Entry #19: Allegory

CHAPTER 10:

Kurt Vonnegut

     After finishing Slaughterhouse-Five, the hidden meaning of this allegory is clear to me.  Vonnegut uses the experience of his own life, mixed with fiction, to teach a lesson to the reader.  A lesson, which he learned because of the bombing of Dresden and the events that transpired during the war.  Vonnegut wishes to teach the reader that all life is precious.  He believes that those who fight wars are like children; they are ignorant of consequences.  The consequences of the Allied bombing of Dresden was huge: thousands of innocents lost their lives.  

     Tragic and terrible things happen to good and innocent people and unfortunately, we cannot always stop this from happening.  As Vonnegut says on page 211, "if I am going to spend eternity visiting this moment and that, I'm grateful that so many of those moments are nice."  There are so many bad things that happen in life.  However, if we focus only on those bad things, then we miss out on the good.  

     The past, the present, and the future are all equally important.  Everything that happens to us has an impact on our lives.  The past and future events are no more important than the present nor is the present more important than the past or future.  If something bad happens now, something good will happen later.  If something good happens now, something bad will happen later.  But life will always continue.