Slaughterhouse Five Dialectical Journal Chapters 1,2,3

Moises Rivera October 13, 2008 Dialectical Journal: Slaughterhouse Five Chapters 1-3 "And even if the wars didn't keep coming like glaciers, there would still be plain old death." Chapter 1, pg. 4 "At that time, they were teaching that there was absolutely no difference between anybody. They may be teaching that still." Chapter 1, pg. 8

I like the simile of the wars and the glaciers. Glaciers are difficult to go avoid because of their immense sizes. This is an interesting statement. Individuals were being taught how everyone is the same and that there is no such thing as unique.

"The nicest veterans in Schenectady, I thought, the kindest and funniest ones, the ones who hated war the most, were the ones who'd really fought." Chapter 1, pg. 11 "He is in a constant state of stage fright, he says, because he never knows what part of his life he is going to have to act in next." Chapter 2, pg. 23

I like this quote because many people hate war, but the ones who hate war the most, are the ones who actually fought in a war because they have experienced the pain and tragedy of war. This character seems very uncertain about his life. I like this metaphor, claiming that a life can actually be a show for an audience.

"All this responsibility at such an early age made her a bitchy flibbertigibbet." Chapter 2, pg. 29 "They crawled into a forest like the big, unlucky mammals they were." Chapter 2, pg. 29 "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to always tell the difference." Chapter 3, pg. 60

I find this statement extremely humorous. What kind of word is that? “Flibbertigibbet?” Another nice simile! I like the use of the word “crawl” to emphasize the description of mammal. This is possibly my favorite quote. It reminds me of one of Confucius’ aphorisms about knowledge and ignorance. Do not pretend to know something.

"The legs of those who stood were like fence posts driven into a warm, squirming, farting, sighing earth. The queer earth was a mosaic of sleepers who nestled like spoons." Chapter 3, pg. 70 "It is, in the imagination of combat's fans, the divinely listless loveplay that follows the orgasm of victory. It is called 'mopping up.'" Chapter 3, pg. 52

Nice simile. The legs of these individuals must have been wedged deeply into the earth. The second sentence is a metaphor, which I do not understand very much.

"So they were trying to re-invent themselves and their universe....Science fiction was a big help." Chapter 5, pg. 101

I cannot tell if this is a sarcastic comment. I believe that one needs imagination in order to re-invent the universe, thus science fiction could really help out.

“The war parts, anyway, are pretty much true.” P.1

This is how the writer is directly stating to us that he will be telling us something fictional.

The reference to combat’s fans is truly interesting. There is a sort of pleasure to victory and the author describes this pleasure as an orgasm.

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Moises Rivera October 13, 2008 Dialectical Journal: Slaughterhouse Five Chapters 1-3 “There must be tons of human bone meal in the ground.” P.1

This is really disgusting because it paints a gory image of what is left over from war

“…who took us to the slaughter house where he had been locked up at night as a prisoner of war.” P.1

I think this is where the writer starts to foreshadow and connect the name of the book with where the setting might take place.

“His mother was incinerated in the Dresden fire-storm.” P.2

I think this is satirical humor that the author uses. He describes good things happening to the character and then his mother’s death.

“And not many words come I now, either, when I have become an old fart with his memories…” p.2

The writer obviously has no self-respect if he can refer to himself as an old fart. He does not think high of his war memories either.

“What he meant of course, was that there would always be war, that they were as easy to stop as glaciers.” P.3

The writer recounts a time when he shared his book idea with a famous movie maker who philosophically told him his idea was dumb and worthless because there would be no impact.

“I have a disease late at night sometimes involving alcohol and the telephone.” P.4

Once again you can see how the writer makes fun of himself. He calls his addiction to alcohol a disease.

“And then the blue line met the red line and then the yellow line, and then the yellow line stopped because the character represented by the yellow was dead.” P.5

The writer is very humorous in willingly opening his way of writing a story and figuring out the climax. The narrator is obviously the writer because he is directly addressing his readers. He uses diff. colors to draw lines that represent the lives of soldiers he knew in Dresden. This is something that is unnecessary and worded in a dumb sort of way. Why couldn’t he have just said we had children? It is like the idea of sex is humorous to the writer.

“And we had babies.” P.7

“And sometimes I’ll let the dog out, or I let him in, and we talk some.” P. 7

The writer reveals a lot of his character in the first chapter. We might think he is a little crazy at the fact that he talks to his dog.

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