For Vonnegut, the recovery process is bound to literary production, so heunderstands his works as “therapy
vonnegut's therapy is simply writing. he used literature as an escape route that helps him cope since he wasn't given another option or actual help
They draw attention to something that we often prefer tosuppress and deny although it is important to remember, namely, the cripplingnature of war and the terrible toll that modern warfare extracts from thoseforced to live through it.
humanity is doomed as we take a selfish look on how horrible war is. this idea that war is bad is very persistent throughout the book and its clear why. there are extreme consequences that society seems to ignore causing those who fought through it to face mental health issues. by ignoring how horrible war is, the soldiers are left to deal with the horrible consequences by themselves
Most of the victimsof the air raids were Germans, the aggressors and major victimizers of the war
because of this, Billy might have felt he couldnt express himself and get the help he needed. might have just thought it was best to keep it repressed
With the help of his Tralfamadorian fantasy and his idea of timetravel, Billy conquers his trauma in a way that enables him to function.
does this really help him function though?
These beliefs enable Billy to avoid some of the distress hefeels when facing death:“
evidence billy uses a scapegoat to resist feelings and emotion
Billy thus falls victim to the previoustendency in psychiatry to underestimate the role of “an external factor,something outside the person” in causing trauma and to focus instead only on“individual vulnerability as the reason for people’s suffering”
modern tenet --> abandonment, neglection
Billy’s range of affect is severely restricted, shown most prominently in themuch repeated phrase “So it goes,” his passive and emotionless reaction totragedy and death.
billy kinda of just brushes his emotions and feelings off fate is predetermined?
shows how deeply Billy has buried hisDresden memories.
does vonnegut downplay dresden because billy doesnt know how to deal with it?
This symptom isreadily observed in the protagonist and explains the novel’s abundance of bothpsychological and structural “linking devices” between different scenes ofBilly’s life
billy experiences various triggers throughout the book that cause him to transport back to ww2
It has also been observed that aformer prisoner “even years after liberation, [...] continues to practicedoublethink and to exist simultaneously in two realities, two points in time”
evidence for claim this is very insightful as it shows the relationship between being held captive and billys present life. its not just ptsd but its also things such a being held captive that shape billys actions in the future
He sees himself as having “come unstuck in time”:Billyhasgonetosleepasenilewidowerandawakenedonhisweddingday.Hehaswalkedthroughadoorin1955andcomeoutanotheronein1941.Hehasgonebackthroughthatdoortofindhimselfin1963.Hehasseenhisbirthanddeathmanytimes,hesays,andpaysrandomvisitstoalltheeventsinbetween.Hesays.Billyisspasticintime,hasnocontroloverwhereheisgoingnext,andthetripsaren’tnecessarilyfun.(23)
evidence for claim
The exposure to thetrauma results in symptoms such as persistently reexperiencing the events “inthe form of distressing images, thoughts, perceptions, dreams, or reliving
this explains a lot of Billy's symptoms and the way he move in and out of different experiences even when he should be focusing on the present
Those criteria do not apply to Billy.
I disagree because its been years after war and Billy is still showing signs of hearing and seeing the tralfamadorians. He does have occupational dysfunction as he can barely do his job since hes constantly moving through different time periods in his brain
Attempting todefine Billy’s psychological state more precisely, critics have frequentlyassociated Slaughterhouse-Five and its protagonist with schizophrenia,
this makes sense because Billy often is seen hearing and see things such as the Tralfamadorians, these are common signs of schizophrenia
Vonnegut’s writing ofSlaughterhouse-Five can be seen as a therapeutic process that allows him touncover and deal with his trauma. By using creative means to overcome hisdistress, Vonnegut makes it possible for us to trace his path to recovery. Weslowly narrow in on his condition using the novel as a conduit first to theprotagonist, Billy Pilgrim, then to the narrator, and finally to the author himself.
Central claim --> writing in a way that exposes mental health shows the road to discovery for vonnegut, seen as an escape route for vonnegut
Those who violate the requirements (or fail to properly prove they’ve completed the work) would be cut off from benefits for an entire year. If they violate the requirements repeatedly, recipients could be cut off from benefits for up to three years.
they would be cut off completely even if they cant work an extra hour or two a week
recipients have to work at least 20 hours per week in order to receive food aid for more than three months in a 36-month period
work requirements already in place will they get harsher?
tens of billions of dollars in cuts to the anti-poverty program that serves more than 42 million Americans
poverty is still a major this will definitely effect the nation and pull us farther from fixing poverty
food stamp work requirements
this means that you need a job for food stamps when you dont even have a job for food
Many shoppers don’t realize that pesticide residues are common on conventionally grown produce – even after it is carefully washed or peeled. EWG's analys
pesticides everywhere