Slaughterhouse Five - pgs 136-153

This new chapter in the novel starts in a particular way:

Listen:
Billy Pilgrim says he went to Dresden, Germany....... (pg 136)

Prior to this excerpt, the novel always related Billy's life with a third person omnipresent narrator. Why would Vonnegut changed this and state that Billy told this story, or at least this part of the story? Could this mark the changed between two key parts of the novel? This is probably the case as in this chapter we meet the actual Slaughterhouse Five and enter Dresden, the infamouse city to be firebombed in the near future. The rest of the chapter also includes more of these cases in which its is stated that Billy narrated this part of the story, "Billy Pilgrim says now that this is really the way he is gonna die, too (pg 141)." I am baffled by this sudden change in narration and hope the reason for this becomes clearer.

Another interesting part about this chapter is the lack of time traveling so important in the previous chapters. How does the entry into Dresden affect the way the novel develops? Why does the present gain importance in the book rather than the particular use of time travel? Vonnegut perhaps believed his anti-war theme needed some focus in this part of the book.

He found two small sources, two lumps an inch apart and hidden in the lining.....He was told not to find out what the lumps were. He was advised to be content with knowing that they could work miracles for him, provided he did not insist on learning their nature (pg 137).

Later on in the chapter those two mysterious lumps proved to be a diamond and a partial denture. Billy finds them while he is being attacked by a German surgeon who thinks Billy is making fun of the war. What importance do these two artifacts have that they will "work miracles for him"? The diamond is likely the diamond he gave his wife Valencia and the partial denture's meaning is still unclear to me. The way in which Billy found them, in some sort of trance or delusion makes them all the more mysterious and interesting in the novel. I hope their true meaning will become clear to me soon.

In this chapter we meet an interesting character: Paul Lazzaro. Paul had his arm broken while he was trying to steal cigarrettes and lies next to Billy in the hospital wing of the camp. There we learn that Paul enjoys having people killed if they ever bother him. "Anybody touches me, he better kill me, or I'm gonna have him killed (pg 138)." He then says that he is gonna have Billy killed, and Billy know this and is calm about it. Im still amazed at Billy's calmness after he time travels to all those different events and he know what will happen to him. If it was me I'd be shocked, but apparently the Trafalmadorians really did share much knowledge with Billy so he now accepts whatever comes. Going back to Paul, he reminds me of a mafia member like in The Godfather who has his enemies killed, but he seems more pathetic. He enjoys hsi revenge, even if he took a whole decade to prepare it, "Nothing's gonna happen for maybe five, ten, fifteen, twenty years (pg 141)." A true mobster will have his enemies killed quickly and efficiently. Lazzaro also spends a large part of his time thinking who he will have killed, HE doesn't even do the dirty work. Despite this, he feels that having people killed is the best revenge. All this makes me pity Paul. Will his relationship with Billy change? What role will he play in the rest of the novel?