Free Will

“You sound to me as though you don’t believe in free will,” said Billy Pilgrim. “If I hadn’t spent so much time studying Earthlings,” said the Tralfamadorian, “I wouldn’t have an idea what was meant by free will. I`ve visited thirty-one inhabited planets in the universe, and I have studied reports on one hundred more. Only on Earth is there any talk of free will.” (pg 86. Slaughterhouse Five)

The act of free will, according to the bible, was first “committed” by Adam, when he took an apple from the forbidden tree. Supposedly, humans used to live in the Garden of Eden, a beautiful paradise and home, but were kicked out thanks to this unforgiving act of simple curiosity. In both Slaughterhouse Five, and the bible, powers greater than us have criticized us for possessing the power of choice and liberty. Is it so wrong? Is it so human to have free will? Undoubtedly, many would consider free will to be a gift, maybe even from God. It has brought us to be the Earth`s most powerful species, making greater and greater advancements by the year. This “gift”, also allows us to think, progress, and help others. Of course though, with great power comes great responsibility, and along with this “gift”, an undefeatable evil surged as well. The book Dante`s Inferno, gives us a clear example of the malevolence that comes with free will. Lustfulness, violence, fraud, and betrayal, are just a few of several actions that occur by the millions, all around the world.

We are a unique species, one of a kind out of several planets in the universe (according to slaughterhouse five). Although there are several reasons why we should believe that free will is a gift, it just might end up becoming a curse.

The Relm of Possibilities

God grant me
The serenity to accept
The things I cannot change
Courage
To change the things I can
And wisdom always
To tell the difference.

This is a passage that can be found on pg 60 of the third chapter of Slaughterhouse Five. Although I find this to be an amazing quote, I wouldn`t say that it applies to many people. I personally can`t really tell the things I am able to change from the things I am not. Nowadays, our world`s youth (specially) is surrounded by other quotes and maxims that completely contradict this one, and actually make us believe that anything is possible. For example, one of Adidas`s most famous slogans is “impossible is nothing”. This phrase, I’m sure, has played a huge effect on millions of people, making them believe that if they buy Adidas products, then anything in sports can be done. This is despite the fact that a person can have absolutely no athletic talent. There are much more though, that we have all heard: “never say never”, “Impossible is not a scientific quote”, and so on. Some people just cannot admit that they are unable to do something, but what I think is worse, are those who simply never try. How would the world`s greatest discoveries and accomplishments been made, if the people doing them were too serene to believe that they were possible? What if, after two years of failed attempts and over six thousand different models, Thomas Edison had realized that he was unable to make a light bulb? What I`m trying to say, is that it is good to know and admit your boundaries, but don’t let them hold you back from anything.

A Clash of Personalities

In this second chapter, many important characters come up, such as Billy Pilgrim, who I would consider to be the protagonist of the story, and Roland Weary. Both these figures have very distinct and opposite personalities. On one hand, there is the serene, peaceful and completely innocent nature of Billy Pilgrim, who eventually meets Roland Weary, a very twisted, low tempered, and grumpy eighteen year old boy. I believe that these are good examples of extreme personalities which every well rounded human being tries hard not to adopt. People who are as pushed over as Billy is, only end up being stepped on and taken advantage of. However, those who lean more towards Weary`s unpleasant attitude, tend to be ditched allot. Every day and anywhere we go, people like this can be found. None of us though, should ever take up any of these unrewarding mentalities, but should aspire to become that balanced person, who knows how to stand up for him/herself and at the same time, isn’t stuck up or ill-tempered towards others. The events in the book though, are made much more interesting thanks to this very unique clash. The reader also ends up finding out just how much these characters depend on one another to balance out their weaknesses.

Who is I?

The first chapter of the book Slaughterhouse Five, was a very peculiar way to start a novel, consisting of several incomplete and confusing ideas. It is told in the first person, but very little assumptions can be made about the narrator. He always refers to himself as “I”, but never mentions any name. At this point, there are only two guesses of whom this mysterious speaker could be: a character, or the author himself. In an attempt to eliminate one of these two options, I made a brief research on the biography of Kurt Vonnegut. Turns out that he did experience practically all of the events that the book`s narrator went through, including the participation in World War II as a soldier and a prisoner (in Dresden), the witnessing of the fire bombing in Dresden, and the mere fact that both of them are writers. Although these connections do favor the idea that the narrator is Kurt Vonnegut, the possibility always exists that the events in the author `s life were simply an inspiration for writing the book. Despite it all we can definitely state that Slaughterhouse Five was written on a very personal level, and was written upon several of Vonnegut`s life experiences.

Definitions

Redolent: Emitting smell; Suggestion.

Disparate: Different in kind of character.

Janus-faced: Having contrast or polarities.

Sloughed-off: Rub something off; Ignore a negative happening.

Essay: Short piece of writing, written from the author`s point of view.

Benign: Kind and gentle disposition.

Answers to Blog Questions

1. There are many differences between a blog and a book. Books, first of all, are organized, take time to read, and have a given amount information to read. Blogs, on the other hand, are unorganized, concise in most cases, and can take you to infinite amounts of links or related topic, grabbing whatever they want from whatever they want.

2. Blogging has recently changed, mostly because early bloggers wouldn't show much commentary, but instead, would offer place names and coordinates on the web. Other than this you could say that blogging has become much more popular now than when it started back in the early 1980s. Nowadays, hundreds of millions of people all around the world use blogs for a much wider variety of reasons, such as politics, gossips, pictures, etc.

3. I might have read a blog in the past for a couple of reasons. Mainly it could have been because I was searching for different opinions or arguments on big issues or projects going on at the time. Honestly though, I haven't gotten fully used o blogs, and will usually browse for other internet pages when seeking information. 

4. I actually do believe that there is reason to doubt a blog's objectivity. In my opinion, I would say that most blogs are completely subjective and give personal, biased opinion. Specially in cases such as politics, or book reflections (like we will be doing in this class), the writer will always write what he or she is thinking. This opposes the idea that blogs are objective.    

5. http://everydayplaystation.wordpress.com/2009/02/10/dantes-inferno-god-of-war-meets-dead-space/-Dante's Inferno

http://www.creativereview.co.uk/crblog/obey-george-orwell/-1984

http://jason451.wordpress.com/2009/01/15/fire-burns-orange/- A Clockwork Orange