Chapter 10-Where Does It All Connect?

There is no doubt that this novel is a wild one.  It jumps from war stories, to plane crashes, to random deaths, to alien abductions, etc.  Throughout the story I was waiting for all of these accounts to overlap, i guess, and for them to finally connect.  I feel like they do, but in a different sense.  You see Vonnegut says in the beginning that there is nothing really intelligent to be said about war and violence.  I think that he jumps around like this to show how no one can really analyze war and that there is nothing much that he can say about it.  So instead he uses Billy, a weak and vulnerable character, to show the nasty side of war that not many people hear about.  Most people think of war as a valiant cause that people fight for with their lives.  However, Vonnegut is saying that war, especially WWII, is nothing but a bunch of lost human beings, like Billy and Weary, fighting and dying by the millions for no real reason.

Colorful Imagery

At the end of the novel, Vonnegut describes many features about the surrounding world.  He describes the wagon that was previously mentioned in chapter 9 as green.  As many of you know, green is a color that represents oppurtunity, an new beginnings, such as a wide open green meadow. He also says "The trees were leafing out. There was nothing going on out there, nothing of any kind" (215).  I think that Vonnegut is trying to say that there is hope for people to move on, however that choice will be up to them.  If they are willing to forgive themselves and put everything behind them, then their lives will be green again.  However, if they choose not to, then they will be stuck in this war for the rest of their lives.

Chapter 9

Although this chapter contains many references to peace and happiness, I think that there is an underlying mood of death and evilness.  When he describes the vehicle that he and the other prisoners are riding in as a coffin shaped wagon, we can not help but get a nervous hill down our spines.  I think Vonnegut is trying to use this wagon as a symbol to show how even though the prisoners survived, their memories and experiences will serve as a chilling reminder of what they went through.  SO basically, they are living out a death sentence, like the wagon shaped as a coffin (a moving deathbed).  This idea makes us feel like there is no hope for these men, despite the fact that they made it through such difficult times.

Theme

One prominent theme that I noticed in chapter 9 was the idea of happiness and peace.  As Billy lies on the ruins of the destroyed Dresden, he comments on the peacefulness of the scene.  The calamity of everything and the warmth brings about peace in his mind.  A few sentences later, Billy tells of a lesson the Tralfamadorians taught him.  They said to "concentrate on the happy moments of his life, and to ignore the unhappy ones-to stare only at the pretty things as eternity failed to go by"(195).  I think this idea is a way that everyone should live by.  However, not only should we look at our lives this way, but we should look at others the same way.  If we get stuck looking at eachother's negative qualities, then we  will go nowhere in life.

Chapter 8

               
I'm not sure about the rest of you, but when I read the part about Edgar Derby standing up to Howard Campbell, I got a burst of American pride.  It makes me proud to live in a country that promotes freedom, and values each others rights.  We refuse to allow oppression, and we make it our nationwide goal to teach people the right direction.  This chapter also makes me happy to know that there will always people that stand up to oppression, no matter how bad the world is.  If tiny, weak, defeated Edgar Derby can stand up to a Nazi officer even though the Nazi is offering to give him food, clothing, and shelter (probably the three things he wants the most), then why can't we all.  We are all Americans, and it is our job to oppose oppresion and to promote freedom.

Foreshadowing

                    
The foreshadowing in this chapter comes in the early part of the chapter.  When Howard Campbell comes to talk to the prisoners the night before the bombing of Dresden (this is only known to the reader and narrator),  the "air-raid sirens of Dresden howled mournfully" (164).  However, this is actually a false alarm and there is nothing wrong at all.  The way he describes the alarms setting off is very unsettling.  He says that they 'howl mournfully' as opposed to saying that they 'went off' to show just how much of a terrible fate the people are about to undergo the very next night.