Chapter 3: Slaughterhouse-Five

I can't imagine how scary it would be waking up in you office with your last memory being of over twenty years ago. When Billy wakes up in his office he has no idea what year it is and asks himself where all the time had gone. It must be difficult waking up and not knowing how you got to this point in your life and missing so much time. In the third chapter we are now inside Billy Pilgrim's head, we've discovered that he now knows that he travels through time. The first assupmtion would be that Billy is losing his mind, no sane person just wakes up in a different decade and I'm sure that the cruelties of war could explain why Billy is going insane. We get to read in depth what happens to prisoners of war in this chapter but ironically enough Billy is more cheerful than ever! I know that if i were in such a hopeless situation I would give up so that my suffering wouldn't continue but instead Billy is friendly with everyone. I wonder why there is such a change in his attitude towards life. His indifference has shrunk while his attitude has improved.

The main theme throughout the entire third chapter is the war, I think that an event so huge must have left a deep impression in Billy's person. I don't understand why he would want to recall all the terrible things that happened during the war but there are great comparisons used to describe life using similes from the war. The war is almost like a literary device in this chapter because everything comes back to it or can be better understood as a result of the war.

The character Weary reappears in this chapter and he is no longer the arrogant, terrifying teenager but instead he is downtrodden and cowardly. The way he is acting shows his selfishness, all he worries about are his feet and is completely oblivious to his surroundings. I think seeing Weary in this state makes Billy see how ridiculous the guy is without his weapons. Seeing Weary defeated I wouldn't be intimidated by him any more but I don't think Billy would mock or abuse of his state either. I don't think that Billy hates Weary because the previous chapter said that Billy wasn't an angry person which is a very helpful trait in war if you want to stay alive!

The prayer on Billy's wall:
GOD GRANT ME THE SERENITY TO ACCEPT THE THINGS I CANNOT CHANGE,
COURAGE TO CHANGE THE THINGS I CAN,
AND WISDOM TO TELL THE DIFFERENCE.
I think this prayer had alot to do with the occurances in the story. I think that when Billy was not caring about his life or what would happen to him he was accepting that his situation couldn't be changed. He demonstrated the first phrase better in the third chapter by being cheeful and compliant. He was accepting his current situation and seemed to be making the most of it. But I think that if Billy had taken a bit more control over his life and courageously trying to change what he could his life wouldn't be as chaotic. In my opinion that prayer summarized to Billy the way he had been living his life.