Thoughts on Slaughterhouse-Five, Chapters 1-3

            In high school, I remember many of my friends complaining about their reading assignments.  One book that many of them had to read was Slaughterhouse-Five.  Although I was never assigned this text, the title of the book intrigued me.  So, when I reviewed this course’s syllabus, I was delighted to find this book on the agenda.

            I began my reading a few days ago, and I was surprised by how quick of a read it is.  However, this also bothers me because I am worried that I am not understanding everything.  Now, I am not going to lie, after I read the first three chapters, I looked to SparkNotes for the chapter summaries.  I could not help it; I was confused.  The jumping back and forth in time really messed with my head.  As soon as I am began to understand what was going on, Vonnegut switched to another time period – my poor little brain could not handle it! 

            Nevertheless, this course is about humor, and I did my best to look for examples of things that I thought were funny.  I will add in my own caveat, though.  I think that humor is situational.  Because of this, it was sometimes difficult for me to recognize the humor in Vonnegut’s style of writing, as well as in the incidents he wrote about.

            The first incident of humor that I truly laughed at was when Vonnegut, or the narrator, described himself as an, “old fart,” (p. 2).  I specifically remember writing “haha” next to this line of text.  What made this funny was that Vonnegut could make fun of himself.  Furthermore, this was relatable because many people (myself occasionally included) dismiss something that someone elderly says because he or she is an “old fart”; I liked how Vonnegut pointed this out.

            Another phrase that I highlighted occured in the text when Billy is described his daughter, Barbara.  He called her a, “bitchy flibbertigibbet,” (p. 29).  I think that one reason that this description was funny was because of schadenfreude; it is funny because it was not us (or at least he was not describing us as this).  Moreover, Billy describing his own daughter as this made it even more comical; it may have even added more truth to this statement.  Also, “flibbertigibbet” is a funny word (I will admit; I did have to look up its definition).

            A reoccurring example of humor in this novel was the character of Roland Weary.  Again, the concept of schadenfreude applied here; we were glad that the things happening to him were not happening to us.  All of Robert’s gadgets were comical, as he was not a good soldier.  It was as if he thought his wartime accessories would make him a better fighter.  Moreover, I think it was funny (and somewhat pathetic) that he called himself and the scouts “The Three Musketeers,” (p. 42).  I also found this ironic because earlier in the book, one of the reporters was eating a Three Musketeers candy bar when she was talking to Vonnegut about a veteran’s corpse.

            One final thing that I found humorous was Billy’s imagination in recounting his stories of Tralfamadore and the aliens.  His creativity was impressive, but I also found it a bit pitiful.  I felt bad for him, especially considering all that he has been through (being a POW, his wife’s death, etc.).

            In thinking about the first three chapters, I am still forming my opinion in regards to how I feel towards this book.  While I like reading it more than I like reading Morreall, I am still trying to warm up to it.  In comparison to stories we read from The Greatest American Writers of All-Time, I find this book to be less humorous.  As of right now, I am keeping an open mind, but this book is not as funny as I hoped it would be.