A little more than halfway through the book, Vonnegut mentions an idea that, "Tralfamadorians, of course, say that every creature and plant in the Universe is a machine. It amuses them that so many Earthlings are offended by the idea of being machines." (154) It seems to me, that at war, many people become simply machines. People no longer think about what they are doing. When they are told to kill, without a second though, they kill.
Earlier this year, we read All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque. The book was about a boy named Paul Baumer who fought in World War I. At one point, Paul describes "This is the first time I have killed with my hands, whom I can see close at hand, whose death is my doing." (221) Before that, he had killed with guns. Though he was still killing, it wasn't so close up and personal. Paul and many other soldiers were turned into machines who were taught to kill, but when Paul sees death closer up, he realizes how brainwashed he was.
In some ways, I wonder if we are all machines, brainwashed to some extent by society. Told what were are supposed to look like, act like, and say.
I think that during war many people are changed and forced into doing something that might not be considered "human". In Slaughterhouse Five and All Quiet on the Western Front, the soldiers were fighting for a cause. But I think that after spending some time in the intensity of many battles, you forget what the reasoning behind the fighting. So, in a way you turn into a machine, killing so many people without feeling sad or hurt in any way.
ReplyDeleteI think that this idea can definitely connect to what society tells us to do and look like. There was once a reason and motive behind why we did what society told us to, but just like in the war, we turned into machines because we forgot the real reason and lost our values.
I really like this question and there is a lot to think about and wonder how people really do "work". This idea can connect to society in many ways. How we act, think, look like. Just like the novel "Night", many people were pushed into society and started becoming a complete different person.
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