The Dissolution of Time

My partner and I did a painting based on the themes of time and free will in Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut. Some major ideas that we wanted to capture were that time itself is an illusion, which was the purpose of the numbers in the warp, and the significance of the bombing in Dresden and the capturing of Billy Pilgrim by the Tralfamadorians, which are two major events in his life.The scattered numbers where essentially looked at as a broken clock, but if we are considering that another main theme was the illusion of free will, the numbers could be a metaphor for everything that we as humans go through in life. Because if you think about it, everything that happens in our life is essentially decided by numbers; from grades, to years, to how much money is in our bank accounts. The dissolution of the clock in this poster shows the reality, at least the Tralfamadorian reality, that there is no free will because there is no time, at least not time as we're used to it.

In an article titled "Neuroscience in Fiction" by Susana Martinez-Conde, http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/illusion-chasers/slaughterhouse-5/, it is noted that "Tralfamadorians don't percieve time as an arrow, but as an all-encompasing experience of simultaneous past, present, and future." That statement in itself incorporates the entire vision for the scattered numbers, or "broken clock," that time is simply an illusion. According to the article humans "perceive time linearly" which is why we "feel that we make most of our decisions freely," and because time is an illusion so is free will, which is one of the major things that Billy Pilgrim comes to discover as he becomes "unstuck in time." The illusions of time and free will are what can cause unnecessary sensations of hopelessness, because humans feel that have lost control when they should be in control, when in reality there is nothing to control. Since every is happening and has already happened all at the same time there is no reason to assume control over anything, and there is also no reason to feel sad over things that happen. Which is why every time someone dies in the book Billy and the Tralfamadorians use the phrase "So it goes." Using the phrase "So it goes" after every death is an acknowledgement of time not being a factor, because according to the Tralfamadorians a person is only dead in one moment and alive in so many other, linear time wouldn't work in this way of thinking. We incorporated this phrase into the poster by making it stand out in the orange paint, because it is an important factor in the book, but it is also not more important than anything else which is why it is not in the middle or especially large. This exemplifies the equalization that is in very essence of the phrase and the book as a whole.

The two main images in black on the poster are representative of the two major places that Billy Pilgrim would always travel to, the bombing in Dresden and the planet of Tralfamadore. These two events seem to be the most significant because Dresden is place that initially triggered the trauma that caused the flashbacks and "trips". And the experience with the Tralfamadorians, I feel, is what helped him cope with the feelings of hopelessness that came after the bombing, because the lessons he learned will the Tralfamadorians taught him that since time and free will do not exist, there is no reason to despair, no reason to ask "Why me?" Because according to the Tralfamadorians, there is no why.

Too Grunge for this Scene?

"Beloved" by Toni Morrison, starts off generally a lot like your typical "revengeful ghost" story. With the ghost being of a murdered person of importance, usually in a cruel or unusual way and/or being a child. The ghostly presence that appears in "Beloved" happens to have both of those dangerous characteristics, being the ghost of a baby killed by her mother. This trope of ghosts and the supernatural continues throughout and is even thoroughly enhanced have a believed human manifestation of the dead child arises in the form of "Beloved."

As I was thinking of movies that could compare to this sort of vengeful ghost trope, the first to pop into my head was "The Grudge." Though the story line is much different, a mentally ill man who kills his wife and child out of jealousy, the appearance of the ghost(s) (the dead wife and child) happen in almost the same ways. They, all the ghosts aforementioned, are all angry about not only being murdered, but being murdered by the people they love.

Roger Ebert described 'The Grudge" as a movie that "rigidly followed the old-age formula of horror movies" on his website http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-grudge-2004, which is probably the exact reason that this movie is a good tool of comparison to "Beloved." Not at all saying that "Beloved" has a typical story line, because that is very far from the truth. This movie is good comparison tool because of both it's similarities and differences with the book, and there are plenty of each. Along with all the similarities I've listed about another is the manifestation and the ghosts. It is very clear that in "Beloved" the book's namesake is believed to be the dead baby's manifestation, and in "the grudge" something similar happens where the dead boy is believed to have been seen. 

The major differences between the two, though, are basically how the ghosts are resolved or put to rest. In "Beloved," for example, there is finality, a peaceful ending to the story of Beloved and the hold she had on the main character's lives. But in "the Grudge" the hauntings continued, it had to, so that the film industry could milk all the money it could off of this story.         

Secondary Source link : http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-grudge-2004

The movie I watched is titled Saints and Soldiers: Airborne Creed, and as far as movies go I must say it isn’t the best, but it definitely got the job done. The movie is set in World War II and  is about three lost American paratroopers who landed behind enemy lines, far away from the safe drop zone. The three of them work together to get to safety and run into a lot of trouble, mostly caused by German soldiers. Along the way they run into a young female who is a member of the French resistance and she convinces them the get off course and help her free her friends, big mistake. The “climax” of this film happens when the three American paratroopers and a band of French resistors try to fight off a German tank, and this ended with two out of the three main characters dying. The last of the three, Rossi, is helped by wounded German officer until he dies, and almost simultaneously Rossi is found by other Americans. The End.

Trying to figures out the themes in this movie was just a little bit difficult because I was really trying to make sense of it as a whole (the ending was kind of erratic). But one theme that I did notice the movie had in common with SlaughterHouse Five is the theme of constant daydreams or flashbacks that are used as escapes from reality. Billy Pilgrim goes back and forth through time so many times in Slaughterhouse Five it’s almost hard for me to keep up, but thinking about that in the context of war it’s quite understandable. That is was Rossi does a lot throughout the movie, he has constant flashbacks to his past war times and it takes him completely out of reality for however long they last.

The one thing that is different about the Billy and Rossi is that Billy uses these escapes from reality as releases to ease his mind and make him feel better, for the most part; while Rossi on the over and has detrimental flashbacks. The flashbacks that Rossi has are dark and often take him out of focus when he needs it the most. Understanding that both the book and the movie are set in war times makes the daydreams and flashbacks more understandable because the immense pressure that the brain is under during those trying times. It is not uncommon for soldiers and veterans to experience these at all which is why it makes sense that these two war themed pieces have that quality, they are true to form. Mental health is a serious medical issue which is an underlying theme of both these pieces as well.

CAIN you believe its from Bible?

For some reason, I’m guessing to prevent the chance of someone being offended, the chapter “...Or the Bible” wasn’t included in the mandatory reading from this book, but nevertheless I felt compelled to read it, maybe it was divine intervention. Most of what I read in the chapter was pretty much understood already, people allude to the Bible because it is one of the most well known books ever written. Just like people allude to Shakespeare because he’s one the most well known writers to ever exist. But then I thought about why… Why is (or was) the Bible, and books like it ( ie. Quran, Torah) that ingrained in people’s psyche? Most likely for the same reason Shakespeare is so ingrained in 20th and 21st century minds; because it was taught.

Long before the whole separation of church and state (school) thing, church was a key ingredient in private and public education. So whether or not you truly believed in God or in anything in the Bible, you knew what it was. That’s why there’s so many great writers who consistently, knowingly or unknowingly, reference or allude to certain characters or ideas from the Bible. Even if you are a non-believer, and you could never believe that anything in Bible has any truth or substance, its hard to deny that it is simply a great piece of literature, fiction or non. But its almost impossible to be aware of that if you are a person who doesn’t believe and isn’t pressured or forced into studying it, and thats not to say that it should be forced down people’s throats.

But that being said, it makes sense that in the years since the Bible has been forcefully removed from the classroom there has been less and less prose that is saturated with biblical references and notions.

I know I said the reason I chose this particular chapter was likely due to divine intervention, but honestly the decision to read was simply because of the word “Bible” in title. I was kind of stuck on which three chapters to read on my own and being a Christian I had hoped that I would have some kind of connection with this chapter so that I wouldn’t get bored and stop… And once I started reading, I did. The mention of several stories I had heard from sunday school or my own private reading drew me in like a fish on a hook. For some parts of it, when Foster would just elaborate without mentioning specific works or authors, I was in a trance. Then I realized that that feeling, the feeling of knowing something that others may not, that feeling of having an insider with the author, the “something subtle that happens” that foster mentions towards the end, is what I hoping to and did get from this chapter and from so many other books, movies, and poems that have the subtle nuances that can be traced to the Bible. I’m so glad this chapter made it into this book.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

To me, reading chapter ten of this book, "It's More Than Just Rain or Snow," seemed to be pretty tedious task, at first. Who doesn't know that rain casts a dark shadow in almost all situations? As a semi-professional rain hater, this concept was well understood, but then I kept reading...

Rain provides many contrasting elements to a story but most of them come from the darker side of the feelings scale; pain, discouragement, darkness, and often times rain also comes with the sense that there is something to overcome. My first question is: Why does rain have to have such negative symbolism?
Does no one realize that rain can produce a journey? Think about it, one of the main examples that Foster uses is of the hangman, the criminal, and the brother, the three are trapped together for a purpose - they share an experience together that would otherwise never happen, because of the rain. They share an experience because of the inconvenience that the rain caused. Rain almost always comes right before a major climax of any kind in a story and it has so many varying products, but the truth is its never about the products of rain. The real depth comes from what happens during the rain, not after you finally see the rainbow. This is why, the more I thought about the symbolism of rain, the less I understood it. I don't understand why, if something makes you grow and learn in the long run, anyone would focus on the negative temporary feelings. Granted I still hate the rain, but that's because since I don't live in a great work of literature, I've never had a life changing moment - good or bad - that has happened because of rain (or at all for that matter).

As a sensible person, I recognize that not all rain can have positive symbolism. Imagining rain in its simplest symbolic meaning, often said as "the dark and stormy night," its obvious that rain provides a sort of dark omen to literature, and for some reason writers of all types find it ever so necessary that this dark omen is put into place. Which brings me to my other question: Why do writers feel the need to make everything dark? And more questions spawn from that. Why does literature have to come from a place of darkness to be talked about? Why must something bad always happen to characters? Is there no way for a story of character to develop without being dragged through the literary mud (caused by the rain)? Maybe one day I'll find the answer the these questions and begin a new era of literature... One day.




Water, in its many forms, has so many meanings and interpretations, my favorite that Foster points out is the cleansing affects of floods. Foster points out floods can be symbolic of God's version of a redo button, but it can also be seen as a uniter of earth and sea. (That seems pretty obvious now that I've actually typed it.) Anyways, I find it interesting that in this day and age, with everyone denouncing religion and everything to do with it, that Bible is still the most commonly alluded to book in the world. No one would ever be able to see the good in something as devastating as a flood if it weren't for God's promise to Noah.

True quest or glorified road trip?

Let's say there's a boy, we'll name him Michael, and Michael just so happens to be homeless. And let us also picture this young, homeless boy, Michael, is walking down a long, lonely road just looking for a place to stay for the night, and just for the fun of it, let's add some rain to this sad picture. Now would you think that this the making of a grand quest, or simply just a walk down a road?

This is what the first chapter of the book has made to do to every main character in any book or movie that I come across. Until I read this, I never made it a point to differentiate between a simple trip and a quest; because, first of all, I didn't know there even was a difference, and second, because I honestly never cared enough to dig deeper into anything I've read (or seen). Now whether or not "Michael's" trip was just a trip or a grand quest is still up for debate, but the things that follow lead me to believe that Sir Michael is, in fact, a knight of sorts on a grand quest. His trip down the lonely road transformed into a quest of becoming a professional football player, and there was plenty of troubles along Sir Michael's way; and in case you didn't get it, this example is paying homage to the main character in the movie, "The Blind Side."


One thing that really stuck with me from this chapter is when Foster says "The reason for a quest is always self-knowledge" (which makes sense because usually people who go on quests suffer through some crazy trials that no one who is secure with themselves would bother facing.) And since this is the true meaning of a quest, could it not be said that puberty, not the physical but the maturing aspect of it, could be the ultimate quest for all humans. The pubescent years (teen years) are some of the most confusing times in a person's life, and most teens can't see it but the bulk of the trials that we face aren't just small individual molehills, but they add up to become one large mountain and overcoming that mountain of tribulations is what leads to maturity and self discovery, the ultimate goal of this quest.

Apparently a quest is the most basic idea in literature, this is quite unsettling for me since I have been having a particularly difficult time with it, but never the less I can see why that can be said. My problem arises mostly in the select instances when a trip to the store is simply a trip to the store, when saints aren't seen in random balloons, or when a random decision is just that and nothing more. I still haven't been able to come up with a decent example of a simple trip that doesn't become something more, even though according to the title of this chapter there should be a few. So maybe the title of the chapter is a little misleading, it should actually just be "Every Trip IS a Quest. Period."