"Billy and the rest wandered out onto the shady street. The trees were leafing out. There was nothing going on out there, no traffic of any kind. There was only one vehicle, an abandoned wagon drawn by two horses. The wagon was green and coffin-shaped. Birds were talking. One bird said to Billy Pilgrim, 'Poo-tee-weet?' "
~ Slaughterhouse-Five, page 215
Okay, time for an overall blog about Slaughterhouse-Five.
I really liked the book. It was very interesting - I've never read a book that combined time travel, war, and alien abduction - and it wasn't tedious to read. I really found myself enjoying it throughout even though we were supposed to analyze it. The structure was frustrating at times, especially in the beginning when it was hard to grasp the order and concepts, but it really added some unique qualities to the novel. I'm gonna be honest though, I still don't really know what the plot was; it seemed to be more of a memoir than a book with a clear purpose and climax.
I think that was what I struggled with the most while reading - it didn't seem like there was any point to the book. I mean, it was entertaining, but what was changed or achieved in the end? I don't think I've ever read something where the main character didn't want to attain something or fix a problem. It was just... different.
The ending also particularly frustrated me. There's a lot of action and a lot of things we ascertain from the bombing of Dresden in the last two chapters - and then it just ends? What the heck?? I guess that follows the structure of the book though; it's choppy and sporadic. I just thought there may be an "aha" moment at the end where everything clicked and made sense. That dissatisfaction and lack of resolution is really frustrating. But then again, what was there to resolve? I don't know.
Well, that was a pretty good book. Goodbye, blog readers! Enjoy your summer and have a lovely life hereafter.
Showing posts with label purpose. Show all posts
Showing posts with label purpose. Show all posts
Monday, April 30, 2012
Playing God (Analogy) - Novel Blog 7 (Slaughterhouse-Five)
"Billy cried very little, though he often saw things worth crying about, and in that respect, at least, he resembled the Christ of the carol: The cattle are lowing, The Baby awakes. But the little Lord Jesus No crying he makes."
~ Slaughterhouse-Five, page 197
There are a lot of religious references and symbols in this book. Billy is often compared to Jesus, like in this passage. He witnesses a lot of sin and bad in the world, and he carries that on his shoulders throughout his life, a little like Jesus bearing the sins of humanity to save us. Both Jesus and Billy knew how they would die and accepted it gracefully. The only thing I can't connect is purpose - Jesus died to save our sins, and the whole Catholic religion is based on that act and trying to be a better person to attain salvation, however, Billy represents the exact opposite of that - he is just drifting through life with seemingly no purpose whatsoever but to be.
The other religious analogy I found was in Kilgore Trout's novel The Big Board. The aliens on the planet, the people in the zoo, and the plot are obviously based on Billy's life and his abduction, but I think the aliens also represent God in the story. They control all the conditions under which the humans live and can manipulate their moods and pretty much anything about their lives. It gets to the point where the humans actually pray to the aliens - they play God throughout the book. Because The Big Board represents Billy's alien experience, I think that the Tralfamadorians also are analogous to God; Billy adapts their ideals and perspectives on life, and he is subject to their care while he lives on their planet with Montana. I'm not saying 100 percent that they control his time-traveling, but obviously he is connected to them in a special way since no one but Billy and the Tralfamadorians can experience life out of chronological order. I kind of have a theory that the Tralfamadorians are controlling Billy's sporadic time travel; they play God in that sense. They also have an omniscience, especially because they can view the universe in four dimensions and understand much more about, well, everything.
~ Slaughterhouse-Five, page 197
There are a lot of religious references and symbols in this book. Billy is often compared to Jesus, like in this passage. He witnesses a lot of sin and bad in the world, and he carries that on his shoulders throughout his life, a little like Jesus bearing the sins of humanity to save us. Both Jesus and Billy knew how they would die and accepted it gracefully. The only thing I can't connect is purpose - Jesus died to save our sins, and the whole Catholic religion is based on that act and trying to be a better person to attain salvation, however, Billy represents the exact opposite of that - he is just drifting through life with seemingly no purpose whatsoever but to be.
The other religious analogy I found was in Kilgore Trout's novel The Big Board. The aliens on the planet, the people in the zoo, and the plot are obviously based on Billy's life and his abduction, but I think the aliens also represent God in the story. They control all the conditions under which the humans live and can manipulate their moods and pretty much anything about their lives. It gets to the point where the humans actually pray to the aliens - they play God throughout the book. Because The Big Board represents Billy's alien experience, I think that the Tralfamadorians also are analogous to God; Billy adapts their ideals and perspectives on life, and he is subject to their care while he lives on their planet with Montana. I'm not saying 100 percent that they control his time-traveling, but obviously he is connected to them in a special way since no one but Billy and the Tralfamadorians can experience life out of chronological order. I kind of have a theory that the Tralfamadorians are controlling Billy's sporadic time travel; they play God in that sense. They also have an omniscience, especially because they can view the universe in four dimensions and understand much more about, well, everything.
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