Wednesday, April 7, 2010

The Beloved Slaughterhouse

Procrastination usually doesn't payoff but today was an exception. I am actually glad I waited so long to write about Slaughterhouse-Five and Beloved because they both deal with something very vital to our lives. When asked what defines someone, I would have to say it is our experiences. (I’m sure I’m not the only one). Experiences are what displayed the difference between living and existing for character’s in both books. The suppression of memory Sethe and other character’s in Toni Morrison’s novel employed about their lives as slaves was detrimental to the way they lived. They were limited by what they refused to remember, giving them no room for growth. Instead, they sat there at 124 basically waiting for death with no goals or aspirations, basically being haunted by their brutal pasts steeped in abuse and murder. This confinement was self-inflicted because of a refusal to confront reality. When one refuses to accept (doesn’t mean they embrace it) what has happened to them it restricts a person from moving forward. Sure they can act like they’re through it but suppression still means they haven’t dealt with it and they’re not over it.
Billy Pilgrim relived a highlight tape of the moments he was living throughout his life. From Dresden to his death to the Tralfamadorians, his time travel placed him in moments that had the most impact on what made him a living human being and not just an existing one. This whole book got me thinking about what is the point in living. I came to the conclusion that there may be no point but that does not mean we should not take advantage of the opportunity. We’re here, we might as well make the best of it. I can’t believe I’m about to say this but I think apples envy us as humans. Apples live and then die and rot, if not eaten first. An apple looks at the lazy person not doing anything in their life with anger because of the opportunities the person has. The person can travel, go to concerts, baseball games, and fall in love… An apple can’t do that, but given the chance, I bet the apple would take advantage of it. Though life is filled with tragedy, there are good things that come along too and we can’t be afraid to live because of the possibility of a bad experience because the reward is greater than the risk.