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.