domingo, 11 de septiembre de 2011
"The Ones Who Hated War the Most, Were the Ones who Really Fought."
The first chapter of Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut, is more like a preface than a part of the story itself. The narrator was a soldier in World War II, and wants to write a story about his experience in the Bombing of Dresden. However, he is unsure of what to include in his novel. In the end, he is able to write a "short and jumbled and jangled" novel, because according to him, "there is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre."
I find it best to begin by explaining a bit about what the Bombing of Dresden was, for those who like me, knew little about the topic. In the 1940's the Royal Air Force and the United States Army Airforce developed firestorms. They would drop bombs filled with chemicals like magnesium, petroleum jelly and phosphorus, over big areas. The area would catch fire and temperatures would rise quickly, sucking people into the fire.
On February 13th, 1945, seven hundred seventy-three Royal Air Force planes bombed Dresden, which had not been attacked during the war and was not very well defended. The United States Army Airforce sent five hundred twenty-seven more bombers during the next two days to support the United Kingdom. It was impossible to determine how many people were killed in this bombing. Some researchers say there were 35,000 victims, but many Germans say the number was well over 100,000.
It is ironic to be writing this on September 11, since there is so much in common between the Dresden Bombing and 9/11. Both of these attacks' target were civilians, since there were no military bases in neither of them. They were acts of warning towards the country being attacked: Allies wanted to show the Axis countries how powerful they were, and the Al Qaeda wanted to demonstrate that the US wasn't as indestructible as everybody thought. Although every year, there are people crying and urging others to commemorate victims of these occurrences, only those who were there and experienced all the chaos are aware of what it truly was. Yes, there were people watching the twin towers fall on TV the entire time or looking out for the lost plane, and there were others trying to contact anybody they knew who might have been harmed and keeping up with any news related to the events... but they will never know what everything was like: What the heat felt like, what went through people's minds at that instant, the sight of people dying around them, feeling useless as there is nothing they could do to save them, etc.
The fact that a witness of the Dresden Bombing wants to release a novel about what everything was like, is simply amazing. As the narrator demonstrates, it is very hard to remember everything that took place, and even harder to put it all in a book. The narrator explains that after a massacre, everyone is supposed to be dead and everything is supposed to be very quiet, except for the birds. After the Dresden Bombing, everybody was quiet. Most of the people died, but those who survived didn't say much about it. However, by publishing a novel on what everything was like, the writer is acting like a bird. He is daring to speak up in the middle of a never ending silence, having the courage to demonstrate that there was still life and to exhibit what this terrible event was like.
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I like the way you added background information on the bombing because unless you look for outside sources, you never really understand what it was. The connection you made between the chapter and the horrible events of September 11 was something that I had not realized before but now that you helped me realize it, I completely agree. I also like the point you make towards the end, where you state that although many people will try to empathize with the victims, no one will be able to completely relate to their feelings and experiences.
ResponderEliminarI really enjoyed Reading your blog. I think it was a really good idea to include background information, because honestly, the Dresden Bombing is the essence of the book. Plus like Yvette said, you cannot really understand something until you at least know its background. I like the comparison you made between 9/11 and the Dresden Bombing, especially how you say that anyone who didn’t literally live the experience will not be able to understand it, or its impact on the people who did live it. We will only be able to “shallowly” empathize with the victims. Though I cannot help but wonder, did you plan to write this on 9/11 to make your comparison with that specific date? Or was it a simple coincidence, and that’s why you made the comparison. Most of all, I like your conclusion, comparing Vonnegut to the birds himself described, it sort of inspired me.
ResponderEliminar