CHAPTER TEN - MOOD

One thing that is very noticable is is the mood set by Vonnegut in this chapter. The way he just jumps around stating random facts about death and other events creates a quite blunt atmosphere. "Robert Kennedy, whose summer home is eight miles from the home I live in all year round, was shot two nights ago. He died last night. So it goes. Martin Luther King was shot a month ago. He died, too. So it goes." (p 210). This is not the typical beginning to a chapter. This statement of influential leaders dying is blunt and said with no meaning. Vonnegut's mood in this chapter is solemn and depressing. He, Billy, and Bernard are shoveling through rubble to find dead Dresden citizens. Many die of the aweful odor coming from the rotting bodies. This is depressing and messed up.

CHAPTER NINE - MR. DEEDS

This chapter brought up a connection to many movies where average people are thrown into very dramatic situations. Bertram Copeland Rumfoord was an average man with a job at Harvard. He was extraordinarily smart, but still very average. After an unfortunate injury, is thrown into a hospital room with Billy Pilgrim. Billy has the most bizarre life ever. He is unstuck time and going from one life experience to another. Bertram is freaked out by Billy's constant talk about Dresden and the bombing and WWII. Another man who was thrown into another lifestyle was Adam Sandler in Mr. Deeds. He plays as Longfellow Deeds, an average man who runs a pizza shop in a small city. His grandfather dies, leaving him a ton of money in inheritance. Quickly, he becomes one of the richest men in the country living in a huge penthouse in downtown New York City. This huge change of scenery freaks him out at first. However, he gets used to it and lives the life of luxury. This is what Bertram could not do. He could not get past the constant talk of WWII with Billy.

CHAPTER NINE - INDIRECT CHARACTERIZATION

Bertram Copeland Rumfoord is introduced this chapter. He is a 70 year old professor at Harvard University who is married to a 23 year old go go dancer. After an unfortunate ski accident involving a broken leg, he finds himself in the hospital. The relevance to this and the story is that he is placed in the same room as Billy Pilgrim after his miraculous escape from death in the plane crash. The indirect characterization comes in through the words and actions of Rumfoord. He is constantly annoyed by Billy's consistent tossign around in bed and uttering things about WWII. Bertram is indirectly characterized when he says things about America based on his conclusions from Billy's personality and actions. Bertram Copeland Rumfoord has always been a huge supporter of America and had high hopes of it. However, when he sees Billy's cowardice groaning of WWII, he loses hope for Billy. "Professor Rumfoord said frightful things about Billy within Billy's hearing, confident that Billy no longer had any brain at all. 'Why don't they just let him die?' he asked Lily... 'That's not a human being anymore. Doctors are for human beings. They should turn him over to a veterinarian or a tree surgeon." (p 190)

CHAPTER EIGHT - AMERICA

This chapter reminded me a lot of a few songs I have heard in support of America. All of these prisoners of war are starving and malnurished. They are being offered a deal from the Germans to fight with them against America and the Russians. In return, they are fed and kept in decent condition throughout the war. However, each of the men turn down the offer in rude fashion. They keep strong to their American roots and will do anything to support their country. Even when they stare death in hte face, they continue to rally against the Nazi's in hope for the success of their homeland.

CHAPTER EIGHT - EXTERNAL CONFLICT

Throughout this chapter, all of the American prisoners of war are experiencing external conflict. Billy Pilgrim and the rest of the Americans are in conflict with all of German/Nazi soldiers. Each of them are approached by Howard Campbell, an American soldier turned Nazi propagandist. While all of them are starving and being forced to march, he gives them the opportunity to fight against the Russians, American allies, as Nazi soldiers. Each of them proceed to completely insult the idea and mock him. Each of the prisoners of war follow their beliefs and morals. They are Americans and will forever fight as such.

CHAPTER SEVEN - ANCHORMAN'S METAHPORS

When I first saw the metaphor used for Lionel by the Tralfamadorians, I was instantly reminded of a metaphor from one of my favorite movies of all time, Anchorman. Brick Tamland (Steve Carell), a fellow newscaster beside Ron Burngundy (Will Ferrell), is eating with the guys at a cafe. They are all enjoying their food while Brick is eating a "Falafel Hot Dog".  He understands it is really a used coffee filter with cigarette buds in it, but he insists on calling it a "falafel hot dog". This is a metaphor. Falafel is a word used to describe a patty of mysterious meat, usually fava beans or chickpea. Brick continues to consume this garbage from the "food basket" at the end of the lunch line, which is really the trash can. Brick is full of metaphors in this funny scene of one of the best movies ever.

CHAPTER SEVEN- METAPHORS

In Chapter seven, Billy Pilgrim is boarding the plane that ends up killing his father in law. He knows all that is going to happen before he even boards the plane. He plans on heading to an optometrist convention in Montreal. While Pilgrim is boarding the plane, Vonnegut mentions Billy's wife is eating a candy bar. This is a common thread throughout the book. Kurt Vonnegut wants to make the message clear that his wife is very large and eats quite badly. Everytime she is mentioned, she is eating. Now her father comes into the story, Lionel Merble. One word used to describe him is "machine". This is the metaphor. Lionel is described as a machine because he is large. Valencia took a eating habit like his. They are both very large and referred to as machines by the Tralfamadorians. In their eyes, the humans are huge. In previous chapters, the Tralfamadorians are described as small, green creatures. When they view most humans, they are much larger. All the creatures in the Universe were bigger than the Tralfamadorians. Therefore, they are all machines. "Tralfamadorians, of course, say that every creature and plant in the Universe is a machine. It amuses them that so many Earthlings are offended by the idea of being machines" (p 154).

CHAPTER SIX- FOIL CHARACTER

In Chapter six, we find a true foil character to Billy Pilgrim. That character would be Paul Lazzaro. In comparison with Billy, Lazzaro is clearly an opposite. His personality and values are much more intense and cruel than those of Billy. Paul speaks on and on of how he was going to have many people killed after the war and how revenge is his most prized possession. "Lazzaro was talking to himself about the people he was going to have killed after the war, and rackets he was going to work" (p 143). His thoughts and rants about who is going to kill and torture are really freakin people out. He goes on to say he would have ANYONE killed for one thousand dollars. This shows Lazzaro has no people who are close to him and he is almost proving his insanity. "If he had been a dog in a city, a policeman would have shot him and sent his head to a laboratory, to see if he had rabies. So it goes" (p 144). Paul Lazzaro locks himself up in this chapter as the role of Billy's foil character.

CHAPTER FIVE- SITUATIONAL IRONY IN BASEBALL

One prime example of situational irony was in Armando Galarraga's "perfect game" on June 2nd, 2010. Armando Galarraga had thrown a perfect game up through two outs in the ninth. He faces Cleveland Indian Jason Donald. Donald hits a grounder towards first. Miguel Cabrera is there to field the ball and get it to Armando who is covering first. The throw was in time to get the runner out for the third and final out of the game. Once Galarraga catches the ball, he looks over to Jim Joyce, first base umpire to make sure the runner is out. Here is where the situational irony places in. The play was close, but everyone in the stadium, including the Indians, knew Donald was out. However, Joyce makes the gesture that Donald was safe. Everyone was looking for and expecting Joyce to call him out because it is the final out of a perfect game. No matter who it is, people tend to begin rooting for pitchers who are close to completing no-hitters and perfect games. This is why it is ironic. Everyone expected him to call the runner out and Galarraga gets his perfect game. What really happened, Jim Joyce made a stand-alone call and was heckled horrendously for it.

CHAPTER FIVE- SITUATIONAL IRONY

Chapter Five is full of situational irony. Billy is watching a production of Cinderella by the British prisoners when his laughs turn into "shrieks". The Germans move him into a prisoner's hospital where he is chained to a hospital bed and drugged with morphine. It was believed they did this because they wanted him well enough to work when they move him to a Dresden labor camp. The situational irony comes in play through the character of Edgar Derby. Derby was considered by many too old to be fighting in the war. However, he found a way to fight. Anyway, Edgar Derby accompanies Billy Pilgrim while he is placed in this prisoner's hospital. It is situationally ironic to Billy because he can never forget seeing the way Edgar will die. Edgar Derby was to be put in front of a firing squad and shot to death. Billy never could tell Edgar this though. This is ironic because Billy was always tormented  by trying to find a way to tell Derby, but he couldn't. He wanted to help Derby, but he knew there was no way. Like the Tralfamadorians told Billy, the future was going to happen no matter what. Derby remained at his side, fighting with Billy the whole time. "'How nice- to feel nothing, and still get the full credit of being alive.' Derby now came to lugubrious attention" (p 105).

CHAPTER FOUR- WWII

Billy Pilgrim's experience with the German's in prison reminded me of a project I once did over Maximilian Kolbe. Kolbe was sent to a concentration camp after he had been hiding Jews in his monastery in Poland. He was then sent to an extermination camp. Billy's experience of being in the boxcar for days without food reminded me of Kolbe's punishment. He volunteered to take the place of another person to be tortured through starvation. He and ten other men were placed in a cell and held without food for days. Billy also never fought back against the Nazi's.  He never protested in any way for his freedom. Maximilian Kolbe never did either. His impact was through keeping the hopes of the imprisoned Jews up. His enthusiasm kept the hopes for freedom alive all throughout the camp. Billy Pilgrim and Maximilian Kolbe are connected because they made impacts without physically revolting against authority.

CHAPTER FOUR- ANTIHERO

Throughout this chapter, we really discover how much of an antihero that Billy Pilgrim really is. The common hero of a story has some kind of courage, strength, or wit to their personality. However, Billy seems to not display any of these. After the Tralfamadorians abduct him, it says the acceleration of the ship causes him to go back to the war. Now he and the other prisoners are being transported from the traincar to the prison. Billy is stripped of this clothes and put in a scolding hot shower. Throughout this whole process, Billy shows no sign of revolt. He does not have the courage, strength, or wisdom to fight back to the guards. The same goes with his abduction. He goes right along with the Tralfamadorians without refusal. The only thing he does is ask them why he was the chosen one. "It would take another Earthling to explain it to you. Earthlings are the great explainers, explaining why this event is structured as it is, telling how other events may be achieved or avoided. I am a Tralfamadorian, seeing all time as you might see a stretch of the Rocky Mountains. All time is all time. It does not change. It does not lend itself to warnings or explanations. It simply is. Take it moment by moment and you will find that we are all, as I've said before, bugs in amber" (p 86).

CHAPTER THREE- THE GREAT ESCAPE

This chapter reminded me of many scenes of a movie I once saw called The Great Escape. The 1963 movie is about many prisoners of war that are taken to a camp in Nazi-controlled Poland called Stalag Luft III. Many prisoners there take different roles in creating the great escape. The goal was to create a tunnel for them to crawl through to reach the wilderness beyond the fencing. Many begin working on the tunnel, while others create a prisoner-formed choir to block the sounds of construction. Many suffer long hours of labor in order to be made free. This reminds me of Billy Pilgrim because many POW's in the boxcars were struggling to make it work inside these boxcars in order not to be executed. When Billy sees Wild Bob dead and being carried away, he realizes that could easily be him. All of the prisoners make the tiny space inside the boxcar their home for two days while the car does not move. This is why this movie and Billy Pilgrim can relate. In both situations, people are forced to sacrifice for the greater good in the future.

CHAPTER THREE- STATIC CHARACTER

So far throughout Pilgrim's pilgrimage in time, his persona/character has not changed very much. This makes him more of a static character. All thoughout his travels, Billy Pilgrim has remained the same guy who is defenseless against where he will go next. He has no control over where he will appear next or how he must react to certain events. He cannot defend himself in situations, such as his imprisonment to the Germans. Pilgrim has no weapons or means of revolt. It is actually quite ironic that he has the framed prayer in his office. "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom always to tell the difference" (p 60). It seems to me that he has been given more serenity than courage and wisdom combined.

CHAPTER TWO - BACK IN TIME

For some reason, the second half of this chapter reminded me of a song by Pitbull called "Back in Time". This song is the official song about the movie "Men in Black 3". In the song, Pitbull describes what it's like being a "man in black". The relevance between the song/movie and SH5 is this. When agent J (Will Smith) experiences time travel, he is very confused as to what's going on. He questions what has happened and tries to tell everyone that agent K (his partner) is still alive. Just like Barbara in SH5, no one believes him and tries to prove him wrong. Billy Pilgrim is trying to prove his sanity to Barbara through his letters, but she keeps looking down on him like he's insane. Agent O does the same to J. She tries to show him why he's wrong and explain to him what he has experienced. Both Agent J and Billy Pilgrim are experiencing a change in time.

CHAPTER TWO - MOTIVATION

Billy Pilgrim's "abduction" by  the Tralfamadorians has caused Billy to become unstuck in time. When they brought Billy back to their universe, they travelled so fast that he only appeared to be gone for a fraction of a second. However, he claims that while on the planet of Tralfamadore, he had been displayed in a zoo-like structure and mated with Montana Wildhack. It is through this "abduction" that Billy draws motivation. Billy is becoming more determined to let the public know about the Tralfamadorians. He is writing letters to a news station in New York about his experience.
Barbara, Billy's daughter, is becoming quite angry with Billy. She feels that all of this abduction nonsense started right after the plane crash that only Billy survived. Barbara feels he has gone insane. However, Billy is motivated to let everyone know about how advanced the Tralfamadorians are. He is trying to prove his sanity to Barbara when he is found writing his second letter in his freezing cold basement on an old typewriter. His motivation has infuriated Barbara. She questions why he never mentioned anything about this before the crash, he nonchalantly states: "I didn't think the time was ripe" (p 30)

CHAPTER ONE - INDECISION

Kurt Vonnegut uses the first chapter to reference how he has made many unsuccessful attempts to write about his experiences in Dresden during World War II. He and his friend Bernard O'Hare have been trying for twenty three years to create a reflection on their life as prisoners in Dresden. Throughout their efforts, many indecisions were had in regards of what to say. These time-consuming indecisions made me recall a quote. "In a minute, there is time for decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse" (T.S. Eliot). Eliot explains how it has taken Vonnegut so long to create this novel of Dresden. Vonnegut has experience many relapses of what happened during the bombings and cannot decide what to write. If there was one thing this chapter represented, it would be the "introduction" to the book that Vonnegut is creating.

CHAPTER ONE- FIRST PERSON POINT OF VIEW

So far, the First Person Point of View adds to the personal feeling of the story. The first chapter serves as a good introduction to the upcoming novel.  Billy Pilgrim is recalling events from his "Children's Crusade", which was World War II. He wants to write a book, "I'll tell you what, I'll call it 'The Children's Crusade.'" (p 15). He begins explaining how he keeps reliving different events in his life in a completely unknown pattern.