More Thoughts on Slaughterhouse Five (Chapters 4-6)

After reading more of Slaughterhouse Five, I am starting to understand the deeper complexity of the book. For me, the book is centralizing on the violence of war, the inevitability of death/war, and on how free will is a mere “illusion”. After the description of a death or any unfortunate situation, the narrator will follow up with the phrase “so it goes”. This phrase is frequently repeated throughout the novel and serves to reinforce the nonchalant mindset that the narrator has of time and free will. Although the jumping from moment to moment in Billy’s life is confusing (and requires careful focus when reading!), I think that it is an interesting way to set up the story. I have also taken noticed of more subtle humor in this book. For example, in chapter 6, Billy has to replace his ruined shoes and settles for a pair of Cinderella silver boots that actually fit him! This is funny because of the irony in the fact that Billy is probably the furthest from being Cinderella yet the boots actually fit him perfectly. Also, the fact that Billy is blamed for Roland Weary’s death in chapter 4 is also quite humorous because of how ridiculous it is. Billy had nothing to do with Weary’s death yet because of Weary’s foolishness, Paul Lazzaro will eventually avenge Weary by killing Billy. I think this situation is used by the author to show that revenge and even war itself is senseless and unnecessary. Overall I like this book and find the ingenuity of it extremely amusing. I think it will make for an interesting discussion in class!