Slaughterhouse+2


 * Discussion Time:**
 * Thursday****, January 19,** **12:55-2:25 (5W)**

Ellie Olshan Mark Brown Andrew Fochler Emma Steinbach Claire King Kevin King CC Colpitts
 * Group Members:**

Group Facilitator:

Characters Bernard and Mary O’Hare- Friends of Vonnegut, Bernard helped write the book, Mary didn’t want a book about babies going to war, The book is dedicated to her

Billy Pilgrim- Main Character, Soldier, Capable of time travel, abducted by aliens, single survivor of plane crash, survivor of bombing at Dresden

Valencia- Billy’s fat wife

Barbara- Billy’s cautious daughter

Robert- Son who’s in the Green Berets

Roland Weary- Hid with Billy from Germans, “believed in Three Musketeers”

Scouts- Stuck together, part of the “three musketeers”, reason he got killed

Paul Lazzaro- Car dealer from Brooklyn who gets Billy killed as revenge for Roland Wearing

Hobo- On train with Bill Pilgrim going to camp, died before they could get out

Derby- Teacher who dies

Montana Wildhack- Actress also abducted by Tralfamadorians

Tralfamadorians- Aliens who abducted Billy

Kilgore Trout- writer of books Billy Pilgrim loves, believes in time travel

Gerhard Muller- the taxi driver that Vonnegut and O’Hare back to the slaughterhouse in Dresden.

Eliot Rosewater- the man next to Billy’s bed at the mental hospital for veterans.

Settings 1920-1976 time travel Germany New York Tralfamador

Important Plot Events Billy goes to war Billy goes to German Camps Billy gets to Slaughterhouse Billy is abducted by aliens Billy is in a plane crash Billy dies

Conflicts War Believers and non-Believers Science Fiction and fiction

Narration It starts from Vonnegut’s point of view which could explain his reasoning for writing the book how he did. Still from Vonnegut’s point of view after, but seems more “crazy” sort of like Billy. Random moments saying he (Vonnegut) was there. This acts as a reminder that the book is not just about Billy but about the war and him too. Qualities of the Journey Emma’s opinion about the journey: I think Billy’s “abduction” is his way of remembering the war. It is a metaphor for being taken to a new place by things that seem completely different. I think the Tralfamadorian ideas of time are actually Billy’s way of realizing how he feels about time. Claire’s opinion about the journey: I feel as though Billy’s “crazy mind traveling” is due to the things he saw and had to deal with at war. The way his mind works now is an effect of a post-war impact that has seemed to have taken control of his life. He travels from one point in time to another to escape the emotions that he was experiencing or witnessing at the time. He travels to escape.

Agenda 1) Whip of reaction to book

2) Whip of favorite character

3) Ten words or less - describe book in ten words or less agreeing on the words as a group

4) Discussion Questions:

- What was Kurt Vonnegut’s reason for telling the story through Billy Pilgrim? - Why did he have the intro from his voice? - Do you think Billy Pilgrim actually loved his wife? - What do you think of him claiming he only cheated on his wife once, but then he had a baby on Tralfamador? - Do you think Kurt Vonnegut made Billy the only survivor of the plane crash and one of the few survivors of the Dresden bombing to make a certain point? - Do you think it is fair to blame Billy for Weary’s death? - Why do you think the author skips around to all the different events in Billy’s life, instead of staying in chronological order? For dramatic effect? - After the word death, dies, is dead presents itself in the book, why does Billy say “So it goes”? - Why do you think the Germans at the camp Billy is held at like and respect the British prisoners so much? - How do you think Kurt Vonnegut felt about the war? - Do you think Kurt Vonnegut felt unprepared like Billy? 5) Connections: Emma’s: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlVa6beGcng This is a trailer for a movie of Slaughterhouse five. I want to focus on the part of him hiding in the bed when he’s at the hospital for patients struggling with recovery from the war. The movie made him seem much more skiddish and scared than the book. I’m curious if maybe others in my group interpreted him that way or if it’s just the movie. Do they like the movie trailer interpretations or the book more? Mark’s: http://midnightcafe.wordpress.com/2005/04/22/slaughterhouse-five-review/ This is a brief summery on the bombing of Dresden and the background of Billy’s journey throughout the book. This site dives into the meaning of the novel and explains how there is no real hero involved, and it states that the average soldier is fighting a war that he or she does not understand. Do you agree with this statement? If so, recall a scene or set of scenes in this novel that displays this confusion of war that the soldier is involved in. Ellie’s: http://www.vonnegutweb.com/sh5/sh5_nytimes.html This is a review of Slaughterhouse Five published in the New York Times in 1969. It provides information on Vonnegut and his life, as well as an insight into the novel and its characters.

Claire’s: http://www.neatorama.com/2011/02/24/kurt-vonneguts-slaughterhouse-five/ This website contains a short summary of the book, a background of the fire bombing in Dresden, Germany, and the significance of the story. The sections that explains the importance’s of the book has a verity of answers for many of the questions above. It states that the book is anti-plot, no hero novel. The article provides that Slaughterhouse lacks conflict, climax, and conclusion. Do you agree? If not, when/where are these three things present in the book? Andrew’s: