So, after reading chapters three and four of Slaughterhouse Five, a new theme has appeared that everyone is dragged into war, no matter their age, gender, ethnicity, etc. A similar theme of people of all kinds having different and unrelated reasons also appears in these chapters. This is best shown when the small German squad of the old man and the young boys find Billy and Weary, because instead of killing the two defenseless American soldiers, they steal their clothes and shoes, leaving them to die in the cold instead of killing them outright. This shows how these soldiers, and many others like them most likely don’t care about the war, but in fact only care about what they themselves can get out of their current situation. This is similar to Milo from Catch-22, as all he does is look for new ways to make money for his syndicate, even going as far as to plan and execute a German bombing attack on his own squadron and military base.

Weary’s last words of Billy Pilgrim fascinates me, as it was his new shoes that he was forced to use were the real reason he died in the box car. This goes to show either his inner utmost rage that he was captured and died because of someone he viewed as a massive idiot, or is final realization that his dream of the Three Musketeers was dead, and he wanted the person he viewed as responsible for the dream’s death to be punished, even though Pilgrim was fully innocent for Weary’s death. Either way, Weary makes Billy a marked target in their new home, the prison camp. Being a marked target for bullying (which is a bit less major than murder), I can see where this situation is going, and it is only going to get worse and worse for Billy once the other soldiers find out who he is. Hopefully, Billy will avoid detection or he and the other soldiers will escape their new prison camp before anyone can figure out who he is, but this most likely will not occur, as Billy is not even aware of Weary’s final words or that he himself is now a marked target for every man in Weary’s box car.

On one final note, the deaths of the two scouts and the transportation on the train seems to indicate a shift in the underlying tone of the story. While both parts are violent and dark, this newer parts seem to be a bit more darker, as while Billy is no longer alone with a bully, he is still isolated from everyone around him thanks to said bully’s final words. Also, while no longer being lost in a forest, Billy and the others are now prisoners of war, meaning that they will most likely be tortured or even killed, even though their captors have very little resources left. This shift is best shown in the shower scene, as the filth of the forest is wiped off Billy so that he is better fit for his new home, prison.

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