blog5,earlyblog3-Slaughterhouse 5

     What can I say about Slaughterhouse Five? Reading this book was definitely an interesting experience. The last third of the book was just as scattered and random as the other parts of the book. It is definitely an odd book. I have never seen a style of writing like Vonnegut’s and have never read about topics the way they are addressed in his book. This book is definitely the hardest to find humor in, especially “ha-ha” humor, but I did find some throughout the story. There was more black humor and satire, which looked at one of the most awful events in history, the Dresden bombing.

     One humorous part of the story was when the soldiers put on a performance of Cinderella. The thought of male, military men acting in the parts of Cinderella and the Fairy Godmother brought a smile to my face. I was glad that they were trying to find ways to keep themselves busy and sane in captivity, so that they do not waste away and give up. And what really intrigued me was that Billy wanted to try on the silver combat boots, which were the glass slippers in the Cinderella play. I laughed when Billy tried on the boots, which fit him perfectly. This is because he was then compared to Cinderella. It’s funny because he does not look anything like Cinderella. When he tried on the “slippers,” he’s scruffy, dirty, and s missing a heel. But when Cinderella tried on the real glass slippers, she was very beautiful. I think this scene provides a bit of relief from all of the disturbing and odd events that occur in the book, especially from the events that occur in the final third of the book (Vonnegut 184-185).

     While reading, I couldn’t help but notice a peculiar pattern. Whenever the book mentioned the death of a person or animal, or just mentioned death in general, the narrator would say “so it goes.” I thought this was a very odd thing to say. It almost sounds as if he is saying that since death is just a natural part of life, it isn’t a big deal whenever death occurs. While it’s true that everyone dies at some point, saying “so it goes,” sounds blunt, hard, and insensitive. I felt confused and saddened by the insensitivity shown in this one simple phrase. I’m not sure what point the author was trying to make when he said that, but it must be important, because he often mentions death and that phrase (Vonnegut 185).

     And finally, Kilgore Trout was an amusing distraction from the dreadful topics of war, bombings and death. He said sarcastic or just hilarious moments that definitely put a smile on my face. I particularly like when he tells the newspaper boys to “get off their dead butts.” I also laughed whenever he cursed, because I can just imagine a grumpy older man cursing, and I find this hilarious. He then says how the boys should try to convince their customers to subscribe to the “****!@$ Sunday edition too!” He then tells them that whoever sells the most Sunday editions for the next 2 months would win an all expenses paid trip for himself and his parents to “Martha’s ****!@$ Vineyard” for a week. I found this line as another humorous comic moment, even though I think he’s lying to the children. There was definitely a side of me that was like “shame on you for lying to children!” And I also found it humorous when the girl asks if she could take her sister if she wins, and Trout’s like “Heck no! You think money grows on trees?” This was a moment of cognitive shift that I definitely found hilarious. You would normally expect him to say that she could take her sister, but instead, he says no in the funniest way possible (Vonnegut 212).

     I am now finished reading Slaughterhouse Five, and although it was not my favorite book, there were definitely some humorous parts that I appreciated. Some of these parts I described in this blog today. This book taught me more and more about humor and to appreciate other kinds of humor. I learned that using black humor is a good way to look at one of the most dreadful and overlooked events of World War II, the Dresden bombing. I definitely had an interesting experience reading this book, but I wouldn’t read it again.