Shaking up Christmas!

After watching the Coca-Cola 2010 Christmas Commercial I started to get a clear idea of what it means when it is said if something is considered Logos, Ehtos, or Pathos. This commercial could be viewed as Pathos because the commercial plays with our emotions. Santa Claus takes a sip of Coca-Cola and starts "shaking up the happiness". He gets the man at the market and takes him to a family Christmas dinner, gives a little boy a dog, makes a couple kiss, and more. The commercial makes us see Coca-Cola as a happy thing and puts a smile to our faces. At the end it says "open happiness", and it makes me want a Coca-Cola. It gives Coca-Cola a happy drink reputation, not only because Santa Claus is present but because everyone in the commercial starts being happy as well all because of the Coca-Cola.

Definitely recommend it! Gives Christmas spirit!

Any answers?

Okay, so I finished the book. What can I say? I thought that when I would finish the book I would have millions and millions of answers for all of my questions that I had laid out in my previous one? Like is Billy crazy? Is Vonnegut and Billy the same person? Are the Trafalmadorians real or is it just the imagination of Billy? Is there a true present? Well so many questions and so little answers.

I was expecting to find a whole conclusion when I finished the book, but while I was reading I would count the pages and start to find more things that would confuse me. At the ending chapters Vonnegut would talk to us mainly about Dresden, but I reached a part at the ending of  Chapter 8 which made me think harder a question. Is Billy and Vonnegut the same person? I know we have discussed it in class but I couldn´t seem to stop asking myself this. This passage was about Kilgore Trout talking to Maggie White about his books. He would say "Writing is like advertising. You have to tell the truth in advertising or you get in trouble." (171)  "I put everything that happens to me in books." (172) When I read this it got me thinking. Is this maybe a foreshadow that Vonnegut is putting towards us? Is it maybe Vonnegut saying "Hey Billy is me! Im telling you my story!"

Kilgore Trout would write about aliens, or even also about a time machine which I related it to Billy´s time travel. But anyway, if he told Maggie that everything he wrote was true, but at the same time is making things up, is it maybe the technique that Vonnegut is using in this book? He did go to World War II, was present in the bombing, I don´t know if Im crazy but Billy and Vonnegut may be the same person. Vonnegut just gave it a fun twist as Trout would give to his stories. Meaning that the Trafalmadorians aren´t real, Billy never time traveled, he was just a little nuts or just a fun character Vonnegut decided to come up with.

I may be wrong, and when you read this blog you might think that I am crazy, but it was pretty hard finding a conclusion about the book but Im not going to lie I had fun trying to find it. This book is definitely unique, in the sense that I haven´t read anything like it. How Vonnegut puts so many subjects into one like war, aliens, love, even cinderella and at the end of the day they all relate its pretty impressive! The technique that he uses, which I found it to be like one of the Trafalmadorian ideology "there is no present, no future, no past"is extremely interesting. There would be no timeline in the book, you would suddenly be at war with Billy and in a second you are off to where he was a little boy at the YMCA. It´s funny, how everything is in disorder and you are jumping from one moment to the next and somehow you don't get lost. Even though the moments are not related to each other, or aren´t even in the same time at the end they start making sense. This isn´t a book that everything is laid out in front of you. You have to analyze details, and take it with patience. Because if you don´t it´s probable that at the end you will not understand a thing.


This is definitely a book that is on my top list. I have never read something like it and even though some things may seem ridiculous I think I learned some things. Put a little of the Trafalmadorian ideology in me, like to enjoy every moment as it is happening, to stop thinking about the future and enjoy the present. This is a book one MUST read. Even though I finished reading this novel,  I have more questions than I did before.

Speaking Our Minds...

Our minds are such powerful things. They lead us to inexplicable things that have created tragedies, happy moments, and led to great discoveries in our world. If we didn´t speak our minds we wouldn´t have great things as we do now. For instance, if Sir Isaac Newton hadn´t spoke his mind about his gravity method, we probably wouldn't even find gravity in the dictionary. So I guess you get the picture. But still many people don't speak their minds and that is why we have so many problems in our world. Some don´t do it because they are scared about what others are going to think. And I get it, there are some things that we keep to ourselves because it might offend someone, or it might just seem crazy to others. But I think that if someone is going to say something that is on their minds no matter how crazy it is, it´s because they´re brave, as I mentioned in one of my earlier blogs.

While I was finishing Chapter 5, I encountered the part where Billy starts telling his patient (boy that just lost his father) about his adventures in Trafalmadore. He also tells the boy that even though his father isn't with him right now, he is in another moment of his life living happy. Here we can see that Billy was adapting the Trafalmadore ideology of "so it goes". When the boy´s mother hears what Billy is telling his son she goes to the receptionist and tells her that Billy is going crazy. Because of this Billy is taken home.

When I read this passage I didn´t know what to believe. It´s one of those moment where you don't know what to think. I question myself if Billy is just simply going crazy? Or is it that we are the ones crazy that are questioning Billy? There are moments in the novel where I come to think that if I was in the book would I believe him? I really don't know. What I do know is that I feel sorry for Billy even if he is crazy or not. But since I am just the reader I can see what Billy is going through and I feel a type of confidence towards him that he isn't going nuts. I just want to know what is going to happen!

When I read this it reminded me of when I believed in Santa Claus. It was amazing when I woke up on Christmas day and found all the presents on my bed. It´s like if I believed in magic. But then my cousin Laura had to come along, and tell me that he didn't exist. I remember every second of this. I know pretty lame, but it was like if I didn't want to believe that he didn't exist. And deep down even though I knew he didn't I still had a little spark telling me to don't stop believing.


I come to think that maybe that is what Billy is going through. Maybe he knows that what he's saying is crazy and it isn't true, but something inside of him is telling him that he's not gone mad, that he has to keep on believing this. I really don't know. And I have come to realize that whenever I am writing about this book I always have more questions, more circles, more thoughts, more confusion but I guess that that is what this book is all about! Its about trying to find out what is the TRUTH, but when am I going to find that out?

Viviana

I just read one of Viviana Correa´s blog entires and once again it got me thinking http://vivianacorrea-eng10.blogspot.com/2011/10/billy-is-normal-we-are-crazy.html. She mentioned that we may be the ones that are crazy not Billy. That truly what Billy is, is a brave person just reaching another kind of ideology which may be the right one. I completely agree with her. I mean, we were taught what to believe and even though people are different we almost all have the same bases in life. As I mentioned earlier in one of my blog entries, http://cristinaescallon.blogspot.com/2011/09/little-bit-of-slaughter-five.html we were all taught that death was a sad thing, and that is what most people believe. But we just say that because it is one of our principles, just as the Trafalmadorians have there own different principles as "so it goes".

As Viviana mentions, Billy is a brave person. We can see this not only with the example that Viviana laid out about the plane, but also just for the whole appearance that he has shown us throughout the book. His beliefs, way of being, is not normal to us but that is the brave thing he does. Billy doesn't stay  quite about it, he stands up for his beliefs not caring what others will say. He knows that he will just seem crazy to everyone but he doesn't care. Isn't that how the greatest leaders of our world started? Saying what they believed not caring for what others would think? Take into account Martin Luther King Jr, Ghandi, even Jesus. Sometimes we don't say what we believe, scared about what other will think, but who cares because with those opinions we can truly make a difference. 

Ugly Truth

Beauty. Now that’s a topic that is very common in our world. Like I have said in my previous blogs, I am  always surprised by the topics that are present in this book. Such as, war, religion, aliens, Cinderella, and now beauty? Vonnegut clearly has a talent to put all of those different concepts in one whole book. The weirdest part is that they at the end they all connect to each other. Impressive.  

Even though beauty wasn’t something that Vonnegut talked about for a long time it was something that definitely grabbed my attention. “Most Trafalmadorians had no way of knowing Billy’s body and face were not beautiful. They supposed that he was a splendid specimen. This had a pleasant affect on Billy, who began to enjoy his body for the first time.” Not only when I read this did I feel bad for Billy, since he never felt good about himself, but it made me realize that perspectives have a great impact on what we believe. As in this case beauty. Something that may seem beautiful to one may not to another.

The moment when I read those lines in the book I didn’t pay close attention to them, but something got me hooked and made me read it once again. That is when I realized that this topic shouldn’t be ignored.  So as I started to think, I remembered that last year in Mrs. Thomas Pre-Ap English Class we had to do one big project of an essential topic. I chose beauty, so I started to connect with what I had learned from the project and what was being said in the book.

Depending on the culture that you belong to has a tremendous effect on what you believe. Take into account the people from Mauritania. A generation ago, girls were fed more than the boys to show that they were not poor and they could feed themselves. Where as a girl who was thin would not be respected by society and be considered poor. This is something that still goes around but in a more easy way manner. We normally see really skinny girls as the ones that are the most beautiful ones. We envy them and we want to have those bodies, but it’s interesting to see how people’s beliefs can be the total opposite. Thanks to different points of view, we have diversity and change in our world. It would be extremely boring to have girls that are photocopies of each other but then again our society is kind of that way. Sometimes change isn’t the most accepting subject.

It’s really sad to see how people are affected by what other people think. I am not going to lie, its something that affects each and every one of us, including me. How come we cant be happy with ourselves unless others approve it? Why cant the only person who has an opinion about ourselves be us? Why cant we just be happy with ourselves? I don’t know but it’s the ugly truth.

Thanks to those lines in the book it made me reflect. Billy was finally happy with himself because the Trafalmadorians thought that he was a special type of person. They didn’t say if he was beautiful or ugly. They just couldn’t say it, they didn’t have another earthling to compare him to. And even if they did, they would have to make up the definition of beauty towards humans since it doesn’t exist. And when that is over with people would be once again be categorized in 2 scary groups. The beautiful and the ugly. 

Cinderella?

In class we have discussed many topics that make my thoughts go around in circles. Such as when we discussed who was Billy. Was he really Vonnegut, but just to hide his secrets he changed the name? Or are we just thinking too hard? Both went to World War 2, both are from Illium hmmm... Another relationship that we analyzed was the one about Kilgore Trout. He was  Billy´s favourite author but as we started to look closer we saw that they had many relationships. But is Kilgore Trout just another person in the story whom we believe there is a relationship with there is not? His books are similar to what Billy believes, such as"The Gospel From Outer Space". When I saw that title, it reminded me about the Tafalmadorians and we talked about it in class. Are we maybe thinking about the book too hard, and not realizing the main idea? I don´t know. But I am sure, that all the time that we have spent analyzing these topics is because they are going to mean something at the end. It´s just frustrating to keep on reading and think you have found the answers, but what you really encounter is more questions, more circles.

While I was reading Chapter 5, I was at the part where Billy was a prisoner at the German Camp. I have to say, it was really weird how Vonnegut is telling us about how hard it was to be a prisoner and I started ti grab the image of terror. "The American was astonished. He stood up shakingly spitting blood." That´t give a pretty nice image. But all of a sudden they got to where the Englishmen were and even though they were also prisoners they seemed to be having a blast. They were singing, had great food and even though the German were the enemy they got along pretty w doesn ell. Those are the times when I believe that I am understanding the story and then I start going in circles once again.

While I was reading around the beginning of Chapter 5 I got to a surprising and weird part. When Billy was at the prisoner camp and all of a sudden he was watching Cinderella. That is what I mean about how Vonnegut rights. I find it extremely interesting, even though I may sometimes get frustrated. It is a mixed feeling because I want to keep on reading about what the Cinderella play has to do with Billy. The last thing that I would of thought to appear in this book is definitely Cinderella. I guess that in this book you have to expect the unexpected.

I gave the appearance of Cinderella a little bit of an analysis. "Goodness me, the clock has struck. Alackaday, and fuck my luck" started to make me think about how Cinderella relates to Billy. At war Billy felt that he didn't belong, as well as Cinderella. She felt that she didn't belong in the house with her step mother and step sister. They both had a "magical" ride through life. Billy which gets stuck on time, and Cinderella whom fights against it. Time is both a very important part on behalf of both of them. Time is some sort of an enemy. Billy never knows how long time will last, and Cinderella doesn't even want to think about it.

All of these characters that are showing up in the book must mean something, I´m just not sure yet. I definitely want to keep on reading, even though I am full with circles in my head.

Getting Familiar With Them

The only aliens I kind of have an image about are the green ones with big eyes that were shown to us when we were kids, and the ones of Avatar. But now I am getting familiar to the Trafaldorians. I still don’t imagine them really well physically but I am amazed of how they think and what they believe.

I don’t know how to describe them well, but I can really see how us “earthinlings” are totally different from them. Like how we see death different than them. We see it as a sad and tragic moment while they just think of it as the person wasn’t in a good moment, so he/she still exists, but in another time. Also, the way that they don’t have explanations to everything like we do. We always have more questions to answer, and we want explanations that can lead us to another one. But the Trafaldorians are completely different. “All time is all time. It does not change. It does not lend itself to warnings or explanations. It simple is.”

How different would our lives be if we didn’t search for so many explanations, and only worry about tomorrow instead of today? How different would it be if we just enjoyed the moment and quit on having to have the correct explanation for everything? I have the answer… Very.  Discussions would be cut short, we wouldn’t have to prove each other wrong. Nor would we be stressed out if things didn’t come out the way we planned. They would just simply happen and we would have to accept it.  Live the moments. But again, it would also have its downs. The expectation and excitement of something would be gone. We wouldn’t have as much curiosity and answers to things that seemed to be impossible before.

I think I stay with being and “earthling.” But it definitely is interesting how Vonnegut invents these weird and mysterious creatures so different from us. He definitely is a very creative guy. They aren’t just creepy on the outside, but mysterious and kind of scary beings on the inside. I can’t wait to find out more of these unexpected creatures.

Perspectives...

Time travel… Even though I know it’s a pretty impossible thing, I can’t say I haven’t though about it. Reading this book has made me wonder more and more. I can see how hard it must be for Billy to go from one place to the next. It must be really confusing, since Vonnegut puts him in two situations totally different from each other when he is travelling in time. Like his first time being unstuck in time, when he was in war, laying on a tree in the forest to going to the point where he was a little boy at the YMCA. They are two different and not related moments. Can you imagine, being in one difficult certain point in your life to going to one where you didn’t even think of tomorrow? It must be really frustrating to not know what is going on. To not know where you are really standing, and when you are suddenly going to be unstuck in time, where it is going to lead you. When does your present really lye? You are leaping from one moment to the next, that you can’t even keep track of where you were before.

I don’t think I would like to travel in time.  Being confused and frustrated, even though it would have its advantages. Like going back and changing things that you regret. But at the same time it would change your present. And if your pretty happy with your present why would you want to change that? I believe that things happen for a reason, and even though we might not understand why they happen to us, they have a strong and good reason at the end.

But again, I haven’t really understood if Billy is just an observer and no one can see him, or if he is the one actually living the moment again for the second time. And if he really is living that moment once again, and he does decide to change things, it wouldn’t make a difference because in moments he will be in another place.

This book has got me hooked, but I am confused and have a lot of questions, which is why it keeps me wanting to read more and getting answers for those questions. When does Billy reach his actual present? Is there an actual preset? I don’t know but I definitely want to find out.  

Lost?

In this chapter I really felt sorry for Billy. Poor guy... He was definitely in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was definitely not soldier material. As he is described in the chapter as skinny and 6ft tall I can totally picture him. The tough guys such as Weary, bugging him and pushing him around for his own good, reminds me of a person I knew pretty well (i´ll get to that later on). Being in a place where you don't feel comfortable, or you feel that you don't belong is one of the worst feelings ever. Especially if its a live or die situation like in this case. How terrible could the feeling be, that Billy seemed like he didn't even care if he died or if he was left behind? For example, when he says "Go ahead without me". This shows the lack of interest that Billy had towards the war and to his life.

When I said that Billy reminded me of a person that I knew pretty well, I meant my grandfather. He wasn't in the military but he was in the Colombian Navy. Some people chose to go there to fight for the country, but others such as my grandfather had to go there for financial aid. In those times if you enrolled in the navy you would receive free education and most likely a better way of life for him and his family. So my Grandfather, scared of the sea to death went to the Navy. At first he didn't feel comfortable, he would tell us that everyone would bully him, that he would feel totally left out. But as time went on he started to get the hang of things until he reached Admiral.

This shows that sometimes even though you don't feel comfortable somewhere, or you feel that you don't belong, as time passes buy, one of those times can be one of the most important ones in your life. Like in the case of my grand father and as so far
I´ve seen in Billy´s life too. Because as far as i´ve gotten, most of the story has been about his times at war.



But not only has the book been about that. It has talked about many topics. Such as aliens, torture, war and I cant wait for what comes next! But these topics even though they are all within the story I wonder how they will finally connect at the end? Also something that keeps knocking on my mind is who is Billy?? Is he maybe Vonnegut? Maybe he changed all of the names but he really is telling the story! This book is full of hidden clues and I cant wait to start finding them out.

Is it that ridiculous?

Why does it seem so ridiculous to human kind  to believe that there is a man that has been with aliens before? We know that most likely there is life in other planets because the universe is so tremendously huge, but why can we say that it is possible on paper and not really believe it?

I know that if someone comes and says that they have been with aliens, and have travelled in time without us noticing it would seem ridiculous to me. But thanks to this book I am seeing the the other side of the story. I am able to see the desesperation of Billy trying to convince his daughter, that he isn´t crazy and that he has been with the Trafaldorians. I know that this book is fiction but I really like how it has not only made me get into the story but reflect and question about real life aspects.

It also reminds me of religion. Doesn´t Jesus come as our saviour? Don´t we say that he performed miracles? Of course there are people that don´t believe it, but some of us do. Its the same thing. It is a person saying things that we aren´t used to so our first reaction is to say that it is crazy, but the thought of it always keeps knocking upon our heads. 

A little bit of Slaughter Five...

Slaughterhouse Five has really grabbed my attention. Its not the type of book that I´m used to reading but its pretty nice to change and read different things once in a while. What has mostlly grabbed my attention is how the author writes, and the patterns that I have found while reading the book. For example, "so it goes...". It is a frase that continues to repeat itself, and while reading I began to question myself about what it meant. Until finally they say that "so it goes" is a frase that the Trafaldorians say when soemone dies. This is because they say that "when a person dies he only appears to die. He´s still much very alive in the past, so it is very silly for people to cry at his funeral." "When a Trafaldorian sees a corpse all he thinks is that the dead person is in bad condition in that moment, but that the person is just fine in other particular moments." I found this EXTREMELY interesting.

Since we were little we have been taught that death is something very sad and tragic (I agree). But this idea made me question myself, how would everything be if we weren´t taught those type of things? Could we believe that maybe death is a happy thing? If we read what the Trafaldorians say, it might seem ridiculous and just fiction to us. But this has made reflect upon how we kind of live in a bubble and that we are very close minded to other explanations and possibilities, no matter what you believe. 

The Perfect Life

After reading "The Perfect Life" by John Koethe I got a sense of our different perspectives of life once we are getting older and older. How he says "In satisfaction at the conclusion of each day" made me realize how lucky we are and that we should enjoy everyday that we have been granted with. But after he talks about all of his positive things in life he suddenly starts talking about how time starts to fade away, and how something that seemed beautiful then has no importance and is indifferent now. Little by little he starts saying that he starts losing his strength and that in the end of our journey through life we all die.

It is a great poem that shows how life will one day fade away.

Violence Against Themselves... Poetic Justice?

Suicide... A word that I sometimes don´t even understand. Should a person that takes their own life away be punished because they are not happy with themselves? I really don´t know. 

But in "Dante´s Inferno" they deffinitley believe so. The souls that commit suicide are punished by being converted into trees, that feel everything but cant do anything about it.. Wether they like it or not. 

I am in a dilema because I am not sure if this is the way it is supposed to be. The person that commited suicide did it because they were sad, not to harm anyone. But at the same time they harmed themselves. They did not realize all that they were losing and that they could never go back. They did not appreciate the gift that God had given them to be in life and do great things. But what I am sure about is that a person that kills themselves is becasue they are in great saddness. So I conclude that when they die they should go some place where they can get help and finally be at peace and happy with themselves, because once a person kills themselves, they are in a war against themselves.