Slaughterhouse 5 and My Big Question

Slaughterhouse 5 really wasn't about healthy or harmful relationships in my personal opinion. What I got from the novel was the internal struggle that Billy Pilgrim had as to what he should do with his life. Throughout the novel Billy time traveled, and to me that was an example of the author saying how Billy didn't really have a set goal or direction that he wanted to go in and take his life to. He was in the war and was an optometrist, but I personally believe that he couldn't really focus on something for very long. The escape to Tramafaldore could be a great example of him trying to find a way to avoid having to accomplish things and just deal with life as it comes.

To Billy, all his relationships seemed indifferent. He was married to a woman that he didn't really care much for and he was satisfied with that. She didn't do him any harm and was actually a good companion for him, but there was nothing special about their relationship. Also with Montana he didn't seem to care much what happened with her either way. He was happy about their relationship, but just like his other wife nothing spectacular made him love her in a very passionate way. The fact that he didn't feel bad about cheating on his wife is another example of his indifference, he didn't encourage cheating, but he simply didn't judge as to whether the action was right or wrong. All the relationships he had in war were also very indifferent because not once did he grieve for one of his fallen friends. The only time that Billy cried was when he saw that the horse was being so mistreated. He didn't cry when the school teacher was shot, or when Weary was killed, or even when he found bodies or had to sleep next to the dead hobo on the train. Billy simply didn't feel emotion. He wanted out of life and no relationship that he had could truly change his personality or affect him in an impactful way. Not even his daughter could sway him to believe in what she thought was right nor could the rejection of the public about his Tramafaldore experiences hinder the belief he had in those aliens.

Billy was a very strange character in that the only thing he was passionate about was time traveling and getting people to believe that he was telling the truth. Although it never worked that was the only thing that Billy did not give up on. He gave up on life, on his family, and on having a successful career, but he did not give up on presenting the Tramafaldorians to the Earth world. I think the Tramafaldore experience was simply an outlet for him to relieve his fears or stress that he had in the real world.

Beloved and My Big Question

The relationships in this novel are probably some of the most complex I've ever seen. To begin with, the relationships between Sethe and her children are very complicated. The relationship between Denver and Sethe is interesting because Denver is only trying to help Sethe and in Sethe's mind she is trouble because the white men will come and try to enslave her so she attempts to kill Denver and her other three children. Regarding the murder of her little daughter, the relationship is definitely harmful. Because Sethe wanted to protect her children so bad she had to revert to killing them and that was obviously not good for Sethe's mental and physical health. When the baby returns as a ghost haunting 124 it is even worse because it is a constant reminder of Sethe's past. The healthy relationship between Sethe and Baby Suggs is very important because Baby Suggs was a great role model for Sethe and Denver. With her passing, it was hard for the family to get along. The appearance of Paul D is helpful to Sethe's life. The ghost goes away and then they all seem happy as a family until he finds out about Sethe's past. Paul D protected Sethe and made her feel loved again, but then turned into a harmful relationship when they fought about the past. In the end of the novel though Paul D returns and becomes the steady figure in Sethe's life that she needs. He tells her "You your best thing, Sethe. You are." He is there for encouragement and is always willing to be there for her when she needs his help. The relationship between the adult Beloved and Sethe is very harmful, but physically and mentally. Towards the end of the book Beloved has a certain power over Sethe and Sethe starts to give everything she has to Beloved. She begins to get physically ill because she is giving all her food to Beloved and thinks of no one but Beloved. She is trying to give every ounce of love she has to Beloved to make up for her past, even if it means sacrificing herself. With Beloved seeking revenge and glady recieving all these things from Sethe it is obvious that it is a hurtful relationship. To me, Paul D is really the person who holds together everything in the end, and I believe that he, Sethe and Denver will go on to live a much happier and more fulfilling life.

The Stranger and My Big Question

The Stranger and my big question really do not relate to each other very much in my opinion. Because Meursalt is so indifferent about life throughout the novel it seems that nothing affected him, including relationships. Even with Marie, it said it made him happy at times, but we know that he could have gone without it. In that, I think Marie's relationship really didn't alter Meursalt's life on a drastic scale. It was nice for him to have something with a woman and something fun that he could experience with her, but in the end it really made no difference to him whether he was with her or not. He never truly depicts missing her terribly or longing for her when he is in jail and she is not allowed to see him anymore. The relationship between him and Raymond also wasn't very imposing on his life besides the fact that it lead to him killing the Arab. Meursalt is never angry with Raymond because it was basically Raymond's fault, and he simply accepts that he committed a crime.

The only true instance where Meursalt reveals his feelings is when he is with the man of God. I think the only reason for this occurring was because he knew he was about to die and so he finally decided to let out all the emotion that he had kept inside his entire life. I personally believe that there is more to Meursalt's mother then the author lead us to think. There most likely was something that occurred in his early childhood life, possibly something with his Dad, that made him want to bottle up his feelings and not care about the world. Why else would the author put in the details of the mother's funeral? Or, Meursalt and his mother had gone through something tragic or life changing together and with that it made Meursalt indifferent about the world and when his mother died the emotion started building up inside him until it was finally released explosively before his death. Overall, the only relationship that truly impacted Meursalt was that with his mother and all the others really did not impact his life drastically. And, that relationship with his mother was most likely harmful because it caused him to hold his emotions inside and let them build up until its breaking point.