Free Will

Dear Mr. Frost,

I completely disagree with you for several reasons. There is no free will. Your poem, "The Road Not Taken" talks about how there are always to roads that a person can take and it is up to the person to decide which one to take. What happens when people are forced to work? I don't think that a slave chooses to work for their entire life, but has to. I'm upset to see that people in our world think like you Mr. Robert Frost. "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I- I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference." (The Road Not Taken) Although I don't agree with you, there are some cases in which you have a choice. A person has a choice to do well or poorly in school, but these are only small cases. The majority of life is already decided for you by a superior being. I just thought you should know. I don't mean to disrespect your belief, but I thought that it was interesting that we disagreed on something as big as free will.

From,

Epictetus

Classism Bothers Me

If there's something that bugs me, it's people who are classist. I am a person who really makes an effort to treat everyone equally, without racism or classism. As Epictetus says, "I am richer than you; therefore I am superior to you..But rather these are valid: 'I am richer than you; therefore my property is superior to yours'" (26). I completely agree with him in this sentence because no human is superior to another because of their richness. I find it ridiculous to feel superior for being rich or not. Many people in this world don't have the opportunity that others do to gain money. For this reason, I find it ignorant to rate yourself for the amount of money you have. As Epictetus says, I do find it valid for someone to say that one object is superior to the other. If someone has a modern phone, the phone is far superior form a phone from ten years ago, and therefore I think it's acceptable to make that assumption. Another thing that upsets me about people's reactions is when they think that since you did something quickly, you must have done it badly. "Someone takes a bath quickly; do not say that he does it badly." (26) I agree with Epictetus because doing something quickly has nothing to do with doing it badly. A perfect example is when I am studying for a test, or simply doing homework. Sometimes it just doesn't take long to do something, but the question from my mom always has to come. Did you do it well? Yes, is always my answer, but she never believes me. I hate when this happens because if you think that something is well done and clear, then why spend more time on it. This is a dilemma that I come across everyday since I am a faster worker than many people.

Don't Be Embarassed

Something that really bothers me is people who are ashamed of who they are. There are some people who just can't let things as they are. Some people who see trash on the floor feel a need to pick it up and throw it away. Some people are fine with letting people show their true side, but others are ashamed. "When you do something that you determine is to be done, never try not to be seen doing it, even if most people are likely to think something bad about it. ...why do you fear those who will criticize yo wrongly?" (24) I agree with Epictetus because no one should be hiding who they really. Why do people change who they really are to try to fit in with other people? This is something that I don't fully understand, and wish was changed. Another interesting point that Epictetus talks about is people who assume a role which they simply cant fulfill. "If you undertake some role beyong your capacity, you both disgrace yourself by taking it and also by thereby neglect the role that you were unable to take." (24) I agree with him because sometimes people try to exceed their capabilities and take positions which they can not accomplish. If I know that I'm not good at acting, I'm not going to take the main role in play. Even though it seems logical to me, many people struggle with this easy concept.

Before, During, After

I sometimes regret the things I've done and said because I hadn't carefully analyzed what would happen in the aftermath. "For each action, consider what leads up to it and what follows it, and approach it in the light of that. Otherwise you will come to it enthusiastically at first, since you have not borne in mind any of what will happen next, but later when difficulties turn up you will give up disgracefully." (19) A perfect example of this is when last week our P.E. class had to run the mile. Before we started running, all I did was stretch a little, and then the mile began. At first, I did a fast run until I couldn't keep up the my rhythm anymore. After about half way, I got very tired and started to slow down until I almost had to walk at the end of it from how tired I was. This shows how I acted without thinking. I didn't analyze that I would have to be running for more time than I could handle at that speed, and therefore my end result was not what I wanted it to be. This happens many times in life and I regret each one. It almost seems as if I don't learn from my previous mistakes because I keep on making the same mistakes. The same thing sometimes happens to me with teachers. They say something I don't like, and my natural reaction is to say what I think, but this has led me to bad situations in the past.

There was one other thing that Epictetus said that interested me. Many times people don't care for things that don't happen. "For example, when someone else's little slave boy breaks his cup we are ready to say."It's one of those things that just happen." Certainly, then, when your own cup is broken you should be just the way you were when the other person's was broken." (18) This is something that I HATE about the world. The majority of the people that I know are very selfish and egocentric. Everyday we hear terrible stories about deaths and such, but only rarely does it actually affect us. Then, when something we hear everyday happens to us, we can't believe how unlucky we are. I think that this is really bad because in a sense people think that those things won't happen to them, while in reality, they happen to everyone. I also can't believe that we let hunger occur everyday, while we have more than plenty food. This should really be fixed.

I'm Stupid?

I agree with one part of these next ten sections because Epictetus talks about not being selfish. "You are foolish if you want your children and your wife and your friends to live forever, since you are wanting things to be up to you that are not up to you, and things to be yours that are not yours" (15) I agree with this idea because in my mind set, it's completely true. You can't not accept that your friends and family are going to die. Everyone dies, so you must accept it. Your friends and family are not your property, and since this is true, you can not control them. Since you can't control them, you can't not want them to get away from you, or die. "You are stupid in the same way if you want your slave boy to be faultless, since you are wanting badness not to be badness but something else." (15) This is the next sentence after the previous one, and I also agree with it. Everyone is born differently. Some parents think that there children have to be perfect, and not do anything wrong, but I beg to differ. Every single person has a different attitude; some that make trouble, and some that don't. Having a parent who hides or ignores the fact that you are of the ones that makes trouble is stupid. I don't think that people who are troublesome are not as good as people who don't, it's just another way of living your life and having a different person. I mean how boring would it be to live in a world where everything is perfect? I like troublesome people, and I want them to stay in this world.

We Shouldn't Care

I'm really not sure if I understood these first ten sections but what I understood is that the best thing that we can do is to not care about anything. The author is saying that what makes our lives miserable is when we start caring about different things, and expecting things that aren't up to us. "What upsets people is not things themselves but their judements about the things. For example, death is nothing dreadful, but instead the judgement about death that it is dreadful- that is what is dreadful" (6) What Epictetus is saying is that we also sometimes put many different ideas into one group. We often think of death as a terrible thing, but death itself is not that bad. If somebody instantly dies, for them, it wasn't that bad. When you start judging death, and having feelings and opinions about it, is when it becomes "bad". What this is basically trying to say it that things themselves aren't bad, but when put feeling into them, or expect something, that is when we are mad. "So detach your aversion from everything not up to us, and transfer it to what is against nature. (12) This is another example of him trying to show us that it is better to not have feelings. Epictetus is making us believe that the only hate we should have is towards the things that are against nature. For everything else, we should have no hate and no feeling. Epictetus also talks about not trying to look for something to happen. "Do not seek to have events happen as you want them to, but instead want them to happen as they do happen, and your life will go well." (13) This was strange because I thought of a positive attitude when I read this. Sometimes bad things happen to people, but we have faith and a positive attitude that make us believe that something better will happen. Although many times we don't get what we wanted, looking for a bright future is what keeps us working hard and trying to achieve our goals. I guess that if you have low expectations and don't really care of the future, then you'll never be upset when you don't get the best future. Although I understand where he is coming from, I don't really like that point of view because it's pretty much saying to not have hope for a better future. Although this had made me think about how I see the future, I believe that Epictetus hasn't changed my opinion just yet.

Birds As The Ending?

When I first read this, I couldn't understand. How could it be that a book ends with such a non-significant line? Why would Vonnegut not have a big ending? This is what I believed until I analyzed it. The war is over, and Billy's alone. A paragraph before the book is over, we read about birds chirping, but then, “one bird said to Billy Pilgrim, “Poo-too-weet?” (PDF File) What this is doing is leaving a question for both Billy and the reader. I interpreted this as if the bird was asking Billy a question. After all, the Poo-too-weet has a question mark at the end. I started asking myself what this question could mean, and came up to the conclusion that it could mean something like and what's next?, or what are you going to do now? This gave me a whole new thought about the last line. While at first I had just thought that it was a weird way to end the book, it actually has a lot of meaning behind it. I like this ending because it leaves the reader thinking and wondering what will happen next. Figuring this out in a way gave me more interest in the book, and made me want there to be another chapter.

Looking At The Positives

I many times am jealous of people who one can tell that are truly happy. I am a person who although is happy, sometimes gets mad. This is a dilemma that I've had in my entire life. How can I always be happy. As I was reading chapter nine, I came across something that almost made me laugh. “Later on in life, the Tralfamadorians would advise Billy to concentrate on the happy moments of his life, and to ignore the unhappy ones-to stare only at pretty things as eternity failed to go by.” (PDF File) I wish it were that easy. I wish that one could just forget about the unhappy times and just keep the lessons learned from them. Although I would love for a perfectly 'happy' life, it would be boring and redundant if life was always happy. I also think that in order to be happy, you must have had to be unhappy at another point. There can't be rich without the poor is another example. Overall, I really don't agree with the Tralfamadorians opinion. I mean, how boring would a 'perfect' life be without any problems at all?

Can This Be Real?

While reading this book, I often forget that the book is also a war book. What I mean is that when one thinks of a war movie or book, they tend to think of all the action in the war and the bloody battles. Valkyrie was the first movie that I saw about a war, that wasn't really about the action in the war. It's a movie about a plan made to attempt to kill Hitler. This book also reminded me of that because it's not only about the battles. One part of the chapter that called my attention was "...use of burning jellied gasoline on human beings. It was dropped on them from airplanes. Robots did the dropping. They had no conscience, and no circuits which would allow them to imagine what was happening to the people on the ground." (PDF File) This line really shocked me. It made me stop reading for a minute, and analyze what I had just read. How can humans treat each other like they do. This is a question that I really think about a lot. I can never understand how events such as the Holocaust happened. Although I would love to have the answer, I know that it's impossible to know. Is it for power and land, or to exterminate another race? Or is it both? How can they go to sleep knowing they're killing thousands a day? I guess one day it'll all make sense.

How Sweet Is Revenge?

The part of chapter six that most shocked me was when Lazzaro tells his story about his dog. It really shocked me, and was one of the parts of the book that a couple of pages kept me completely hooked on. Lazzaro begins to talk about the revenge he took on his dog after it bit him. "When he was gone, Lazzaro promised Billy and poor old Edgar Derby that he was going to have revenge, and that revenge was sweet." (PDF File) This is when Lazzaro tells the story to Billy and Edgar and tells them that he was going to have revenge. Lazzaro later beings to talk about revenge, and his opinion about it. "It's the sweetest thing there is". (PDF File) In a way, I related to Lazzaro because I have many times have felt the urge to take revenge on people, but my self-conscience keeps stops me from acting. As the cliché goes, people want to give others a taste of their own medicine. This what my favorite part of the chapter because this is not a book in which while reading can relate to. When I read this part, it reminded me of my past experiences, and made me like this book more because it gave me a sense of Vonnegut trying to connect with the reader.

Wordiness

I was looking through Ilan's blog because he always has some interesting things to say in his blogs. As I was doing so, I saw that for the fifth chapter, he took a sentence from the book that he felt was wordy. I totally agree with him and decided that it was appropriate to write a blog about it. "And that it would probably be the first time in the lives of most people there that they had ever been in darkness that was total." (Slaughterhouse-Five PDF File)

My version: It was probably the first time that most people saw total darkness.

I don't even know if my version is correct, but I really think that for such a simple statement, the sentence is too complex and confusing. After the writer's workshop class that we had on wordiness, I've been constantly looking for sentence that were to wordy. I had never really thought of it as such a bad thing, but now I am starting to understand how much it affects one's writing. A wordy paragraph is not as easy to understand as if it is neat and easy to understand. I've also noticed that it doesn't mean that every long sentence is wordy, there are some sentences who have a lot of information, but is written in a clear way.

So It Goes?

At the beginning of the book, I thought that the "So it goes" was something that was always said after somebody died. I came across this line many times throughout the previous chapters, and had always thought of a way of remembering the person that died. This is what I believed until I read a weird line. That is when I first realized that I was reading the book completely wrong. Many parts of the book are ironic, but I had been reading it as if it were a history book. I felt silly, and then started to look for parts that were not supposed to be serious. "So Billy uncorked it with his thumbs. It didn't make a pop. The champagne was dead. So It goes." (Slaughterhouse-Five, PDF File) I was shocked to read this because I couldn't believe how wrong I had been reading this. Vonnegut in a way is making fun of himself when he says "So it goes". The champagne is not a person, but since he has said that line so many times, he laughs at himself by acting as if the champagne was a person because it didn't pop. To be sincere, now when I read "So it goes" I just look at it and laugh. How could I have taken such a book so seriously?

No Need For Negative Attitude

After reading chapter 3, I was deciding on what topic I could choose my blog. I was looking through the book to see what lines I could use. I then came upon a quotation which caught my eye. This part of the chapter really interested me because of the hobo's attitude.“I’ve been hungrier than this, the hobo told Billy. I been in worse places than this. This ain’t so bad.” (Slaughterhouse-Five, PDF File) The hobo told Billy this right before he died. This attitude really shocked me because it made me start thinking about how negative I sometimes am. I many times get in a bad mood because I have a lot of homework, or because I have a test, or because I have to study, and many more. When I read this part of the chapter, it made me feel silly. How can I be complaining about things that are not a big deal, while a hobo who is about to die because of hunger still has a positive attitude? It really made me feel guilty about the attitude that I live my life with. Instead of being grateful about all of the things that I have in my life, I tend to look at the negative parts. I've began to think about how greedy we really are. The majority of the world struggles to pay for food and shelter, but they still have a positive attitude about their lives. Then comes me, who complains about absolutely everything, when there is absolutely no need to. I feel guilty.

I Hate Ignorant People!

I can’t stand ignorance! Although I consider myself an ignorant person in some topics, I try hard everyday to learn more about the world. Everyone in this world is ignorant about some topics, so it wouldn’t be correct to say that I hate it. What I do hate is people who stopped caring for learning. If people try to learn more about different topics and at least have a general idea about everything, I think the world would really benefit from it.

It bothers me to see people who are complete experts on one subject, but don’t know about anything else. I understand that people have preferences and would like to learn about what they are interested in only, but I feel like knowing a little about everything really opens your mind to many new things. Related with ignorance, I don’t understand why people are so nervous of change. Some people are scared to move to a different country, or to live in a place where they’re not used to.

Overall, I would love for the world to not have ignorance. I feel that it is something that has to be taught in school. We I acknowledge that school is made to fight it, but school doesn’t cover everything. I also feel that at times, school goes too into depth in some topics, and doesn’t even discuss others.

Ignorance is something that I would like to abolish. Although this is an unrealistic wish, I feel that it would make the world a lot better. I believe that everyone should have a basic understanding of the majority of topics, and then a deeper understanding of certain subjects in which one is interested in.

Although this bothers me, what most frustrates me is when people really believe that they know something, while in reality are being completely wrong. Many people are taught to believe that they are always right, even though they are incorrect.

The Two Narrators

Although at first, I didn't give it much thought, I now find it very interesting how the book is set up with the narrator. I often times don't catch on to things like this as easily, but after being in some class discussions about the narration of this book, I've become eager to know. “The truth of it startled him. It would make a good epitaph for Billy Pilgrim-and for me too.” (PDF File) At first, I wondered if the narrator is Billy Pilgrim. After reading this, I found it obvious that this was not the case. In this line, it says "for Billy Pilgrim-and for me too." which is a perfect example to show that the narrator and Billy are two different people. "Listen: Billy Pilgrim has come unstuck in time." (PDF File) This is another example showing that the narrator and Billy are different because it talks about Billy Pilgrim in third person, while the book also has first person. Today's class discussion also proved after some valid points that this was the case. I believe that the only way to really know is to keep on reading to find out more clues and become more confident in my answer.

The Past Is Different From The Present

“All this happened, more or less. The war parts, anyway, are pretty much true” (Vonnegut, Pg.1). When I read this line, it shocked me. I had never read a book which in the first page doubted itself from its accurate facts.

From just reading the first chapter, it is clear that the book will have a lot to do with time. People often times are scared of the past. Other people realize that the past must not be forgotten. The protagonist is aware that the only way to not make mistakes, is to learn from your previous ones. His main problem is that he feels that by writing a book about war, he'll be ending the memories of his obsession. This is what I thought until the end of the chapter. As the book unfolds, I started to realize that he had finished writing the book. “People aren't supposed to look back. I'm certainly not going to do it anymore. I've finished my war book now. The next one I write is going to be fun. This one is a failure, and had to be, since it was written by a pillar of salt.” (Vonnegut, Pg. 8) I agree with the protagonist because it is a very human thing to do because looking back to the past is tempting. This happens many times with humans because we often times do what we're told not to do because it gives us an adrenaline rush.