Bombing in Dresden

The bombing in Dresden was horrific. It was unexpected. No one thought Dresden would be bombed due to the cities isolation and silence. The bombing was caused by the US and Great Britain. This bombing and the dropping of the atomic bomb have been debatable in terms of if they were justified or not. To me, none of the bombing were justified. Killing innocent individuals who had no part in the war is unjustified.

Chapter 10

The final and last chapter was really in Vonnegut's point of view and when he went back to Dresden. The novel was unusual but interesting at the same time. The one line I saw the most was " So it goes" (214). This line was used at least once in every chpater. The repetition of the phrase kind of stuck in my mind. I think the line was really to tell the reader that everything has a purpose and sometimes we predict the ending and never is what we want it to be. Overall the book was good. I like how the story ended with Billy finding the green wagon.

Atomic Bomb

In chapter nine, Vonnegut references the atomic bomb and a letter sent out by Truman. The atomic bomb had a huge impact in the war. We won the war in Japan with the bomb. It was horrific as well. Thousands and thousands of people were killed in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We won the war in Japan, but it was the wrong kind of victory.

Chapter 9

The whole novel is full of allusions, but the one that stood out was in chapter nine. Vonnegut references to a letter by Harry S. Truman: "One of the things Rumfoord had told Lily to get in Boston was a copy of President Harry S. Truman's announcement to the world that an atomic bomb had been dropped on Hiroshima" (185). The reason why it stood out to me was that I had just learned about the atomic bomb this past year in U.S. History. It also was an important letter to the American people. Also in chapter nine, Billy's wife dies. Billy and five other Americans also return to Dresden two days after the bomb to collect souvenirs from war.

Howard W. Campbell Jr.

In chapter seven we are introduced to Howard W. Campbell Jr. He is an American who joined the Nazi party. He came to the slaughterhouse to recruit people for a German military unit known as "The Free American Corps." Campbell was a traitor. He went against the Americans to help out the Nazi party. He is a fictional character, but during World War Two there were a lot of men who joined the Nazi party. With the Great Depression, some people did not trust the American government, so they joined the Nazi party. Others called them traitors, while Hitler approved of Nazis being in America. There were many traitors during World War Two.

Chapter 8

In chapter eight, Billy meets Kilgore Trout and invites him to his anniversary party. At the party is a quartet singing. This bugs Billy, and he has no reason why. Until later, he has a flashback on the day Dresden was destroyed: "Billy thought hard about the effect the quartet had had on him, and then found an association with an experience he had had a long time ago" (177). He remembered that the guards would speak to each other, and it looked like a silence movie of the quartet. The reader time travels with Billy through his meeting with Trout to Dresden to his life in the zoo on Tralfamore back to Dresden.

Sugarbush Mountain

In chapter seven, we learn that Billy survived a plane crash. The co-pilot and Billy were the only ones to survive that crash. Sugarbush Mountain is in Vermont and has a ski resort nearby. The mountain has a huge imapct in the story, because this would be the second time Billy has come close to death. He almost died in Dresden and almost died in the plane crash. Also, the crash is to blame for his mental state and the belief of Tralfamoreaccording to his daughter, Barbara. Also, Valencia, Billy's wife, dies while coming to see Billy in the hospital. Sugarbush Mountain is not a memorable place for Billy.