Comment: So It Goes by Ally

When I saw this picture, a flood of different ideas rushed through my mind.  There are so many perspectives you can take on an open bird cage, about as many as you can take on Vonnegut's novel, SH5. 

First, I thought that the cage represented Vonnegut's mind when his book was banned.  It was almost as if they were caging his ideas and keeping them separated from the rest of society.  Locked up and safely stored where no one could reach them.  It also was like his freedom was stolen, much like if he were inside a hypothetical cage.

Then, I noticed that the cage door was open.  It seems to resemble him thinking outside of the box, or rather outside of the cage.  So if you look at the cage as Vonnegut's mind, it is like the government tried to trap it and keep it away from anything else, which is what a cage can ultimately represent.  But if you look at it as representing his ideas, then its almost like they escaped the accepted version of normal and broke away.  They really are outside of the cage. 

The third way I thought of this picture was as a way of representing Vonnegut as a little bit crazy.  The cage door being open can insinuate that the bird or animal that lived there has escaped, and there is now nothing.  This may have been Vonnegut's mind before the war; a cage with a bird in it.  Then after, the bird may have escaped, making it seem as though he has lost his mind, which would honestly make some of his ideas more understandable. But then, maybe there was never a bird there in the first place.  Maybe V. had these ideas before, but is there really a way of knowing? 

This was a very interesting picture that made me think, so thanks to Ally for posting it.

Was the ending satisfactory?

"Poo-tee-weet".  A long, complicated, brain teaser of a book ends in simply poo-tee-weet.  I, suprisingly, liked this ending.  The entire book felt like reading something written in a code, a code that maybe no one was meant to completely understand.  The twists, random facts, and unexpected fourth wall breakings thrown into the mix made the book difficult to follow at times.  I have to admit that it was nice to have a simple, easily understood ending.  Maybe it was the relief that the novel was done that made the ending alright with me, but whether that is true or not I did get the feeling of it being over.  It was almost like the rest of the ideas never ended, or even existed.  Like the war was the only part of the novel, and it ended.  Really though, it was the only part that could end, especially if you take the "dead is not really dead but a slight moment in time" point of view.  The lives of the characters don't end, and ideas don't end, but the war itself ends.  Even if it repeats itself time and time again, Billy walking out of his imprisonment is an ending to one period of time.  So, since the complex novel has a simple ending that finishes the only thing that could end, I liked Vonnegut's choice, as it makes you think about it, but only if you want to.

Is Billy Pilgrim a Relateable Character?

He believes in time travel.  He believes in aliens.  He asks to be shot.  Is this really a relateable character?  Under the circumstances, yeah, I think he is.  No, I don't believe that he time travels, I think his once stable mind snapped under the pressures of war.  But seeing the suffering of people from your country and the opposition would make most become slightly unhinged.  On that thought, it is a definite possibility that you would want to die instead of spending one more minute in war.  It is well known that soldiers would shoot themselves in the foot to get out of the war if they were desperate enough, and that really takes a steady hand.  When pushed just a little farther, I can completely understand why the peacefulness of death would sound better than living in hell on earth, aka war.  The aliens could also have been an effect of his mental state.  Maybe even have been an outlet for his new ideas on life itself, a way of expression.  Because I consider his reactions to what he's been through understandable, I also consider Billy a relateable character.

Vonnegut's Thoughts?

If Vonnegut were to somehow hear about our project, I think the first thing he would think is that we are using our right of freedom of speech.  While he may not agree with some of our assessments in regards to his novel and what he was trying to portray, he would agree with the fact that we were willing to put these thoughts out in the open for others to see.  I mean, isn't that what he did?  He took his views on life and his war experiences and put them out there whether anyone else agreed or not.  He took the risk that others would think he was crazy or wrong or odd for thinking and believing what he did.  In a way isn't that what the class is doing on a lesser scale?  True, we are not necessarily compromising the world's view of the American army, or selling our ideas about time, space travel, and life in general, but a risk is a risk, and we are taking one too. 

Slaughterhouse Five: movie material?

Should SH5 be a movie? No, I don't think so.  While I read books, I tend to get pictures in my head, almost as if I were watching a movie.  With Vonnegut's novel, it is far too random to get a thorough grasp on exactly what is happening.  Just when you think you understand what is going on, Billy time travels and you have to figure it out all over again.  In order for a movie to be successful, there has to be some kind of reason or pattern to it.  Granted, this may work as a film if it had an amazingly talented director, though the chances are that it would turn out similar to Brave New World, which ended up with a completely different set up than the original author had intended.  For example, the BNW movie ended up making the outcasted, odd looking, strange man named Bernard into an accepted man with social skills.  This is almost a 360 degree turn around.  In SH5 the plot is too complicated and out of order to make into a movie, or at least into a good movie that satisfies the real story.

Those Few Words...

If I were to create my own novel, its focus would be on how just a few words, said either consistently or once in a moment of anger and frustration, can change a person's life...if they allow it to. 

The plot would be about a serious athlete, who works extremely hard and always gives everything they have.  Unfortunately, in a league championship game, this athlete has the chance to win the game for their team and blows it.  As they walk back to the bench, their coach looks at them and says, "You obviously can't handle pressure, and you'll never amount to anything."  Now keep in mind that no, this has never happened to me, and hopefully it hasn't happened to you either, but these words would be worse than a punch in the stomach.  In my novel the athlete would take these words to heart, and basically give up on life as they no longer think that they are good enough to get anywhere.  Their grades drop, they quit their sport, and they stop going out with their regular friends.  Eventually this person falls into drugs and alcohol, and dies. 

Now imagine what would have been different, had the coach been encouraging said, "Don't worry about it, you'll get it next time." instead of an insult, or at the very least said nothing at all.  Their entire outlook changed because of a certain phrase.  This is another reason why I believe in free will instead of fate, because it was the coaches free will to say what he wanted, and the athletes free will to take it to heart. 

What I hope that any reader would learn from reading this is to watch what you say, because you never know how the listener will take it, or what the long term effects will be.

Time Just Flies By

1.
Madison Wallace was standing in the outfield for the fourth fastpitch game that day in late May.  Her cleats felt like they weighed one hundred pounds, but that wasn't why she was tired.  She was tired because of the hot sun beating on her back all day.  The ball was hit.  It was fairly easy, fairly slow, but it didn't matter at that point - she still needed energy to get it.  Energy was hard to find.  She got to it anyways, though each step made the grass feel more and more like sand.  She threw it into the infield as soon as she could, but because she used her last remaining effort to get the ball in the first place, it was an overthrow.  Only by a little, but to her it seemed like it was miles off.  Frustrated with herself, she rolled her eyes as high as possible.

She looked down at her test again, and suddenly the answer hit her.  Maddi couldn't believe she hadn't thought of it earlier, she'd studied sample questions exactly like it for hours the night before. 



2.
Madison Wallace was walking her dog down the long path that runs by her house.  The dog was pulling this way and that, sniffing here and there.  It was a large golden retriever, strong too.  This made it hard to hold the leash sometimes.  Sometimes it was all Madison could do to stay on two feet and not fall over.  The large golden retriever started pulling especially hard in one direction and barking like mad.  Madison turned her head to see what had attracted the large golden retreiver's attention.

When she turned her head back, her little brother was walking beside her along a busy street. The cars rushed by frequently, I would be willing to bet at higher speeds than the limit.  They just continued towards home, talking as siblings do.  Madison's brother was completely absorbed into the story he was telling about his day at school.  It was one about a kid who pulled a prank on another by stealing his pencil case.  They both had to cross the street, and Madison's brother stepped out with out looking.  A yellow car was speeding right towards him.  Madison grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him back, making them both fall backward onto a stranger's lawn. 


3.
Madison Wallace walked out alone onto her back pool deck.  It was so hot outside, around 90 degrees fahrenheit.  The pool looked so welcoming.  She walked closer to it and dipped her pinkie toe in, only to find out that it was colder than expected.  She weighed her options; diving, or getting in slowly.  Deciding that it could take hours to get in slowly, the clear choice was to dive.  She stoodon the edge, her toes half over the water.  She took a deep breath, and dove.

When she emerged, she saw her dad and grandpa playing scrabble on the deck.  She was at her grandfather's house on Canada Day weekend.  Her brothers were playing basketball in the driveway by the side of the house.  She could hear the game.  A small wave of water then hit her in the back of the head, courtesy of her young cousin.  She turned to retaliate, and ended up initiating a game of tag.  She swam to the end of the pool as fast as she could.

Should literature that provokes strong reactions be banned?

I really don't think that books should be banned due to the reactions they create.  If anything, they should be promoted.  They can make you consider things that you wouldn't regularly think about.  In Slaughterhouse Five, you get to see things from one soldiers point of view.  Based on what I've heard, most veterans refuse to talk about their experiences for quite sometime after they return, if they choose to talk about it at all.  The memories haunt them for the rest of their lives.  Many over look this, and while I agree that the soldiers should be celebrated for their bravery, war should not. 

Banning literature also, technically, would go against the right of free speech.  Especially with one like Slaughterhouse Five, where a soldier is basically reminiscing.  How could they take away his right to talk about some of his experiences?  He is celebrated and honoured for being a soldier, but as soon as he tells the public what he believes war really is, they ban his novel and basically tell him to shut-up about it and deal with the memories on his own and in private.

Wisdom from Kurt Vonnegut....

"One of the few good things about modern times: If you die horribly on television, you will not have died in vain.  You will have entertained us."

When I read this quote, two main thoughts pop into my head.  The first, that this is Vonnegut's humour at its best.  The second, that is this really what we've come to? Taking death as nothing more than a form of entertainement for society? 

One of the main reasons for Vonnegut to write his book was to show his anti-war and pro-reality views.  He writes as if he wants to show us what war is really like after all of the celebrations after winning and the heroism when soldiers return.  This quote really does display clearly what is though of the death of others now-a-days.  This quote also relates slaughterhouse five to brave new world in the ideas of desensitization and the effects of it. 

Billy's Time Travelling: Fact or Fiction?

In the book “Slaughterhouse 5” by Kurt Vonnegut, a character named Billy Pilgrim seems to be flying through time and moments in his life.  The question is, is he truly time traveling or not?  I believe that he is just shell shocked and in his mind visiting these moments, not literally reliving them. 

Many soldiers in the war ended up being severely damaged psychologically.  This was classified as shell-shock.  This caused very strange behaviour in many cases, and in one video (that I seem to recall watching in grade ten history class) a grown man was waddling around a mental hospital in a penguin like fashion as others made abnormal sounds.  Billy thinking that he is time traveling and being abducted by aliens would make him one of the more normal among the shell-shocked crowd.  It may be written to seem so realistic because to Billy, it is.  His visions of the Trafamadorians and revisiting various parts of his life may be his mind’s way of sheltering itself from the horrors that he either was or is experiencing.  It also makes sense that he claims to have first been abducted during the middle of the war.