"I Suppose That the Idea of Preventing War on Earth is Stupid Too"

Many people view war as something necessary and vital for society. Others see it as the perfect way to make decisions, letting the most powerful side win. Some like war because it is their source of income. Several loathe it because they lost a loved one to it. Most people, like me, hate it because they watch the news and know what is going on. But just a few despise it, because they were there.

Billy Pilgrim is on of these. He describes it as a "senseless slaughter" and is sickened by the horrible deeds done at war. These were awful. Soldiers would boil innocent school girls and kill men for no reason. At one point, one of Billy's colleagues is shot. Yes, this is bad, but it seems nowhere out of the ordinary. However, to make matters worse, soldiers pinned a target on him. This greatly enraged me. I felt a huge hatred towards these sick men while reading this. Not only are they killing somebody, but they are also making a game out of it. How messed up can you be to do something as senseless and idiotic as this?

When describing his comrades, Billy says they "were proud of fighting pure evil at the time." The phrase "at the time" demonstrates that this is no longer the case. Former soldiers are not proud of the terrible things they did at war. As one of them, Billy desires peace on Earth and even asks the Tralfamadorians to help him attain it. I like this about Billy. He is constantly trying to improve society and feels like this is in his hands. This is demonstrated with him joining the army -and this way helping his country- and afterwards writing letters to enlighten people about the Tralfamadorians' ideas. He believes the latter will help people understand everything better and improve their lives.

People in opposite sides of wars are unbelievably cruel to each other. This is why I was utterly shocked as I read about what a good friend a German was to the English in the war prison. He would visit and play with them, teach them, and play piano for them. He even says that if it weren't for them, he would go mad.

This is proof that although countries may be fighting and hating each other, this will never stop people from being friends with their country's enemy. In this case, even those who are fighting and are supposed to hate each other, have become friends. This is the country's fight, not theirs. They are doing the right thing and not letting a huge war between countries get to them personally and affect their relationships with others. This is something others should be able to do as well: Not let others' fights get to them.