Entry #13: Figurative Language

CHAPTER 7:

     Vonnegut uses figurative language throughout the entirety of his novel.  The uses of this device allows us readers to better understand what he is trying to convey to us.  Billy Pilgrim is on an airplane with the singing quartet and other optometrists, which includes his father-in-law, Lionel Merble.  Vonnegut writes during this particular scene that, "Lionel Merble was a machine.  Tralfamadorians, of course, say that every creature and planet in the universe is a machine.  It amuses them that so many Earthlings are offended by the ideas of being machines" (page 154) The use of the word, "machine," is an example of figurative language.  When Vonnegut wrote "machine" he did not mean that Lionel Merble was literally a machine with bolts and iron and such.  He meant instead, that Lionel Merble's was like a machine in the way he acted and thought.  He goes on to write that all humans and things are like a machine too. 

     Machines are built and they run in accordance to how they are built: Humans are raised and their behavior is a reflection of how they were raised.  Even though machines break, they can be patched up and continue to work: Even though humans are hurt, either physically or psychologically, they can recover and continue with their lives.  Machines are repetitive in their actions: Humans are repetitive in their actions.  Machines function automatically: Humans function automatically.  

     Being a machine is not necessarily a bad thing.  Vonnegut uses this figurative language as a way to reveal a truth about human behavior.  We are like machines, but there is nothing wrong with that.