What is the Central Event?

What is the central event of Slaughterhouse Five? Some may say its about Billy being unstuck in time. Other may say its just about the bombing of Dresden. What if the novel was in chronological order...what would the central event be?

If SH5 was is chronological order, this book would be about the bombing in Dresden. Kurt Vonnegut would just talk about Billy's life before and after the Dresden bombing and how Billy was affected. The novel would be boring.

Since SH5 isn't in chronological order, it keeps you reading, paying attention to every single detail. These details make connections to Billy's time hops all through out the story. To me, this story is about Billy being unstuck in time. Kurt Vonnegut discusses more then just the bombing in Dresden. Even though the bombing was in 1945, which is relatively early in Billy's life, the bombing isn't in full detail until towards the end of the novel. So many years of Billy's life in his older years are discussed because he jumps to those years.

 What would Slaughterhouse Five be like if it was just told as Billy's life in chronological order? Would you be as entertained with the book?

Word Choice in SH5

Kurt Vonnegut's word choice to me is not very complex or hard to understand. But, at the same time, he is very dark and strong in a way, which really sets the tone of the novel.

A big thing that sticks out to me is that every time someone dies, whether accidental, natural, or on purpose, he says "So it goes." This makes it seem like he doesn't care that people are dying throughout the novel. This also reflects the ideas of the tralfamadorian. "The most important thing I learned on Tralfamadore was that when a person dies he only appears to die. He is still very much alive in the past, so it is very silly for people to cry at his funeral. All moments, past, present and future, always have existed, always will exist. The Tralfamadorians can look at all the different moments just that way we can look at a stretch of the Rocky Mountains, for instance. They can see how permanent all the moments are, and they can look at any moment that interests them. It is just an illusion we have here on Earth that one moment follows another one, like beads on a string, and that once a moment is gone it is gone forever.
When a Tralfamadorian sees a corpse, all he thinks is that the dead person is in a bad condition in that particular moment, but that the same person is just fine in plenty of other moments. Now, when I myself hear that somebody is dead, I simply shrug and say what the Tralfamadorians say about dead people, which is "so it goes.” 

Also, Kurt Vonnegut is not big on emotion. He rarely made Billy cry out loud. Also, when Valencia hear Billy got into the plane crash, he describes 'offensive' way. "Valencia adored Billy. She was crying and yelping so hard as she drove that she missed the correct turnoff from the throughway." To me, describing Valencia's crying as 'yelping' is a very cruel term, especially over her husband's injury that could have killed him. Also, the simple fact that Billy never showed much emotion towards Valencia, despite her loving him, also shows Kurt Vonnegut's completely negative and cruel tone through SH5.

Theme of SH5

Everybody interprets Slaughterhouse Five differently. There are a lot of unclear things through out the book, which leads to many different ways to read it. There is only a few things clear is Slaughterhouse Five, and one is that Kurt Vonnegut does not believe in war.
                                                                                      
The theme of SH5 to me is that war has no true purpose. war is pointless. Kurt Vonnegut expresses that subtly through Slaughterhouse Five. He uses many different symbols and even some mockery to describe the war.

My favorite symbol that Kurt Vonnegut uses to talk about the war is the bird. To me "Poo-tee-weet" just represents the nothingness that can be said about the war, especially the firebombing in Dresden.

Kurt Vonnegut's purpose to me seems like he wants to inform people what World War II was really like. He didn't want to glorify the war like typical movies and books do. Also, he wanted to show what happens to soldiers after the war, because even if they make it out alive, they can end up with mental issues, such as PTSD and others. In the whole first chapter on Slaughterhouse Five, Vonnegut talks about his real life experiences after the war. This gave me a real perspective of what happens to soldiers after they fight.

So if these things are happening to our soldiers, why do we continue to fight? Will there ever be world peace?

Doublespeak

In 1984, the citizens had to use Newspeak, or else they were committing a "thought crime." Basically, everything was opposite then it was described as. For example, the Ministry of Plenty is where they rationed goods, and the Ministry of Love is where they actually tortured people. Also, they would add suffixes such as "-ful" and "-wise" to their words. In 1984, it was said that their language got smaller every year. This enabled everything from the past to be erased.

In the beginning of the book, Winston struggled to remember if his life was always like the way it was in 1984, where everything was extremely strict. Winston knew he had to write down his thoughts or else they could possibly banish.

Doublespeak is often used in our language today. For example, "not doing so well" instead of sick/ill, "unique" instead of weird, etc. Personally, I would prefer to hear things like this rather than hearing something that could potentially upset me.

If you had the opportunity to write in a journal in Winston's position, would you? How would you feel if you struggled to remember things from your past?

1984 - Similarities in Government

In 1984, The Party uses many forms of manipulation to get into the heads' of their citizens. The telescreen in peoples' homes which constantly play propaganda which made The Party seem successful. Citizens are continuously reminded about The Party with big posters of Big Brother. Also, The Party has wires that can be tapped and can hear conversation throughout homes.

Today, our government uses doublespeak to make our country seem successful. Citizens are constantly reminded about the government from the news and other forms of media. Also, the

government is able to tap into phone calls, the internet, etc.

Is there really a difference?

Like No Other at first glance

It's undeniable that from the front, this book appears to be just like every other teenage romance novel. Right off the bat, Devorah, a junior in high school, gets stuck in an elevator where she meets Jaxon, and "fate leaves them no choice but to make an otherwise forbidden connection". Soon, I started to realize this novel definitely has some differences.

Devorah is raised an extremely strict Hasidic Jew. Before reading this book, I truthfully had no idea Hasidism existed. I looked into it more and read an article called Hasidic Women in the United States. To me, Devorah, and many other Hasidic women, seem to be treated unfair. As her and Jaxon talk in the elevator, she thinks "I feel a flash of jealousy. Jaxon will graduate high school, just like me, but he'll get to decide where he wants to go and and what he wants to do with his life, while my parents will go to the shadchan to find me a husband, whether I'm ready or not" (LaMarche 50). A shadchan is a Jewish "professional" match maker or marriage broker. Devorah also thinks, "Forget that my grades are better than either of my older brothers' ever were. Forget that I study English and math and science, much more well-rounded than their almost entirely religious education. It is simply expected that my education will end when I am married" (LaMarche 50). Devorah is also not allowed to talk to strangers, or be alone with any man other than her father or brothers. "My parents would disown me if they knew we were talking" (LaMarche 51).

Jaxon, also a junior in high school, as well as the son of Caribbean immigrants, lives on the black side of the Eastern Parkway with four younger sisters in New York City, whereas Devorah lives on the Orthodox only park of the neighborhood. After being in the elevator with Devorah, he compares her to a girl he liked from school, Polly. "I've been trying to create chance encounters with Polly for more than a year, doing dumb shit like standing outside her physics so that I could 'pretend' to bump into her, or strategically positioning myself close to her at school danced so that I could be the one she turned to when a slow song started. But just now, with Devorah– that was the opposite of planned. That felt real. And suddenly, I'm filled with dread that I'll never feel it again" (LaMarche 56).

So far I think this book is definitely different from the cliche books I'm used to reading. It throws in a real life twist that has educated me about a different culture from what I'm used to living.

Does this book interest you? If so, why?

Character development for Devorah

All of her life, Devorah has been sheltered and caged from the world outside of her Hasidic neighborhood. She wasn't allowed to associate herself with someone who is "not her people," the saying for which her dad calls people of other ethnic groups, cultures, etc. "They're not like us. And they don't like us. Understand?" Devorah has been told how to live her own life, and without choice, is left to marry a random man and have a child at 18.

Since Devorah has met Jaxon, she has been out of her comfort zone. She has been going behind her parents' back and most importantly, has been breaking her religion. Being alone with any man, besides her family members, is threatening to break her virtue and is considered a violation is "yichud." Yichud laws say that a man and a woman who are not married are not allowed to be in a secluded and/or private area. Just being alone with Jaxon and saying hello could mean Devorah's whole community, including her own family, would shun and disown her. Devorah, the girl who was afraid to break the rules, is suddenly risking losing everything she has ever known.

Another thing changing about Devorah is that she's beginning to become more curious. She has came to realization that her religion is unfair, and unlike her brothers and every other male in her culture, she does not get to choose her own path. After high school, Devorah will be chosen a husband, a man she has never know or even met, and she will have children and raise a family because that is what she's "supposed" to do. After browsing through facebook wrongfully, Devorah came across a girl who she used to know named Ruchy. The neighborhood always gossiped about her, which made Devorah believe that Ruchy was excommunicated from her family, until Devorah came across a picture of Ruchy, her new boyfriend, a baby, and her parents. "My own slideshow starts playing in my mind: Me in a cap and gown, not from high school but from college. Maybe even nursing school, so that I could become a nurse-midwife, so that I could take care of scared Hasidic women like my sister and Ruchy. Then, me and Jaxon, holding hands in public, posing with my family. Jaxon and Shabbos dinner, lighting a candle. Our sisters playing together. Could my parents ever accept a different path for me" (LaMarche 139).

I believe it is okay for Devorah to be curious. Being sheltered and being forced to ignore things outside of her neighborhood and religion is wrong, and being a 16-year-old girl, she can't help but to be curious. It is okay for a teenage girl to want to graduate college and choose her own path without worrying about whether her parents and family still love her or not. In my opinion, it is extremely wrong and unfair, and maybe one day she will be able to show everybody who she really is.

This article talks about a 25-year-old who was married at 17 and was told she had to start a large family right away. After having her own opinions, she decided to break free from her religion. She describes her old religion an the things she had to do as "disgusting." I think if Devorah was a real person, this article would help her see that she is not the only one who is curious about the world outside of her religion, and she is not the only Hasidic who wants to choose her own path.

How would you feel if you were Devorah? Would you follow your religion and do as your told? Would you want to rebel?