Throughout each chapter, Kurt Vonnegut ends the paragraph with, "so it goes". I think in other words, he's trying to say, or hint that you as the reader knows what happens next. "The Germans carried the corpse out.
-The corpse was Wild Bob. So it goes"(p.69).
-Billy was the only one who had a coat from a dead civilian. So it goes" (p.82)
"So it goes" is used when Vonnegut talks about death or people dying, even if the person has been dead for a while , like in the quote from pas 82. He uses it more as a symbol for "dead" or "dying".
The phrase "so it goes" came from what Billy Pilgrim has learned from the Tralfamadorians. Since the Tralfamadorians believe that "all moments past, present, and future, always have existed, always will exist." So, whenever something dies, whether it is a war comrade or a bottle of champagne, Billy makes the comment "so it goes". I think that that phrase is a way to recognize that something is not well in the moment because Billy and the Tralfamadorians still believe that it exists in all other moments. "So it goes" also sounds a little disconnected which I think is intentional because I feel like Billy has never been very connected to people or things. When something dies, Billy is not rattled in any way because he knows that they are alive in other moments and also he was never connected to it in the first place.
ReplyDeleteDo you think that Billy's connection to objects or people has anything to do with him saying "so it goes"?