Slaughterhouse-fiveBy: Kurt Vonnegut
Published in December 1991 Copyright in 1969
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Spoilers from here!!!
Metacognitive Reader
Slaughterhouse 5 was a book where our main character is a time traveler who travels between a few different time periods, that of the war, the present, and also his time on an alien planet. The way that it shows he does this is by flashbacks, but we also can see elements in time travel by the way that he knows what will happen to him, weather that be his death or his abduction by the aliens. The first time we are introduced to the alien planet we are also given insight that the aliens control how the humans feel. They do this by having a stock board in the pen so the humans can be happy and show the visitors the happy side of the humans. Another scene that sticks out is when he talks about his plane crash. He knows as he takes off he is going to crash, and he will be hospitalized. But he doesn't tell anyone else, is this to protect them or so they don't have to worry?
When talking about the war, we learn that Billy, who is our main character, was taken prisoner of war in the European Theater. We also learn that the feelings between the allied powers were not mutual feelings of joy. What if this is how war actually is? We learn that the Germans like the English because they are more civilized. If your captor thinks that someone is more civilized they might get the better jobs and they may be treated better. This is exactly what happens in the Prisoner of War camp. The English are considered as equals to the Germans so they run the camp from a prisoner standpoint.
The last time period we are exposed to is the present. We know that Billy is married and has a wife and at least one child. When Billy is involved in his plane crash, his wife rushes to the hospital where he is located and we learn that on the way she is involved in a car crash. This causes her to die. If billy knows that this is going to happen, would he want to be told after awaking from his coma? Like wise when he is giving a speech in his later years, he adds in that he will die that night and for people to not be scared. Is he not letting people protect him because he doesn't want any one else to get hurt? With these all considered do people believe that billy has a savior complex? It is true that he doesn't let people interfere when he knows something bad is going to happen, but he also doesn't give any warning when it happens to other people.
When talking about the war, we learn that Billy, who is our main character, was taken prisoner of war in the European Theater. We also learn that the feelings between the allied powers were not mutual feelings of joy. What if this is how war actually is? We learn that the Germans like the English because they are more civilized. If your captor thinks that someone is more civilized they might get the better jobs and they may be treated better. This is exactly what happens in the Prisoner of War camp. The English are considered as equals to the Germans so they run the camp from a prisoner standpoint.
The last time period we are exposed to is the present. We know that Billy is married and has a wife and at least one child. When Billy is involved in his plane crash, his wife rushes to the hospital where he is located and we learn that on the way she is involved in a car crash. This causes her to die. If billy knows that this is going to happen, would he want to be told after awaking from his coma? Like wise when he is giving a speech in his later years, he adds in that he will die that night and for people to not be scared. Is he not letting people protect him because he doesn't want any one else to get hurt? With these all considered do people believe that billy has a savior complex? It is true that he doesn't let people interfere when he knows something bad is going to happen, but he also doesn't give any warning when it happens to other people.