HOF and SH5 are a lot like pickles and ice cream, If you think about it.

HOF= Hearts of Fire (refer to blog post prior to this)
SH5= Slaughter House Five (refer to two blogs before this)

Okay so this blog is going to be a compare and contrast between HOF and SH5, because I saw many underlying themes that closely resembled each other.

First I want to start with Billy's perspective in SH5. Basically, he thinks that Christianity is only good for pain and suffering. Flipping the books over to HOF, the Christians are the ones experiencing that pain and suffering. Can you say plot twist?

Secondly, looking at the book from a biblical perspective, BP broke number 7 of the ten commandments: "Though shall not commit adultery." He also broke the biblical rule found in Ephesians 5:18 "And do not be drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the holy Spirit." (All of which he broke in the same sentence in SH5) Found on page 46, "Billy blinked in 1958, traveled in time to 1961. It was New Year's Eve and Billy was disgracefully drunk... Billy usually didn't drink much, because the war had ruined his stomach, but he certainly had a snootful now, and he was being unfaithful to his Valencia for the first and only time." 

Finally, both the women in HOF and BP in SH5 have an "escape plan". For Billy his way of escape in a difficult time is time jumping or going to Tralfamadore. For the women, it's praying or reading their bible and finding their comfort through Jesus. 

Is it just me, or does it seem like KV purposely set his story up to be very religious, lowkey of course? I just couldn't help myself by making this a post when I saw how closely the two books that I happen to be reading simultaneously are so intertwined. 

Reflections are always so interesting to me. 

Think about it, pickles and ice cream seem so gross together and you would never think to eat that, but when you finally taste it, you discover that it's not so bad. 

Hearts of Fire or Voices like flames?

This marking period I started reading this new book called 'Hearts of Fire' published by Thomas Nelson. This book is so interesting to me, because it is a combination the stories of eight women in the underground church and their stories of their costly faith.

The women in this book have had to endure such pain and agony simply for being Christians. Many of them live in countries where it is illegal, so they have to hide their faith.

Below is a map of the countries- today- that are heavily monitored based off of their faith.


One thing that I really like about this book is that every chapter switches to a different point of view. The writing is set up in a journal format, but it is in third person. All of their names have been changed for security reasons.
I have been having a really difficult time figuring out whom the text is addressing, though. My best guess is that is it directed toward people in similar situations and is projecting hope to them.
The overall theme in this book is most definitely faith.

For example on page 66, "For Purnima the next few minutes seemed an eternity. Tired and worn down physically from lack of food- the prisoners were fed rice twice a day- and dirty from being unable to bathe, she nevertheless felt the peace of God glowing inside her during these sessions."

To be tortured and beaten daily and still being able to smile and the end of every day is a flat out miracle. What makes it even better is that this book is a message to everyone that things around you may be bad, but you don't have to respond to that. After all, like Tinkerbell says, "Faith, trust and a little pixie dust."

The women in this book and so strong and amazing. Do you think it would be as easy for you to let your life be led by God and have total faith like they do? Could you be beaten and starved and still have a smile on your face?

Slaughter House 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5?

Billy Pilgrim sat on a wall.

Billy Pilgrim had a great fall. 

All of the prayers mixed with his sins couldn't put Billy together again.

What was the wall that destroyed Billy? War.  

Billy Pilgrim a religious man or not? That question is like asking how many licks it takes to get the the center of a tootsie pop, the world will never know.

But. What we do know is that he may not have said exactly what, but Billy believed in something. 

There are many times throughout the book where he references Jesus or where he's praying. For example, on page 109, "The flaw in the Christ stories, said the visitor from outer space, was that Christ, who didn't look like much, was actually the Son of the Most Powerful Being in the Universe."

Although he refers to God and Jesus by name throughout the book, notice how he doesn't call this being God here.

 Or on page 209, Billy's reoccurring prayer, "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to tell the difference."

But here he clearly calls him God. It seems to me as if he's "confused" in a sense. He doesn't know what he wants to believe in. Almost like having one foot into door number one and the other into door number two. It's only a matter of time before both doors close and you're left in the cold. You just can't double dip forever, BP. 

Why do you think Kurt Vonnegut chose to give Billy beliefs that strayed from the social norms? Do you think this decision enhanced Billy's character? 

Originally, I thought KV made this decision, because he was modeling his own belief system through BP, but after some intense research, I discovered that KV was catholic. So, my second hypothesis was that he chose this, because he wanted to differentiate how unique, for lack of better words, BP was. KV wanted BP to seem like such a nut job that there would be absolutely no question as to if he had PTSD or not. The answer is very clearly, yes.