response to question 9

Anna Aycock

response to question 9

Kurt Vonnegut writes a lot of details in describing Valencia’s car after she wrecks. He says that, “the gaping trunk looked like the mouth of a village idiot who was explaining that he didn’t know anything about anything” (234). How Billy acts is a lot like how the trunk of the beat up car looks. Both of these things: Billy and the now wrecked car have a lot in common. They are both said to be acting like a stranger in a new place. Billy is always going from place to place and never knowing where he will be next; Vonnegut makes many similarities between these two. He also states that, “The back window was veined with cracks” (234). Billy has a very difficult time in his life between time traveling and also the hardships that the war has caused on him. These have made him extremely similar to the cracked window. They are both flawed and imperfect but are just holding it together. The window is still intact but barely, Billy is barely holding it together also he has a hard time relating with the world especially because of his time traveling and being yanked from one time in his life to a totally different one. Vonnegut also talks about how the exhaust system is now totally disconnected from the rest of the car and is laying on the ground. This relates to Billy because it shows you that he has had a difficult time in his life and it is more difficult for him because he is being put through them it over and over again. Some people would say that Billy has a few bolts missing or that he is not completely sane, this might be true especially since he talks about aliens and believes in them. That is that he has imagined some things in life that may not be true but it is the way that he deals with all the horrible things that he has seen in his life and I do not think that I would handle it any better.