Resumo de Slaughterhouse-five

Manipulating our concept of time is a theme seen very
heavily in Kurt Vonnegut?s book, Slaughterhouse-five. In order to
challenge the conventional concept of reality, in which we find cause and
effect relationships between linear events in time, Vonnegut wants to
completely eliminate this sense of chronology. In this way, it is impossible to
construct any meaning from the chaos, just as it isn?t possible to identify
relationships between the ?clumps? of symbols in Tralfamadorian novels (Vonnegut,
88). Vonnegut forces us to adopt a perception of a world that is utterly random
and chaotic, so that we, just like the Tralfamadorians, may find ?depths of
many marvelous moments seen all at one time? (Vonnegut, 88), instead of trying
to continually seek false relationships between sequential events. The style of Vonnegut?s writing is cinematic and like frames in a
movie. This again play into the concept of the Tralfamadorian ?clumps? of
symbols, each moment a distinct image in of itself, which ?you could look at
whenever you wanted to, and wouldn?t change? (Vonnegut, 200). Repeated
metaphors throughout the novel, such as the pornographic picture that Weary
shows Billy, which he later discovers in the adult bookstore, forces the reader
to contemplate a connection between two completely different times and events.
This also adds to the sense of chaos and randomness as it is not possible to
draw logical cause and effect relationships, but to simply appreciate the events
just as they are. Indeed, Vonnegut is demonstrating how we can actually
experience ?depths of many marvelous moments seen all at one time? (Vonnegut,
88) through moments such as this.

As it is impossible to eliminate time
altogether, Vonnegut simply rearranges our concept of time. Billy has absolutely
no control over his travels back and forth through time, and it accentuates the
feeling of randomness and chaos. What is more significant is that he cannot do
anything to change those events, because ?each moment was so structured? that
it had to be so, taking away any free will and thus, ethics and morality. Even
if free will existed, Billy would still be powerless to act any differently, so
he cannot be held accountable for his actions: ?Everything is all right,
and everybody has to do exactly what he does.? Vonnegut draws us to the importance of the
phrase, ?the accident will? (Vonnegut, 2), once again underlining the
importance of understanding that the world is simply a collection of accidents,
with no absolutely no connection between events.

One
benefit to perceiving the world as random and chaotic is that one is then
constantly exploring new possibilities, and Vonnegut provides us with a
multitude of different beliefs without partiality to any particular one. It is
easier to exist in a life of uncertainties than having concrete truths because
if a strict moral system existed, then one would also be forced to kill in the
name of that moral system. The consequences of not holding any of these values
is that you must then rely on gut feelings of what is right and wrong, drawing
deep in yourself and not relying on a falsified, reasoned out claim of some
universal truth in the world. There is a deep mistrust of reason and logic in
the book, because it is simply not capable of providing any sort of explanation
for the firebombing of Dresden, or
any act of war: ?there is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre? (Vonnegut,
19).

The entire metaphor of the Tralfamadorians
is a demonstration of this fact, that one must go through ridiculous lengths,
to completely rearrange time, to create aliens, in order to explain that war is
justified. As ?people are the listless playthings of enormous forces? (Vonnegut,
164), Vonnegut also acknowledges the fact that there is nothing he can do to
prevent future wars, in fact, he even goes as far to admit that his book is a
?failure, written by a pillar off salt? (Vonnegut, 22). This references the
story of Lot?s wife in the Old Testament, who is forced
to look back upon the destruction of Sodom
and Gomorrah once more. It is this
concept of looking back, of re-examining the past, which is key to this book. It is only in looking back in the
past can you find similar events in which you have experienced a similar pain,
so that you can simply tell yourself ?so it goes.? The repetition of this
phrase throughout the book whenever a death is mentioned, no matter how
horrific or how insignificant, serves as a reminder that one should simply
remember the fact that deaths have occurred, and will occur, because whatever
one says after a death will be inadequate, and it is impossible to have to cope
with the full extent of the horror and pain anew each time.

Vonnegut emphasizes that we must use our
poetic capacities to create metaphors, to tell ourselves about the pain, so
that we may find similar experiences of pain in the past. Ultimately, this is the consequence of perceiving
the world as chaotic, that we must resort to finding similar past experiences
in our memory in order cope with the constant attacks that life throws our way.

Resumos Relacionados