a doctor. Our life is determined by the decisions we make.  

                                       

Repetition

In Chapter Four there is a repetition of the phrase so it goes. This appears when there is a death in the novel. It makes it sound as if Billy is unsure as to if the person died or not. Billy States, “He wasn’t liquid anymore. He was stone. So it goes.” (Vonnegut 81). The phrase so it goes shows that Billy feels differently about it than others do.

Band of Brothers

Chapter three of Slaughter House Five describes the capturing of Billy and Weary. As Vonnegut describes this, I am reminded of the HBO series Band of Brothers. In this series it follows a company from D-Day till the end of the war. In this show there are scenes of how the prisoners of war were treated. The whole time I was reading this chapter I had images from this show in my head.

Personification

At the end of chapter three, Billy is in the train. He is waiting to leave and starts to say that the trains are saying hello to one another. He says, “They were saying ‘Hello’” (Vonnegut 70). Saying that the trains were talking is a form of personification. People are always giving inanimate objects human characteristics

Time Traveler

During Chapter two, Billy travels through many different moments in his life. He jumps from time period to time period. This reminds me of the movie Forest Gump. In this movie the main character, Forest Gump, talks about different moments in his life. As he talks about them you feel as if that is the present moment. Similar to that in Slaughter House Five, Billy travels from era to era and each time you feel as if it is the present.

Protagonist

In the second chapter, Kurt Vonnegut reveals that Billy Pilgrim is the protagonist. Vonnegut introduces Billy in the first sentence of the chapter to the reader. Vonnegut states, "Billy Pilgrim has come unstuck in time" (Vonnegut 34). In this sentence Vonnegut is saying that Billy can be related to all time periods. Billy is not just stuck to one part in time, but can be related to the present too. Vonnegut chooses Billy to be the main character, because if Billy is everlasting, than Slaughter House Five will be everlasting.

New Beginings

The first chapter of Slaughter House Five can be compared to the movie We are Marshall. Throughout the first chapter, Vonnegut explains how he is wanting to write a book about the terrible bombings of Dresden. However, he is unsure on how to begin his story. This can be related to the movie We are Marshall. In We are Marshall the college football team all parishes in an airplane crash. After the accident the college was unsure on how to go on as a school. They didn't know if they should have a team the following year or wait a bit. In both situations people were unsure on how to begin.

Alussion

Throughout chapter one Billy Pilgrim alludes to numerous amounts of literature. However, the one alussion that stuck with me was when O'Hare refers to a passage about the crusades. In this passage it describes the horrors of war and exactly what role crusades played. In the passage it states, "History in her solemn page informs us that the crusaders were but ignorant and savage men"(Vonnegut 15). This passage supports Mary O'Hare's argument about how books and movies wrongly portray war. Most novels and films explain how crusades are great soldiers that helped the Church, but were actually cruel men. This is why she is against writing or portraying war in any way.