Chapter 5
The Tralfamadorians taught Billy what the meaning of life is and that peace is an illusion. This confused Billy, but explained why there will always be war.
Summary
- Once Billy is abducted by the Tralfamadorians, he becomes bored and requests some reading material
- Billy cannot read the language of the Tralfamadorians though; it is comprised of symbols that are infinite with no beginning or end
- Billy is then propelled back to his childhood when he is twelve and on vacation with his family
- He is then transported to Germany in 1945
- Billy and his fellow soldiers are prisoners of war
- While being held captive, a group of English soldiers put on a musical performance of Cinderella
- Although Billy enjoys this, he begins shrieking and is transported to the hospital
- The medicine administered to Billy triggers another trip in time, transporting him to New York in 1948 in a veterans hospital
- At the hospital, Billy is housed in a mental institution where he meets infantry captain Eliot Rosewater along with science fiction novelist, Kilgore Trout
- Eliot is trying to come to grips with the horrors of the war after he shot and killed a 14 year old German boy, mistaking him for a soldier
- Billy is also trying to deal with the horrors of the Dresden firebombing
- They both deal with this through reading Science Fiction
- Billy is suddenly transported back to 1945, only to be flung back to 1948 where his mother, along with his fiance, Valencia Merble, are visiting him in the hospital
- He then time trips back to being trapped in the Tralfamadore Zoo
- He is kept naked here, observed by the Tralfamadorians as he goes about his everyday business
- Billy learns that murder and war on Earth does not worry the Tralfamadorians
- When asked about what he likes most about Tralfamadore, Billy says he admires how they can all leave in peace
- Billy then suggests that violence and war will cause the end of Earth, the Tralfamadorians say that is wrong, they know how the world will end and that has nothing to do with it
- Billy then asks how to prevent this destruction
- The Tralfamadorians say that he cannot, the future is just structured that way
- That night, Billy is transported back to Ilium where he has been out of the institution of six months
- He has also just graduated optometry school
- He has also just married Valencia
- On their wedding night, he is transported to the prison hospital, his father’s funeral, the prison hospital again, to 1968 where he is being approached by his daughter Barbara, then back to the Tralfamadore Zoo
- At the Tralfamadore Zoo, Billy is kept with adult film star, Montana Wildhack
- He resists her attempts with him, but after a week he gives in and sleeps with her
- After this he is transported back to his home in Ilium
Vocabulary
Organ Grinder Monkey |
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Historical Context
Chapter 5: Dogtags and Red Cross in WWII
Connection to the book: In this chapter, Billy is given a dogtag to keep track of him in the camp and if/when he dies in the camp. In the camp, Billy also sees the effects of the Red Cross. They try to distribute food, and make sure people in the camp are healthy enough, that the soldiers are alive and accounted for so they can contact their home army, and to make sure the prisoners of wars are protected by the conventions set up for all countries of WWII
History of Dog tags: The first advocacy of dog tags was in 1899 for the US military. By 1913 the dog tags were mandatory for the US military and by 1917, all US soldiers wore aluminum discs on their necks as identification. By World War II the discs had been turned into its oblong shape generally referred to as dog tags. Now the military plans to include up to 80% of a soldier's medical and dental data on a chip placed inside the dog tag.
Red Cross during WWII: The Red Cross played a vital role in supplementing the life and effectiveness of the US and Allied military during WWII. The Red Cross enrolled nearly 104,000 nurses to provide medical services to the Allied armies and Allied prisoners of war. The Red Cross prepared nearly 27 million packages for Allied prisoners of war and shipped nearly 300,000 tons of supplies overseas. The Red Cross also initiated a national blood drive in the United States to support the American and Allied forces with blood supplies. The national program collected over 13.3 million pints of blood for the armed forces.
Chapter 5: Dogtags and Red Cross in WWII
Connection to the book: In this chapter, Billy is given a dogtag to keep track of him in the camp and if/when he dies in the camp. In the camp, Billy also sees the effects of the Red Cross. They try to distribute food, and make sure people in the camp are healthy enough, that the soldiers are alive and accounted for so they can contact their home army, and to make sure the prisoners of wars are protected by the conventions set up for all countries of WWII
History of Dog tags: The first advocacy of dog tags was in 1899 for the US military. By 1913 the dog tags were mandatory for the US military and by 1917, all US soldiers wore aluminum discs on their necks as identification. By World War II the discs had been turned into its oblong shape generally referred to as dog tags. Now the military plans to include up to 80% of a soldier's medical and dental data on a chip placed inside the dog tag.
Red Cross during WWII: The Red Cross played a vital role in supplementing the life and effectiveness of the US and Allied military during WWII. The Red Cross enrolled nearly 104,000 nurses to provide medical services to the Allied armies and Allied prisoners of war. The Red Cross prepared nearly 27 million packages for Allied prisoners of war and shipped nearly 300,000 tons of supplies overseas. The Red Cross also initiated a national blood drive in the United States to support the American and Allied forces with blood supplies. The national program collected over 13.3 million pints of blood for the armed forces.
Illuminations
“Each clump of symbols is a brief, urgent message--describing a situation, a scene… There isn’t any particular relationship between all the messages, except that the author has chosen them careful, so that, when seen all at once, they produce an image of life that is beautiful and surprising and deep… What we love in our books are the depths of many marvelous moments seen all at one time.” (Vonnegut, 88)
In this passage, a Tralfamadorian describes the structure and the reasoning behind their books. There are multiple similarities between the structure of Slaughterhouse-Five and the structure of the Tralfamadorian books. Each have an episodic plot structure, which means that they are laid out in separate sections that hold different stories within them. For example, in chapter five, Vonnegut includes Billy’s experiences in the war, on Tralfamadore, and with his wife in Ilium. In the Tralfamadore books, they include scenes that do not have “any particular relationship” (Vonnegut, 88). Billy’s experiences also do not have clear relationships, but when put together, they create an amazingly descriptive narrative. This relates to the importance of the novel because it shows how Vonnegut’s personal preferences for his writing have been intertwined throughout his novel.
“The visitor from outer space made a serious study of Christianity, to learn, if he could, why Christians found it so easy to be cruel.” (Vonnegut, 108)
“But the Gospels actually taught this: Before you kill somebody, make absolutely sure he isn’t well connected.” (Vonnegut, 109)
“The visitor from outer space made a gift to Earth of a new Gospel. In it, Jesus really was a nobody, and a pain in the neck to a lot of people with people with better connections than he had.” (Vonnegut, 109)
In these three passages from chapter five, Vonnegut describes what he believes Christianity means. Christians strive to promote their mercifulness and devoutness to God, but Vonnegut states that what they actually are teaching is cruelty. While utilising the literary element of irony, He says the Gospels teach their followers to kill others with no connections, no power and no wealth. Vonnegut also uses irony to describe Jesus as a “nobody” (Vonnegut, 109). This is very controversial because Jesus and Christianity are most often important aspects in people’s lives. Their beliefs are what carry them throughout life, and Vonnegut is making a mockery out of them and describing them as completely contrary to what people actually believe them to be. This contributed to cultural literacy because he was one of the first authors to dare to tackle Christianity in a negative sense. Vonnegut’s opinions about Christianity also led Slaughterhouse-Five to be debated on whether it should become a “banned” book.
“Each clump of symbols is a brief, urgent message--describing a situation, a scene… There isn’t any particular relationship between all the messages, except that the author has chosen them careful, so that, when seen all at once, they produce an image of life that is beautiful and surprising and deep… What we love in our books are the depths of many marvelous moments seen all at one time.” (Vonnegut, 88)
In this passage, a Tralfamadorian describes the structure and the reasoning behind their books. There are multiple similarities between the structure of Slaughterhouse-Five and the structure of the Tralfamadorian books. Each have an episodic plot structure, which means that they are laid out in separate sections that hold different stories within them. For example, in chapter five, Vonnegut includes Billy’s experiences in the war, on Tralfamadore, and with his wife in Ilium. In the Tralfamadore books, they include scenes that do not have “any particular relationship” (Vonnegut, 88). Billy’s experiences also do not have clear relationships, but when put together, they create an amazingly descriptive narrative. This relates to the importance of the novel because it shows how Vonnegut’s personal preferences for his writing have been intertwined throughout his novel.
“The visitor from outer space made a serious study of Christianity, to learn, if he could, why Christians found it so easy to be cruel.” (Vonnegut, 108)
“But the Gospels actually taught this: Before you kill somebody, make absolutely sure he isn’t well connected.” (Vonnegut, 109)
“The visitor from outer space made a gift to Earth of a new Gospel. In it, Jesus really was a nobody, and a pain in the neck to a lot of people with people with better connections than he had.” (Vonnegut, 109)
In these three passages from chapter five, Vonnegut describes what he believes Christianity means. Christians strive to promote their mercifulness and devoutness to God, but Vonnegut states that what they actually are teaching is cruelty. While utilising the literary element of irony, He says the Gospels teach their followers to kill others with no connections, no power and no wealth. Vonnegut also uses irony to describe Jesus as a “nobody” (Vonnegut, 109). This is very controversial because Jesus and Christianity are most often important aspects in people’s lives. Their beliefs are what carry them throughout life, and Vonnegut is making a mockery out of them and describing them as completely contrary to what people actually believe them to be. This contributed to cultural literacy because he was one of the first authors to dare to tackle Christianity in a negative sense. Vonnegut’s opinions about Christianity also led Slaughterhouse-Five to be debated on whether it should become a “banned” book.