Chapters 5-6
This drawing shows Billy's dream in chapter five. He has a dream that he is a giraffe and two other female giraffes are puckering up to kiss him. He tries to eat a pear, but it is very hard. He had one weird dream!
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Vocabulary
1) Rodomontade (noun) Definition: vainglorious boasting or bragging; pretentious,blustering talk Quote: "They wrestled the Americans toward the shed door affectionately, filling the night with manly blander and brotherly rodomontades." (pg 95) Context: The "they" the text is referring to are the English prisoners. This scene emphasizes the differences between the American and British soldiers. Apparently, the British are happy and proud while the Americans are pessimistic and gloomy. 2) Opalescent (adjective) Definition: having a milky iridescence Quote: "Only the candles and the soap were of German origin. They had a ghostly, opalescent similarity." (pg 96) Context: The candle and soap were both made from the fat of rendered Jews, Gypsies, Communists, and any other enemies of Germany. This quote emphasizes the cruelty and repulsion of the war. 3) Exult (verb) Definition: to show or feel a lively or triumphant joy Quote: "When Dredson was destroyed later on, incidentally, Lazzaro did not exult. He didn't have anything against the Germans…" (pg 139) Context: Lazzaro was a character who said the sweetest thing in life is revenge, yet when the Americans won a battle, he did not celebrate because he had nothing against the Germans. This demonstrates how the War is truly a fight between the rulers of the countries, not the soldiers themselves. 4) Lark (noun) Definition: a merry, carefree adventure; frolic; escapade Quote: "The trip to Dresden was a lark. It took only two hours. Shriveled little bellies were full. Sunlight and mild air came in through the ventilators." (pg 148) Context: The trip from a prison to Dresden was relaxing for the soldiers. They were excited to go live in the city that could "never be bombed." This represents Vonnegut's outlook on life that it is unexpected and depressing. |
Chapter Summaries
Chapters 5:
· The Tralfanadorians do not see the universe as humans do
· They see the stars as where they began and were they are going
· They see the humans as one giant millipede with baby legs on one end and old people legs on the other
· Billy wants something to read so they hand him a book in English
· He wants more so he gets Tralfamadorina novels
· He cannot understand it but he understand the lay out
· There are stars that are like mini telegrams
· Billy goes back to the Grand Canyon with his family
· Billy wets himself because he thinks he is going to fall in
· He skips forward 10 days to his family in New Mexico
· Then he is back in the war
· He gets a coat that is too small and the Germans laugh because he rips it
· Then they put the Americans into groups of 5 and march through the camp
· An American says something the guards don’t like and they knock him down
· The American does not think he could understand him
· Billy gets a dog tag with an number on it
· The dog take can be broken because if the prisoners die, one half stays with them and the other marks the grave
· Now the Red Cross can tell the families that these people are prisoners and alive
· They go to a shed were there is singing
· All the Englishmen are prisoners that have been captured for years
· They can’t escape this prison because there is nowhere to go
· The Germans love these English officers
· They knew about the are group of American Prisoners
· They are planning on putting on a version of Cinderella
· He wants to call his mother and tell her he is alive
· Billy faints and wakes up laughing so hard he begins to scream
· They carry him to a shed that has a hospital
· He travels to Spring of 1948 where he is in a mental hospital
· He committed himself to the mental hospital because of his breakdown
· The doctors think he is going crazy because of his father
· In the bed next to him is a soldier named Eliot Rosewater
· He shows Billy the science fiction novels
· They both find life meaningless because of the war
· Edgar Derby watches over Billy’s sickbed in Germany
· Billy’s fiancée visit him
· He does not want to marry her
· In the book Rosewater is reading, the alien gives the people of Earth the gift of a new gospel
· Nobody knows where this author, Trout, lives but they find out it is in Billy’s hometown
· Billy is now back on the planet Talfamadore
· He is in a zoo and his habitat does not have much
· When asked if he is happy, he says that he is as happy as he was on Earth
· Billy and the Tralfamadorians don’t understand each other
· The Tralfamadorians tell Billy that they will press a button and the Universe will disappear
· They can’t stop it because that is how it is supposed to happen
· Then he travels to his wedding night
· He goes on his honeymoon to New England
· Billy goes to the bathroom and is back in 1944
· He goes to the prison hospital and then is back on his honeymoon
· He goes to sleep and is back in 1944 to his trip to South Carolina for his father’s funeral
· Billy goes back to the war and goes to sleep
· When he wakes up, his daughter is yelling at him about the newspapers
· Then he is back at the zoo where Montana Wildhack is brought to the habitat
· Montana is drugged and the Tralfamadorians want to see the Earthlings have an intimate connection
· When she awakes, she is scared
· Montana ends up falling in love with Billy in a week
· He goes back to the office where the assistants are surprised to see him
· He tells a 12 year old about the Tralfamadores and the mother tells the assistants that Billy is crazy
Chapter 6
· Billy wakes up and is being shipped to Dresden
· Paul Lazzaro is in the bed next to Billy in the hospital
· Paul tells Edgar and Billy his favorite thing is revenge
· Lazzaro wants to shoot the Blue Fairy Godmother a few years after the war when he isn’t expecting
· Paul was friends with Weary and said that he promised to Kill Billy after the war
· Billy travels to his own death
· He is shot by Paul after Billy gives a speech
· Billy travels back
· Billy, Paul, and Edgar go to the theater and they lay on the stage
· Billy tries on the boots that were Cinderella’s the night before and they fit perfectly
· They are all voting for a leader now
· The British tell them not to worry of the bombs in Dresden
· Edgar gets elected the head American
· The trip and the city of Dresden is very nice
· Billy finds a diamond and dentures in his coat
· The prisoners all go to the slaughterhouse where there are bunk-beds, a water tap, and a latrine
· This is Slaughterhouse-Five
· The Tralfanadorians do not see the universe as humans do
· They see the stars as where they began and were they are going
· They see the humans as one giant millipede with baby legs on one end and old people legs on the other
· Billy wants something to read so they hand him a book in English
· He wants more so he gets Tralfamadorina novels
· He cannot understand it but he understand the lay out
· There are stars that are like mini telegrams
· Billy goes back to the Grand Canyon with his family
· Billy wets himself because he thinks he is going to fall in
· He skips forward 10 days to his family in New Mexico
· Then he is back in the war
· He gets a coat that is too small and the Germans laugh because he rips it
· Then they put the Americans into groups of 5 and march through the camp
· An American says something the guards don’t like and they knock him down
· The American does not think he could understand him
· Billy gets a dog tag with an number on it
· The dog take can be broken because if the prisoners die, one half stays with them and the other marks the grave
· Now the Red Cross can tell the families that these people are prisoners and alive
· They go to a shed were there is singing
· All the Englishmen are prisoners that have been captured for years
· They can’t escape this prison because there is nowhere to go
· The Germans love these English officers
· They knew about the are group of American Prisoners
· They are planning on putting on a version of Cinderella
· He wants to call his mother and tell her he is alive
· Billy faints and wakes up laughing so hard he begins to scream
· They carry him to a shed that has a hospital
· He travels to Spring of 1948 where he is in a mental hospital
· He committed himself to the mental hospital because of his breakdown
· The doctors think he is going crazy because of his father
· In the bed next to him is a soldier named Eliot Rosewater
· He shows Billy the science fiction novels
· They both find life meaningless because of the war
· Edgar Derby watches over Billy’s sickbed in Germany
· Billy’s fiancée visit him
· He does not want to marry her
· In the book Rosewater is reading, the alien gives the people of Earth the gift of a new gospel
· Nobody knows where this author, Trout, lives but they find out it is in Billy’s hometown
· Billy is now back on the planet Talfamadore
· He is in a zoo and his habitat does not have much
· When asked if he is happy, he says that he is as happy as he was on Earth
· Billy and the Tralfamadorians don’t understand each other
· The Tralfamadorians tell Billy that they will press a button and the Universe will disappear
· They can’t stop it because that is how it is supposed to happen
· Then he travels to his wedding night
· He goes on his honeymoon to New England
· Billy goes to the bathroom and is back in 1944
· He goes to the prison hospital and then is back on his honeymoon
· He goes to sleep and is back in 1944 to his trip to South Carolina for his father’s funeral
· Billy goes back to the war and goes to sleep
· When he wakes up, his daughter is yelling at him about the newspapers
· Then he is back at the zoo where Montana Wildhack is brought to the habitat
· Montana is drugged and the Tralfamadorians want to see the Earthlings have an intimate connection
· When she awakes, she is scared
· Montana ends up falling in love with Billy in a week
· He goes back to the office where the assistants are surprised to see him
· He tells a 12 year old about the Tralfamadores and the mother tells the assistants that Billy is crazy
Chapter 6
· Billy wakes up and is being shipped to Dresden
· Paul Lazzaro is in the bed next to Billy in the hospital
· Paul tells Edgar and Billy his favorite thing is revenge
· Lazzaro wants to shoot the Blue Fairy Godmother a few years after the war when he isn’t expecting
· Paul was friends with Weary and said that he promised to Kill Billy after the war
· Billy travels to his own death
· He is shot by Paul after Billy gives a speech
· Billy travels back
· Billy, Paul, and Edgar go to the theater and they lay on the stage
· Billy tries on the boots that were Cinderella’s the night before and they fit perfectly
· They are all voting for a leader now
· The British tell them not to worry of the bombs in Dresden
· Edgar gets elected the head American
· The trip and the city of Dresden is very nice
· Billy finds a diamond and dentures in his coat
· The prisoners all go to the slaughterhouse where there are bunk-beds, a water tap, and a latrine
· This is Slaughterhouse-Five
This photo depicts the dog that was killed by the revenge-loving, Lazzaro, who put metal in the steak.
Historical Information
In chapters five and six, Vonnegut describes the POW camp that Billy was settled into. In many POW camps the British POWs and American POWs were placed near each other. The cells that they were placed into could fit between 8-40 men on average. Each day they received usually two meals of meager rations which were just enough to keep them alive. In order to keep the prisoners from trying to escape or kill themselves the POWs were provided with many different activities. There were special areas just for the POWs to host shows. Along with this, POWs received weekly parcels from the Red Cross. These parcels contained not only food but necessary amenities as well and helped keep many POWs alive.