Trafalmadorian Meet and Greet

    How would the Trafalmadorians react if they saw our childish behavior during a war? During Billy's capture fake notions of victory and empowerment filled the sauerkraut-eating German soldiers as well as Wild Bob had reflected on hope and an unrealistic, everything will be alright attitude. Not forgetting the typical loss of attitude when in a compromising situation and a realization that reality hits hard of Weary that as a consequence has been spat on and is now sobbing like a 2 year-old and not like a musketeer. If a race that saw things in its raw, unemotional way would see us in this state, they may fall into confusion, pity, condescendingly and even frustration. We are always emotionally immature, damaged and self-centered... I think that's why we laugh when somebody falls. When we are hurt we wish to hurt just because of a ridiculous grudge that we make up because of instint and lack of perspective. If the Trafalmadorians would see this I think they would say, "really!?!?!?". 

So it Goes VS. The Three Musketeers

   After seeing Billy's view on life and relativity we go back and see its opposite, a humanistic, naive and emotionally driven way of seeing life and its value. Weary, Billy's "partner" is an 18 year-old kid who hasn't even fired his gun, after being left behind by the two actual soldiers Weary's fantasy of friendship and bravery vanishes. Full of emotion and inmatureness weary beats Billy, this represents his innocence and how emotions blind his view on life and the actual life and their current situation, war. War is definitely no place for emotional and optimistic, corny view that Weary has on life, however it sets a perfect contrast.

    Most of the war movies, stories, video games and books are based on victory and epicness opposed to horror or value of life which come along but are never the main theme. This is the complete opposite of actual war in which only dumb, naive kids like Weary think about things like that. In the opening night of "Saving Private Ryan"a group of WWII veterans were invited, the opening scene of the soldiers landing in the beach while being gunned down by a turret was so real that some of the veterans actually left the theatre, even with the happy ending and the final victory the veterans did not enjoy the movie. We sugar coat war with these factors and forget how horrible it is. On the other hand we have the "so it goes" that is the other far side of looking at loss of lives, the ideology claims they are relative however that's why I think Vonnegut makes aliens say this, because its unhumanistic...no human would ever say lives do not matter.

Life's Relativity in War

    The Trafalmadorians are introduced to Billy as a modernistic race with a non-humanistic perspective in a time period were it is the most uncommon to find it in, war. Having relativity as their main philosophy just like Einstein and his "Relativity of Space and Time", however they go beyond and not only think time as being relative and non-linear but also life and emotions. This frames a black-and-white contrast between their ideology and the general, humanistic consensus of a world at war. The impact on Billy by the Trafalmadorians is noticeable by the way he acts in the book with a numbness and an indifferent manner. The simple fact that he was kidnapped in the day of his wedding means that the things that seem important in an emotional level are relative. In a way I think this is way for Vonnegut to express his alcohol-numbed pain and give his traumatic experience less importance so in a way its less traumatic.

Objectivity VS. Emotion

     The battle of Dresden is  famous battle that started to signal the decay and defeat of the third Reich, Dresden was bombed because of a last resort of the British Air Force that still remains as one of the most polemic war actions., since it destroyed one of the most culturally relevant cities in Germany. Vonnegut was there as a POW when Dresden was bombed, that's how he escaped...no one rescued him. The fact that Vonnegut wasn't rescued I think has a lot to do with his way of writing since there isn't a single hint of patriotism in the war books I've read ("Mother Night" and "Slaughter House-Five"). As well his writing seems very objective and even unemotional sometimes, this is uncommon in war books since most of the ones written from personal experience look to highlight the gore, pain and triumph that comes with a war. This also might work to prove that Billy isn't Vonnegut since Billy's parts aren't written with this emotion of a man scared by war, either this or Kurt Vonnegut is completely at peace with what scared him. The trip to Dresden with the Guggenheim money might have helped since he visited were it all went down and with the support of other scared men, however there are still some hints of the psychological wounds the war left him like his drinking problem and his sleepless nights, even sometimes both together. How can a POW experience one of WWII's most cruel and horrible bombings and write about it so casually?

Reading blog on "The Perfect Life" by John Koethe

   A very cinical piece that reminds me of the phrase "ignorance is bliss". Koethe portraus a perfect life as one lived on denial and on vague and simple conformity and being pleased with life in a general unprofound world. When the pleased person starts peeling of its shades of denial then things start to crumble. Desilusions and dissapointments come with a greater analysis of ones life, when we start to disconform and seek meaning to our simple conformist lifes is when we realize how unperfect are lives, our world and even ourselfs are. Simply not questioning existentiality and living a simple in-the-moment life we might come to be pleased with it and even consider it perfect....if this is good or bad is a question remaining.