Last Post, Last Thought, Last Word

This is Yuemin and Nancy, here to say goodbye. Blogging about Slaughterhouse-Five has been a enjopable and unique experience. From first trying to wrack our brains out to get something in print to pouring thoughts out into posts naturally, we had good times. We'd like to thank everyone for taking your time to read, and we hope that we had provoked something deeper within everyone.

Poo-tee-wee
Yuemin and Nancy

Farewell

This could potentially be my last blog entry on this site. A little sad actually, I enjoyed blogging. So....feel free to look through my posts. =D
Hello, Mr.Lynn. This is the official welcome from this blog to you!!!!!!!!

Poo-Tee-Wee
Nancy

oh, I forgot, below is a random comic that I can across while researching.

Vonnegut was over critisized...thank god that he doesn't look like the guy above in picture though.

Blog review!!!=D

After nibbling through some of the posts that my classmates wrote for this English blogging project, I have decided to review Alicia’s blog basically because we had different opinions on many topics. There are many posts that I want to comment on, so I will just start with her first official post so it’s easy for you to track.

The post, “I believe in fate.” is an illuminating addition to my one-sided perspective. Believing in fate has always seemed too risky to me. To me, believing in fate is like assuming a power without proof that it is omnipotent or that it even exist in real life. It is true, that: “One’s fate might not be set in stone, but there is a plan out there for all of us.” Certain things in our life are possibly destined, like true love and career. She mentioned that although we can change fate (which I strongly believe in, by pure hard work and belief of the indubitable free will, of course), we can’t change the bigger picture. Maybe putting the extra effort into studying for a test might resulting in a better mark in contrast to not studying, it is not going to change who we are fated to become and the important people that we are meant to meet. Alicia also made connection to Billy Pilgrim believing in fate. She mentioned that Billy was told about his “death, birth, and everything in between” by the Tralfamadorians. Billy truly accepted what he was told. He knew that he was going to die before his speech in New York but confided the guards to stay away from him without second thoughts because he thinks that the moment, his death, was structure that way. (If I were him, I’d be hysterically gnashing about the grisly event that is to be happening soon.) Clearly, he is enthralled by fate and the Tralfalfamadorian advocates. Another point that Alicia brought up was that fate will always be there. Well, since our lives are intended to be a certain way, I suppose that fate won’t go away right?

Ok, on to the next post. “Don’t censor me, bro!” is another post that caught my attention. I agree whole heartily that good literatures should provoke big reaction. Often a piece of art work is only controversial when it is well created just like the naked Venus, Mona Lisa with her mysterious smile, and…yes, Twilight. Remember two years back when every single girl who had access to media was either on Team Edward or on Team Jacob, and there are endless critiques on how crappy the movie/story line/actors was? If Twilight wasn’t famous, people wouldn’t be squabbling all over it until now, little eight-years old wouldn’t be begging their parents for permission to watch it. Slaughterhouse-Five too, attracted a crowd. What’s different is that the crowd consists of a group of reprehending parents who repudiate their children reading a novel with racial and sexual contents, a recoiling government which recks every opinion on the country, and lastly, a writer forced into quandary – Vonnegut himself. Without further ado, Slaughterhouse-Five got banned. My opinion is the same as Alicia’s on this; “I definitely don’t think that books should be cencered if they’re controversial or whatever society deems them. It’s good to make people think once in a while.” If we hide the harsh realities in life, in war, what good will it do? Numb all? Let’s reference to the almost closedown of Whitehouse for example. Maybe the truth is the key to waking up the aggravating U.S. economy. If only the banks were warned, exposed to what’s to come, they will be better equipped against bankruptcy. If only they had foreseen the jeopardy that comes along with offering loans on real-estates when the land price is decreasing, they could have possibly saved their company and the government wouldn’t be in as much debt as it is in right now.  (No offense to the amazing country that I love shopping in; putting it on the spot just for an example.)  Similarly, just like what Alicia wrote, “Vonnegut was just being brutally honest. He took away the glorified image of an American solider that the society had and replaced it with the harsh reality that war isn’t pretty.” Vonnegut wrote what he saw, he told the truth, and anyone who reads, shouldn’t be hide away from it.

Alicia’s ninth post was about Valencia. Throughout Slaughterhouse-Five, the only image I ever had about Valencia was an over-weight woman holding a chocolate bar in her hand. I never actually paid attention to her like Alicia did. So here goes my apology to the dear, commonly forgotten Valencia. I agree with Alicia that Valencia was overlooked in many sections of Slaughterhouse-Five. (Sympathy is simmering in my heart as I am typing this right now.) Valencia is possibly the kindest person in the whole novel. She was the perfect wife: cared about Billy, visited him in hospital, and offered him chocolate bar…the list goes on. As Alicia mentioned in her post, “To me, she is that overweight, quieter girl who just wants to be liked, but isn’t necessarily attention seeking.” Valencia did have a subtle, affable character. It is almost heartbreaking to see her trying to please the insensate Billy. If only the poor girl was treated better...wait, did Vonnegut plan this on purpose? I suppose it doesn’t matter since the novel is published already. Anyways, I’m going call it a day and end this post soon. So, to conclude, I really liked how she focuses on many small details of the book that I overlooked while reading. Her opinion on many subjects such as Fate/Free Will is very inspiring and it allowed me to see the other side of the argument. Even though my comment of the post about Valencia is short since Valencia didn’t have many parts in the novel that post is my favorite out of all. I actually got a little emotional and really felt sorry for her. I felt that she was abused by Vonnegut for comic relief and defenseless as she is, she was still mocked.

For some random reason I was listening to Heart Breaker by G-dragon while typing the Valencia paragraph. Valencia needs to sing this to Billy someday....well, if she can. Here's an english cover for it....

Poo-Tee-Wee

Nancy

That was I. That was me. That was the author of this post.

The school library had about thirty computers in total. In front of one of them, the corner near the entrance to be specific, sat Nancy Li. Nancy planned to finish her fourth writing assignment before the class ends, but fifteen minutes passed and nothing adequate came out of her limited imagination. Writing assignments like this one has always baffled Nancy. She glanced around aimlessly and found nothing intriguing. Then she closed her eyes and tried to focus on her task. She nibbled through the countless childhood memories that she could recall and was soon distracted by the sound caused by hundreds of fingers frantically poking the keyboards. The tapping sound reminded her of her mother’s presence. Her mother was an elegant woman who insisted on wearing high heels wherever she goes. Her heels would clank against the surface of the ground and always made the same pattering sound that Nancy was hearing. Nancy opened her eyes and saw her mother walking abruptly by her, heading to the door with the car key in her hand.

She was only four then. Little as she is, she did not forget what her mother promised her last week: “I will only take you to the art show next weekend if you go to the daycare today.” As much as Nancy loathed playing with kids that she didn’t know, she went, just for the sake of attending the art show so she can meet her favorite artist. There wasn’t anything wrong about what Nancy just saw, except the fact that Nancy wasn’t leaving with her mom. Nancy was still in her pajamas.

Clearly, her mother forgot about her and the art show; she had plans for the day already – SHOPPING! Poor little Nancy went back to her bed and started crying. She was left alone in a house that was surly too empty for a timid, four years old girl. Tears streamed down her cheeks, and her vision blurred. The world seemed to be rotating around her, the dim ceiling lights twirled above her head. Her body started trembling, shaking harder as she breathed.

Her vision started to clear, the light went on spinning. She was ridding the Merry Go Round with her little cousin, Shirley. She didn’t want to go on a kid ride in front of others. For goodness sake, she’s eleven years old already. Her mother had forced her to ride to Marry Go Round with a little three years old! She argued, of course. Her mother won though. She cried in defense but her mother didn’t care. Tear didn't stop streaming down her cheeks, the golden lights didn’t stop gyrating…

Poo-Tee-Wee
Nancy

"I want to stay as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can't see from the center"

I believe that Vonnegut is trying to convey his fear in this quote.

From the center, one could only see the platform surrounding them. However, out on the edge, one could also see the platform along with those things over the edge. I think that Vonnegut is curious, but fears the unknown. We can see this because in the novel, Vonnegut discusses a forth dimension. He says that everything that is unexplained by humans is in the forth dimension.Isn't that just making up a reason to explain what we (humans) cannot understand yet?

Tralfamadorians were viewed as wise beings, known to be able to see the past, present, and future all at once. They know when a life is born, what they do in between, and how or when they died.
Isn't this sort of like the quote? The center is the present, and we, humans, are standing there. The edge is where the Tralfamadorians are, where they can see everything we can and beyond, they can see the fourth dimension. 

This idea, however, contradicts one of his own points. If Vonnegut is trying to tell us to focus on the present, why should we fear the unknown? We would take each step at a time without any rush, embrace what is to come. Why should there be fear?

Quite opposite to Vonnegut, I want to stay in the center. I would want to focus on what is important in front of me without the need to worry how far I go, whether I'm far enough from the edge so that I don't fall over.

Throughout this project, I realized that I have many contradicting ideas to Vonnegut. But all the same, I have learned a lot from him, and is now able to appreciate everything around me more. Also to be thankful that I do not have a war bombing as a movie replying in my mind all the time. 

poo-tee-wee
                                                                      - Yuemin 

Fate again...

Since I just finished a post on fate/free will, I remembered a movie called Knowing.(Above is the trailer) In the movie, a boy pulled out a sheet of paper with seemingly random numbers written all over it from a time capsule. Coincidentally, the boy’s dad, a MIT professor, found out that those numbers recorded the date, location, and the number of death of every major disaster on earth, even the ones that didn’t happen yet. I tried to imagine myself as that dad, being foretold about all the catastrophic events and not being able to stop them. Life would be miserable if I have to watch fate toy with the world helplessly; Wouldn't it for anyone with a heart and some pity to spare?

If fate really planned everything out for us, let's hope that we'll never get our finger prints on that schedule. Personally, I think it is easier to live our life the way we want to rather than what's destined to come. People are not meant to know the date of their own death, nor to count how many days they have left on earth. Truly, not many people can be as calm as Billy: knowing that he's going to die in New York and still give to speech, seeing deaths of family before it happens and say "So it goes."

If fate ever gives me my schedule, I will burn it.

Poo-Tee-Wee

Nancy

Fate/Free Will

Believing in fate or free will is another commonly argued topic. I personally believe in both (maybe a bit more in free will if I have to choose).


Some people think that money is the root to all solutions. With money, possibly every existing door in the society can be open. With money, there comes power, the power to control things; Yes, money can control fate as well. In fact, fate often plays in favor of money. Children who are born in an aristocratic families are generally exposed to better education and better chances in life. With better foundation, it is easier to exert further. But for every advantage there are drawbacks. Lord Acton once said, "Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely." Money can be the root of evils, and the riches are more exposed to the lure. When the riches are prejudiced by the poor, there are no jealousy.

Fate is often unpredictable and unruly, just like the money example that I gave above. Other than money, there are many talents, characteristics that we are to born with; Those, too, are controlled by fate. In contrast to believing in fate, believing in free will offers the adherent more control over the situation. The adherent can decide how much effort to put into a task, rather than obeying what fate decides. (Although both ways, fate decides the amount of output you are to receive.)

Being a slightly meticulous person who doesn't like taking risks, I would say I believe in free will 95% of the time. Free will allows me to work for what I want and watch where my path is heading rather than being blindfolded and lead. To me, believing in free will offers more assurance and stability. (So far, not studying for tests has never granted me a good mark no matter what kind of prayers I say or how much I donate...fate's not on my side if it exists.)

There's still 5% of me that believe in fate though. To me, there are only a few occasions that it's ok to believe in fate:
1.When buying lottery
2.When facing unavoidable, unalterable obstacles
3. When it comes to death of family members/friend, but only if medication fails
4. After math contest, before seeing the score

For all those "keener" out there, do believe in fate only when the situation is mentioned in the list above.


And for those who are unsure, ask yourself those questions. (I stole them from http://lifelessonshome.com)

- How much power do the so-called agents of fate control your life?
      My Opinion: A lot actually, but there's no need to worry about it since we can't control it.
- If omnipotent and omniscient God controls everything that happens in the world, then what is the role of our own decisions?
    My Opinion: Our own decision won't matter that much is everything was just meant to be the way it is. If 
                        every situation is just like a bug trapped in amber, why do we even go to school? We'll end
                        being where we are destined to be anyways.

- Is our free will actually a free choice, or is it an orchestrated action?
   My Opinion: I really have no input on this one. The more I think about it, the more confusing it gets.
- Can our free will decision win over fate?
   My Opinion: Oh, definitely. Ever seen a successful person with poor family background? He surely worked
                       hard for it. But then again, we can argue that he was meant to be impeded when he was
                       young....




Poo-Tee-Wee
Nancy

Billy in the trailer

So, here goes another post on Billy Pilgrim. I watched the five-minutes-long trailer of Slaughterhouse-Five in English class a few days ago and the actor that played Billy just didn’t seem right. I have always imagined him to be a little chubby (accumulated after the war with Valencia of course), with wrinkles that any successful soldiers/ respectable optometrist should have. Also some frown lines on his forehead from the hardship of the war, adorned with a pair of apathetic eyes that have seen way too much to care for anything. Paradoxically, the Billy portrayed in the trailer looked a little too naïve and innocent than what I’ve been picturing.(Above I have included a rough sketch of my version of Billy Pilgrim.)

Some may argue that the Billy showed in the trailer was during the war time, before he became a optometrist. It’s true that Billy was young, but he was describe as older than most soldiers and he befriended with older men like Edgar Derby; More into early thirties or late twenties. Anyways, I have never watched the movie, maybe there will be a more mature version of Billy in the movie that plays the later half of his life!

Poo-Tee-Wee
Nancy

Fate or Free will: why just one?

Ceci's blog made me rethink of the "Fate or Free will" topic that I chose to avoid in Assignment #1.

"But in effect, [Vonnegut]'s also saying, don't hope, because things are already set in stone." 
This was written in response to the idea that Vonnegut believes in fate over free will. That Vonnegut "thinks everything is predestined". Although I agree with Ceci wholeheartedly on Vonnegut's perceptive of fate and free will, a question came to me: why just one?

Take this for example (which was also taken from one of Ceci's posts); Billy gets on the plane even though he knew it would crash and he also still spoke in public even though he knew he was going to get shot.   
From dictionary.com, free will was defined as "free and independent choice; voluntary decision". Billy chose to get on the plane knowing that it would crash. and he chose to speak in public knowing that he was going to get shot. Those are all his independent choices, something that he decided by himself (for once). To put it simply, he chose to believe in fate. 
 
To me, fate and free will are linked. I believe that it's not one or the other, but both at the same time. It's true that Billy Pilgrim was a character who believed in fate. But that was his choice. Just because he believed that everything was predestined, it doesn't mean that he didn't have any free will (or lack of).  It's true that Billy could have looked at his fate in a more optimistic perceptive like the couple in "Fated To Love You", but wasn't that also his own choice to look at it in a pessimistic point of view? 

In my opinion, it all comes down to this:
If you believed in fate, that was because of your free will. It chose to believe in fate.
If you believed in free will, that was fate. It was destined for you to believe in your own free will.

So if someone asked me whether I believed in fate or free will, I would answer: why just one?

Poo-tee-wee
                                                                 - Yuemin

The Defense

Although Slaughterhouse Five, was written so the Germans were the enemies, I do not think that Vonnegut is making an attack on the Germans. In contrast, I think that he is defending the Germans in many aspects of the book. 

I first had a feeling that Vonnegut was trying to defend the Germans was when the American POW was shipped to the temporary British POW camp. When Vonnegut described that the British was getting along very well with the Germans, I understood what Vonnegut could be telling us. The Germans did not try to take away the British's extra food (when they could have obviously done that with a gun), but they traded their own stuff to ensure that both sides has what they want.

I also think that Vonnegut was trying to defend the Germans because of the reaction after the Dresden bombing. If the Germans were all completely bad and filled with hatred, why would they provide shelter to enemies who just destroyed  their home?

The fact that Vonnegut's family was ashamed of their heritage itself proved that the Germans weren't all bad. Their shame towards what the Germans did in WWII displayed their regret towards their own country. Although I can understand the reason behind their attempt at culture conformity, I do not agree. I don't think that one should be ashamed of their own heritage merely because of the fault of a few. After all, isn't that what Vonnegut is trying to tell us? To live in the present, and not mope about your past. To just leave it us that: the past. 

Poo-tee-wee
                                                           - Yuemin  

Deleted scenes of Slaughterhouse-Five

So most movie/video have some kind of bloopers and random clips at the end right?Well, just for fun since our blogging project is coming to an end, there are a few scenes that I would like to add to Slaughterhouse-Five. I roughly sketched them our with a little description below every picture. Please enjoy!!!!!!

Above is Billy's face. Imagine Billy, after proposing to Valencia, the very night before his own wedding specifically went for a tour and time travelled to the lovely Tralfalmadore. There, he sees Valencia, years after marriage with wrinkles around her eyes and a candy bar in one hand. She was driving, then, a truck crashed into her, and she soon died. Would he still marry her? Does he really care...he might just think that Valencia didn't really die like the Tralfamaldorian....

I think there was one blogging assignment where we had to argue whether Billy really travelled in time or that he's just suffering from the plane crash. I read a few post by others and most of them agreed that only Vonnegut would know. But I was think, if only Montana time travelled back to New York and did the speech with Billy, someone might actually believe what Billy said since he have an attractive witness,right?

Ok, last one.The idea of the Three Musketeers sounded interesting to me. But I would like Lazzaro to be in it. For now, the Three Musketeers would be Weary, Billy, and Lazzaro. Let's pretend that Weary didn't die that early and the Three Musketeers all went to Slaughterhouse-Five. In there, they were poorly treated so they decided to escape. The three escaped and went back to America together. Lazzaro, being his old self, stole a scarf from Weary and a pen from Billy. Bill and Weary decided to ditch Lazzaro and take revenge (maybe have him killed). At the same time, Lazzaro realizes that the two companions are no longer loyal, therefore adds them to his to-kill list. Who do you think will die first?


Poo-tee-wee
Nancy

The Difference

I think that there is are many differences between Slaughterhouse Five, and the other two books we studied this year. One of the more distinguishable difference is the time period they write in.

George Orwell's 1984  and Aldous Huxley's Brave New World were sending out a warning. Based on the change of human behavior in their own time, the two authors predicted two completely different futures; both equally unpleasant. Similarly, both authors predicted what would become of us in the future.

Kurt Vonnegut on the other hand, wrote about the past. He described the gruesome of war. Unlike Orwell and Huxley, he looked back and told of what had already become of humans.

I think that this is the major difference that set Slaughterhouse Five apart. Which again brings back my point. To me, this shows that Vonnegut does not want to worry about what is going to happen, but learn from the past, and live his life to the fullest in the present.

Poo-tee-wee
                                                                                  - Yuemin

konnichiwa!!!!!!

If I were to write a novel, which I don't suppose I would ever, it would be on geishas. When I first heard about geishas, I went along with the general assumption that they are high-class prostitutes who dressed in expensive kimonos and entertained their guests. My assumption didn't change until about two years ago, when I read a book called "Memoir of a Geisha". The novel was written by Arthur Golden about a fictional geisha called Nitta Sayuri. The novel starts with Sayuri explaining the tremendous amount of effort it takes to be immaculate in her industry: "A story like mine should never be told. For my world is as forbidden as is fragile. Without this mystery, it cannot survive." Every single sentence followed that sounded equally intriguing and fascinating. She then went on telling about different events that occurred in her life which have mold her into the most celebrated geisha.  She was born in a remote fish village to a fisherman and a housewife. Her mother died when she was young. Because her family wasn't wealthy, her father sold her to a tea house so he can afford a coffin for his wife. Sayuri started as a servant, then became an apprentice geisha because of her exceptional beauty. She attended parties and her social, dancing, tea serving skills gained her reputation. Suddenly she was the most famous geisha in Gion. Then WWII came abruptly; She sold her kimonos and worked in a fabric factory as a labourer. Needless to say, her life fluctuated as much as Vonnegut's due to the war; Yet, when she is crippled and old, she came all the way to America to have Arthur Golden write a book about her. Her tenacious courage enchanted me and I feel that it is important to write about people who have been through all the ups and downs in life just like Vonnegut; This way, the book can medicate people's mind and help readers build strength and character while reading. So, if the accident will, if I ever write a book, it would be a fictional novel on another laudable geisha.

Poo-Tee-Wee
Nancy

Lazzarooooooooo!!!

With Billy Pilgrim still lingering in my mind, I thought about a post that I made a while ago on that dreary POW. In that entry, I made a connection between Billy and Cinderella; Then, I suddenly realized that the fairy blue godmother broke Lazzaro's arm! How ironic! Only Vonnegut can make a fairy blue godmother have red hair and a break someone's arm because he was caught stealing a pack of cigarette from an English man. Let's shift our attention to Lazzaro for this post. Personally, I don't think Lazzaro didn't get his fair share of lines in Slaughterhouse-Five especially when his characteristics are so prominent and intriguing. At first I assume that he was just another weak, little soldier who boast all day long about things that would never happen. Then, Billy was killed years after the war in New York and kept to his words: "Anybody touches me, he better kill me, or I'm gonna have him killed." The chance of seeing Lazzaro as kind is scarce, but Lazzaro did have one friend though- Roland Weary. Kindly, Lazzaro held Weary as Weary died and granted Weary's last wish; That is to have Billy Pilgrim Killed. Lazzaro kept to his promise ... but why would he travel all the to US just to grant some dead person's wish?  ...that's just Lazzaro being Lazzaro, I suppose.

Poo-Tee-Wee
Nancy

Yuemin Writing a Novel

I wasn't planning on posting today, but after reading Yuemin's post below, I had to make one. Speaking of "fml"s, I think there are basically two types of teenagers who say it the most, just like diabetes. Type 1 diabetes refers to those who actually inherited the disease, and type 2 mainly refers to those who simply consume too much sugar. So referencing to Yuemin's post, the procrastinators, the mark fanatics, the whiny ones are generally type 2; Vonnegut and all the Japanese who lost their home belong to type 1. I, myself belongs to type 2. With report cards, assignments, and tests piling up, I don't think I have been thankful in a while. Recently, watching news reports on Japan and reading Slaughterhouse-Five has triggered me into thinking how I should  appreciate life because I know that I am exposed to more opportunities than most in the world.
Vonnegut himself has been through a lot. From fighting on the American side in WWII to graduating from MIT, then to being a reporter, and a writer. The transactions and hardship couldn't be easy; Yet, on his tomb stone, it was written that "Everything was beautiful, and nothing hurt." Perhaps it's time for type 2 to take lessons from Vonnegut, to learn to see beyond obstacles and appreciate their possessions.






Poo-tee-wee
Nancy

Mother Night: The prequel to Slaughterhouse Five?

As I read Slaughterhouse Five, I've always been curious of the motive behind Howard W. Campbell Jr . I really wanted to understand what made Campbell betray his own people, and work for the Germans.

Then, I found:

Summary: 
It is the fictional story of Howard W. Campbell Jr., an American, who moved to Germany directly after World War I and then later became alternately a well-known playwright and a Nazi propagandist. The action of the novel is narrated (through the use of metafiction) by Campbell himself. The premise is that he is writing his memoirs while awaiting trial for war crimes in an Israeli prison
Work Cited: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_Night#Plot_summary
------
Sounds pretty much like a prequel right?

Vonnegut claims that this is the ONLY book he wrote in which he knew the moral of the story. From very brief surface research, I also found many similarities between Mother Night and Slaughterhouse Five: 

1. Along with Slaughterhouse Five, this is one of the three book that Vonnegut was really satisfied with, giving it an "A+" himself
   
2.  Although it looks like this story doesn't have time travel, the protagonist started and ended in the same place. 
3. With a dark past, the protagonist found that he had no reason to continue living (after going through his adventures in the book), and surrendered himself.
4. The famous "so it goes..." 

From Slaughterhouse Five, I did not really like  Howard W. Campbell Jr. However, as I read further into the summary of Mother Night, I begin to think that everyone has their own story, and that you should not be judging a person based on the majorities opinion. I believe this is also another lesson that Vonnegut is teaching us through his books.

So now that I've said all that, anyone curious enough to pick up the book with their own free will?

poo-tee-wee
                                                                                   - Yuemin

Vonnegut's Ratings

Here is a video of Kurt Vonnegut grading his books.
From here, you can see from his point of view which of his books did he consider an "A+".
Of course, having spend 20 years to write, Slaughterhouse Five, was one of the three A+, along with Cat's Cradle, and Mother Night.

This short video further reinforces my ideas about Kurt Vonnegut from Slaughterhouse Five. Although with every reason to be pessimistic, he accepted what he received, both the good and the bad.Unlike some authors, Kurt Vonnegut accepts what the critics say because "they knew more about it than [himself]".

As well, he does not ask for more than bargained, with just being happy that all his books were in print, and spoke for himself. I also discovered that even when talking, Kurt Vonnegut spoke with a sense of humor that was both funny, and can make one uncomfortable.

In my opinion, there would be a lot less conflict in this world if only just a few people learned Kurt Vonnegut.

poo-tee-wee
                                                  - Yuemin 

If I were to write a novel...

When I walk through the hallway to get to my next class, I would at least hear one person say "fml".
This term could usually be used when one wants to describe how chaotic and unsatisfied they are with their life.

Therefore, if I were to write a book, I would want to write one targeting this type of teenager. I want to write a non-fictional book including varies stories on the REAL hardships some teenagers have to face (not just breakups or marks at school). Some examples would be a death of someone close, abuse in the household, or a disorder they have to face.

Like Vonnegut, I think that in order to make one appreciate their own life, one has to have another to contrast to. In this case, I hope that teenagers who does not appreciate their own life would start to, by reading about how much worse their situation could be.

Poo-tee-wee

                                                      - Yuemin

Billy, you're a princess!!!

So Prince Williams is really marrying Kate Middleton? The royal engagement picture that I randomly came across on the internet answered my question a few weeks ago. The fairy godmother once again, not often enough though, worked her magic on a middle-class girl. Kate is now the Princess-to-be, the REAL Cinderella.

With a not-so-kind personality like the stepsisters’, characters like Cinderella would always arose a few smoke of envy in me. Truly, with guilt, I will admit that I have many shallow dreams. I want Paris Hilton’s closet, Bill Gates’ money, Albert Einstein’s IQ, Victoria Beckham’s style, Warren Baffett’s insight in the stock market, Joan Ginther’s luck in winning four lotteries…the list goes on. And yes, Kate Middleton would be on that list too, and so would be Billy Pilgrim.

BILLY PILGRIM’S LIFE IS A TOTAL FAIRYTALE!!!!!!!!!! It’s true that he had a tough childhood and that he had to clean up after the war, but Cinderella scrubbed the floor too! Billy eventually became an optometrist and married a rich wife at the end. The Tralfamaldorians took important, mythical roles in Billy’s life just like the fairy godmother and the little animals did in Cinderella’s life. He is a Cinderella; he even got the silver shoes!

If only Vonnegut focused more on the happily-ever-after part of Billy’s life, this novel could possibly turn into an interesting, classic love story like Jane Eyre. But then again, the more a character suffers, the more sympathy the character receives, and the sweeter the afterlife would seem to be. A good writer like Vonnegut wouldn’t miss the chance to make someone plain as Billy ironic, Slaughterhouse-Five buttresses that!

Throughout the whole novel, not one chapter hesitated to seek out symapathy on Billy, on soldiers who fought in the war. The anti-war message had its finger print all over the pages! I most definitly felt it was deserving, with a hint of jealousy lingering in my mind, that Billy deserved the better life as an optometist.

After all, he really did live like Cinderella.

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Nancy



So it goes...needs to go

Like many of the books I read after entering high school, Slaughterhouse Five was confusing at times. So in the beginning of the novel, I thought it was a very creative way for Vonnegut to use "So it goes" as a way to hint to the readers that someone in the book had died. However, this admiration slowly became annoying as I continued my reading.

As I read on, I found that "So it goes" would come after every mention of an ended life. No matter if they were human or not. The hint I enjoyed catching in the beginning then slowly turned to something confusing that I dread reading every time I pick up the book. And when you pick up the book to read, there will surely be at least 5 "so it goes" in one reading.

A fictional novel by Kilgore Trout who wrote about a money tree that "attracted human beings who killed each other around the roots" (p.167), used the same careless tone of "So it goes" as after Billy's wife died. This makes me think that the life of a family would have the same value in comparison to a fictional character's death.

As much as I enjoy this book and love reading about the fascinating adventures of Billy Pilgrim's "Time Travel",
So it goes...NEEDS TO GO!!!

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                                                               - Yuemin

Appreciate the favor

Protective as banning a well written novel with sexual and racial contents is, I don’t see the point. The truth is, protecting an innocent mind will only make it more fragile. If banning proceeds, and works, our society will eventually turn into something close to what Vonnegut described in Harrison Bergeron.

Just imagine yourself living in a fair world where no one is better than you. One day, you decided to read an old book that you found buried in your back yard. You flipped through the first few pages and got hooked. At first you felt sorry for Weary for not looking as good as the others, then you started to pity this really pathetic character called Billy. Suddenly, you got to the part where Vonnegut described Billy during the war and had a heart attack. You died, mainly because you can’t accept the fact that everyone’s different.

Perhaps it’s time to tell governments to stop deciding what their populace can read and what they can’t. I believe we that we are all mature enough to decide what we want to read. If one can’t handle Vonnegut’s humor, he or she can decide to put the book down, not the government. Even if a little kid flip through Slaughterhouse-Five, his/her mind is likely to be too innocent to comprehend such materials. Perhaps we should take our own immune system for example so I can buttress my point a bit more. Half dead swine flu cells are injected into our bodies so our immunity can defend the disease. Children are allowed to play with sand so germs can get into them and their white blood cells can produce anti-bodies. Normal parents wouldn’t tell their kids to stay away from the sand so the germs won’t get into them, would they? So, why Slaughterhouse-Five would be banned?

A novel like Slaughterhouse-Five is likely not going to offend a sensible reader. It is an anti-war book where the American writer occasionally throws in a few racial pieces on Americans. I admitted that the sexual content might provoke some actions among parents, but sex-ed starts around grade 2 in most schools and that’s at least a year or two before the kids can fully grasp the details in Slaughterhouse-Five.

If Slaughterhouse-Five ever provokes a young, delicate mind, it is doing the mind a favor.

Nancy

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Censorship: Is it worth the trouble?

Many books and films were censored because they were afraid to insult the readers. But why would one feel insulted if they are willing to face the truth? I think that only those who cannot accept the fact that everyone is entitled to their own opinions would be the reason a book is censored.

Therefore, I do not think that books should be censored merely because some find it offensive. One of the  reasons that Slaughterhouse Five was censored was  because of it's sexism. However, why should anyone be offended by the lack of mention of women in the war, when in truth, women really didn't do anything in the battle field? If people can accept that the real battlefield belonged to men, then no one would find it offensive.

Brave New World was also censored at a certain time because of the " references of sexual promiscuity" (Wikipedia). This might offend those who believe that one should be dedicated to only one other. However, if these people were to accept the fact that some in our world act like those in the book, that they will choose to have sex with random people picked up from a bar, I do not think this book would offense anyone. I think that this is only offense to those who believe that everyone should believe in the same thing as themselves. 

Although censorship is kept so that there would not be conflict because of offensive subjects, I do not think this is right. I think that in order to keep peace, people would need time to accept others' opinions and for who they are.

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                                                                                 - Yuemin

Laugh it off...

Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion. I myself prefer to laugh, since there is less cleaning up to do afterward.

It is obvious that Vonnegut has been through a lot from what we read in Slaughterhouse-Five. He made his fortune from being an optometrist and married a rich girl. He had his downs during the war, where people saw him as a burden and avoided him whenever possible.  There really aren’t much left on earth that he hasn’t experienced. On page 116, he wrote:

“As you know, I am from a planet that has been engaged in senseless slaughter since the beginning of time. I myself have seen the bodies of schoolgirls who were boiled alive in a water tower by my own countrymen…and I have lit my way in a prison at night with candles from the fat of human beings who were butchered by the brothers and fathers of those schoolgirls who were boiled.”

Probably the cruelty of war numbed him. He grew insusceptible to death and simply didn’t bother sympathizing oppressed characters such as the guy who got killed in the elevator. All he would ever say about "plain old death" is “so it goes” like his Tralfamadorian friends … and maybe even laugh it off with some dry humor of his. Anyways, tearing is really not his way of responding to frustration and exhaustion. He has seen way too much during the war to care. If he sheds a few drops of tear every time he sees a catastrophe, I bet there won’t ever be an end to the crying.


Another reason why Vonnegut prefers laugh over tears is probably because one of his main tasks during the war was to gather corpses after the war. I can imagine how tedious always having to do the cleaning job after war can be, especially when realizing that most of the dead soldiers had the face of a teen. The image of picking bodies up could have caused him to loath cleaning, and prefer laugh over tear since there’s less cleaning to do afterward.

Nancy
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"How nice- to feel nothing, and still get the full credit for being alive."

Roland Weary viewed war as a badge of honor and glory. He wanted to be heroic so he could retell many dangerous adventures when he returns home. He wanted the credit of being a war hero.(How he came to an abrupt end  is another story. So it goes.)

I believe this is what Vonnegut was trying to say. In my opinion, he expressed both sides of war. The soldiers do not want to suffer the mental consequences of shooting another, and do not want to suffer the physical consequences of being shot. Therefore, to some, having to feel nothing would be the greatest gift for them. However, if they are lucky enough to endure the entire war, then they would get the "credit" of freeing their country, and be viewed as a hero.Having the advantage of feeling nothing and be viewed as a hero at the same time would be a bonus. This is what I thought the soldier meant when he told Derby this line.

Other than the immediate, I believe that this quote can also be related to the childhood Billy Pilgrim. The young Billy experienced a mental shock when he was pushed into the pool by his father, and also when he viewed down the Grand Canyon. I think at that time, Billy would have liked to feel none of that fright, but also to not embarrass his parents by getting hurt and making a fool out of himself.

However, not the entire book has been read, and this quote can have a deeper meaning. Who knows.

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                                                                                                                             - Yuemin

Time Travelling: Physically or Mentally?

Is Billy Pilgrim actually traveling through time? Is Billy actually living random moments in his life? Or is he merely out of it? Here is what I think.


In the foreword,Vonnegut informed the readers that when he tried to recollect memories of his experience at the Battle of Dresden, he could not remember any significant details. The author described his memories of Dresden as "useless" and not enough to make a book. This tells us that although Vonnegut lived through it, there were times when he was so shell shocked that a part of him refused to recall the horrible images he has seen.
 
I think that in order to reinforce this idea, Vonnegut set Billy Pilgrim to become constantly "unstuck in time". But is he truly time traveling? I would have to say no. If he could physically time travel, why would Billy not choose to continue playing golf with his friends, or practice optometry rather than return to the times when he was a prisoner of war? Why would he choose pain rather than joy?


From this evidence, I assumed that Billy isn't really time traveling, but merely reliving certain stages of his life while he was in a traumatized state while he was a prisoner of war. This can be known since no matter where he becomes unstuck in time, he would always return to the moments when he was captured. Therefore, I concluded that, like Vonnegut, Billy has large amounts of blank out points during the war when he does not (or does not want to) remember anything significant. During those times, he would choose to focus on those normal (or would be normal) moments in his life to make him temporarily forget the painful state he was in.


However, as delusional as I think time traveling is, Billy Pilgrim himself has a different idea. He truly believes that  he is physically time travelling. Therefore, to him, all of this is real, and really happening to him.

We can conclude that different people would have different opinons. Hence, only one person would truly know the answer to this question, Kurt Vonnegut himself.


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                                                                                           - Yuemin

Welcome!=D

Grüß!
This is Yuemin and Nancy's blog on Slaughterhouse-Five. Here, you'll read about our opinons on some passages in this novel. Feel free to comment!

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