Slaughterhouse Five - pgs 96-119 & Kurt Vonnegut interview with Don Swaim

During Kurt Vonnegut's interview with Don Swaim (http://wiredforbooks.org/kurtvonnegut/) we can laern many interesting things about Vonnegut's life and his works. This gave me an new perspective on Slaughterhouse Five, specially on these last pages. We hear Vonnegut is an agnostic or atheist, this involves no believe in God or in a superior power, which might be a reason his writing about war is so impersonal and cold, like his use of "so it goes" after every death. Could this be a protest towards people who believe there is a God who doesn't stop the terrible events in war? Vonnegut's coldness in his war descriptions try to depict war and life as it really is, with death being meaningless to others. Religion dwells on what could happen in the future, what has been done in the past, and that is what the Trafalmadorians say is strange, alien to the rest of the universe. In fact, the Trafalmadorians know how the universe ends, but they know it can't be prevented so they just accept it. "He has always pressed it, and he always will. We always let him and we always will let him. The moment is structured that way." (pg. 117) The alianes then say life should be focused on the beautiful things to live fully. This in part is true, but if we ignore the horrible parts of life, we won't fully enjoy the good parts or give a better life to other generations. The Trafalmadorian way of thinking, in my opinion, is a little selfish in that aspect.

In the interview, I learned Vonnegut was a POW in the war and that gave me new insight on the novel. His views of war are founded on real experience, unlike others who bases their opinions on investigation or secondary sources. With this knowledge I can judge this book as an opinion of the people who were actually in it. The coldness, the impersonality, and the futile actions of war.

On another subject, in a previous blog I wanted to know why Billy hates life, in these pages I start learning about his views on life. "They had both found life meaningless, partly because of what they had seen in war."(pg. 101) The horrors of war probably made Billy dissapointed on God, especially as he was an assistant to a priest during the war, and how faith did not help the millions that were killed during the fray. However, I also noted another aspect on Billy's views: he hid form his mother because he was ashamed of his hatred of life.

"She made him feel embarrassed and ungrateful and weak because she had gone to so much trouble to give him life, and to keep that life going, and Billy didn't really life at all." (pg 102)

Will this changed? How are his two views of life connected? Hopefully the novel expands on this interesting aspect.