In many cases, wars can be romanticized. Citizens back at home have a different perspective of war than the actual soldiers who fight in the war. In World War 2, soldiers fought under brutal conditions and for long periods of time. Throughout Slaughterhouse Five, Billy's experience in the war seemed difficult and tiresome. He felt weak, unimportant, and hopeless at times. When he returned back home from the war, his wife (Valencia) told him, "I'm proud you were a soldier" (pg 121). She talked to him as though she wanted to hear a captivating story. As Billy and Valencia talked about the war (pg 121-123), it was clear that Valencia wanted to know every detail. She asked Billy about the death and burial of Edgar Derby, even though she knew it was painful for Billy to talk about. Billy answered "yes" or "no" to the many questions that Valencia had for him. It was clear that as Billy was sharing the dramatic details of the war, Valencia was sympathizing with him, but she was only gathering a surface level perspective of the war. Billy also thought to himself that "it would make a good epitaph for Billy Pilgrim..." (pg 121). I think that this quote was saying that fighting in the war could "look good" on the surface. In Billy's case, the things that people see on the surface do not reflect exactly what he went through during the war.
In a way, it seems like the people can know many details about the war, but never truly have a deep enough understanding to really sympathize or understand. As Valencia was asking Billy Pilgrim questions about the war, was she trying to understand Billy's pain or was she just trying to satisfy her own curiosity?
Do you think that the interaction between Valencia and Billy is common with many people who come back from war?
On page 122, there is an illustration of a tombstone with a epitaph that says, "Everything was beautiful, and nothing hurt." This quote enforces the romanticized version of war that people can have. Even though many people know that war is brutal and that there are awful casualties, somehow the romanticized version of war is still circulating through peoples' minds and the media. Why do you think this happens?
What do you think the tombstone really signifies when it say, "Everything was beautiful, and nothing hurt"?
I would say that most of her questioning was out of curiosity. Also from past books and stories I have read and heard people asking questions about wars is a common practice among humans. Take "All Quiet on the Western Front as an example. When Paul Baumer is home on leave his father questions him constantly and a man at a bar speaks about how great the soldiers and the war are.
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