Entry #5: A Metaphor

CHAPTER 3:       

     Vonnegut uses the metaphor, "through the valley flowed a Mississippi of humiliated Americans," (page 64) to help the reader visualize the scene of American prisoners being transported by the Germans to box cars.  Vonnegut chooses to use the word, "Mississippi" as a way to depict how the Americans are moving.  The Mississippi River is known for being the largest river system in North America.  By comparing a group of soldiers to this river, Vonnegut is saying that through the valley, walked a huge mass of humiliated Americans.  By using a metaphor in his writing, Vonnegut draws the reader into the story and creates a vivid dramatization of the scene Billy Pilgrim is witnessing.

An American prisoner of war from World War II.

        Vonnegut continues with using the river as a metaphor when he writes, "Billy and his group joined the river of humiliation..." (page 64).  The river represents the thousands of American prisoners, who were captured by the Germans.  These prisoners were forced to walk with their hands above their heads and a few had shackles on their feet.  The Americans were embarrassed for not only being captured, but also because they were spit upon and jeered at by the Germans they passed.  Billy Pilgrim and Roland Weary joined this group, and eventually they, and the other prisoners, were divided into box cars that would transport them into the heart of Germany.