Oh the memories...

In Slaughterhouse Five, Billy is famously known for having flashbacks of his past. He experiences and relives everything that has happened to him, both good and bad. He can even see into the future as well, even to the exact day and time of his death. However, on his eighteenth wedding anniversary, what he experienced was a memory instead of his a flashback. His nice white house was full of guests, mostly optometrists and their wives, for a wonderful celebration of their marriage and how long it had lasted. A group of optometrists who attended the party were also known for being in a quartet who called themselves “The Febs”. They entertained the guests with their rehearsed songs and had prepared a special song for the “happy” couple. The quartet began their song, and the chords being sung struck Bill in an unusual way, even to the extent of his facial expressions being distorted. The words of the song also had a big impact on him, one that he did not understand why. On page 220, the song says “So long forever, old fellows and gals, so long forever old sweethearts and pals – God bless ‘em – And so on.” Billy did not understand why this had affected him in such a strange way, seeing as though he had never had old fellows or old sweethearts, yet he missed them anyways. Billy wandered up to his bedroom in an effort to compose himself once again, but instead had a memory visit him. The memory was in Dresden and it was the day of the attack. He had been down in the meat locker with the other Americans and four of their guards while the town around was being destroyed and eaten alive by fire. After spending quite some time in the locker, they resurfaced to find themselves alone with no other survivors. On page 227, it states “The guards drew together instinctively, rolled their eyes. They experimented with one expression and then another, said nothing, though their mouth were often open. They looked like a silent film of a barbershop quartet.” The quartet that was still singing along throughout the night underneath his feet downstairs had reminded him of that tragic day in Dresden. The memory was not one of his famous flashbacks that he relives, but simply a reminder of something that had an impact on his life. It’s just like when we catch a scent unexpectantly that takes us to another place, like home, or a certain holiday, like Christmas.