Friday, January 1, 2016

Vonnegut

Although in chapter one, Vonnegut seems to separate himself from Billy, letting us know that this book is not a direct story of what happened in his life, I can't help but feel like throughout the book Vonnegut keeps making personal connections. "It would make a good epitaph for Billy Pilgrim - and for me, too." (Vonnegut, pg.121) Who is this "me" that is being referenced? Is Vonnegut referring to himself?

Also, a few pages later we read the line, "That was I. That was me. The author of the book." (Vonnegut, pg.125) This is Vonnegut directly referring to himself in his text. Saying that was him. Which brings me to the question of, why is he bringing up real people/things in an obviously, fiction book? What point is he trying to get across or make by bringing himself up in the book? And I do know that this book is written in a different style than usual, but I just cant stop wondering about how closely related Billy and Vonnegut are and why Vonnegut brings himself up in the book.

1 comment:

  1. Yeah it is a little off. I do believe Vonnegut is referring to himself when he is talking about "a good epitaph for Billy Pilgrim - and for me too." He did say at the beginning of the book that he thinks this is not a good novel. He thinks he could have done a much better job on it. Perhaps this is simply a flaw in his writing, or maybe it does have some deeper purpose.

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