Monday, April 23, 2012

Slaughterhouse Five - Motif

"It killed everybody on the gun crew but Weary. So it goes." - pg. 35


After about 30 or 40 pages, I finally realized that every death was followed with "so it goes." Whether it's a person, object, or event that dies, this phrase is always following the action. The back of the novel points out that Billy Pilgrim, just like everyone else, is running away from what he's afraid to know. I think this casual phrase follows every death because Billy doesn't want to relive any part of his journey. The Tralfamadorians have a very lax view on death, but Billy can't seem to grasp it. The structure of the story is so out of order and crazy, which continues to show how Billy will do anything to avoid thinking about his past. The terror and destruction he has witnessed has corrupted the way he think about everyday aspects of life. All of this points to the point of this anti-war novel. The reason Billy is like this is because of the war. He's been forced to think of death and destruction with a laid back attitude, even though he's not comfortable with that. 


I think this song fits perfectly with the concept of the destruction 
of war. The novel illustrates how it destroys Billy Pilgrim, just like how
the song displays how pain and destruction have hurt the world.

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