On page 48, the narrator says, "Billy had never seen Weary's face. He tried to imagine it one time, he imagined it as a toad in a fishbowl." (Vonnegut, 48) When I was reading this passage I was immediately filled with confusion as to how this statement is true seeming that Billy and Weary are together a lot during the war. Although the line before that says, "Said Weary, through five layers of humid scarf from home." (Vonnegut, 48) As I reread this passage it got me thinking about layers. Do you think that the reason why Billy has never seen his face is because of physical layers covering Weary's face, or emotional layers that have caused Billy to never see Weary's true face? Is he trying to say that the war changes people into a different person then they where before, could this possibly be connected to a bigger theme?
I also found the comparison between Weary's face and a toad in a fishbowl very fascinating. Why do you think Billy would imagine Weary's face to look line a toad in a fishbowl?
I thought this passage was very interesting as well. When I read the part about Weary, the toad, and the fishbowl I thought of the toad as being Weary's true personality in which he hides behind his shield, the fishbowl. Also, when I imagine toads I think of how like all organisms they are slightly "ugly" (for lack of a better word) and imperfect. This imperfection Weary tries to hide from Billy. This ties into how Billy says he's never seen Weary's face. I think Billy knows deep down inside him that Weary is only showing his fake strong guy personality and that he has never seen Weary's true "face". However, this is just what I think it means and I believe it can be interpreted many different ways. What do you see the fishbowl and toad representing?
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