Read Your Mind

Eugenia Camargo wrote a blog she called “Life and the Maze of Golf   “. By reading this blog I realized how we all perceive different things from the book. When I read this chapter my responses were completely different from Eugenia’s. It made understand that some things that may seem unimportant to me are meaningful to another person. Like in her response, she talks about the reactions of the Russian soldiers as they see the Americans. While I was reading I didn’t even notice this detail. She also says that “I know the feeling of not knowing what to expect of a person’s reaction.” I do agree with that. It’s actually something that stresses me out. If I could choose any super power ever, I would choose mind reading. This way I would always know what to expect from someone else.

Eugenia also mentions something that caught my attention, “I realized life becomes very monotonous, one starts to live of memories and routines. Doing the same 3 things you love and not looking for anything else.”  I agree with the statement that live may become monotonous. But I don’t see anything wrong with doing the things you love your whole live. If you really love something it will never become repetitive for you. I loved that she included a picture of how she imagined the character Edgar Derby. I liked her choice (Brad pitt). But I imagined him more like this:  

Live By The Moment

When Billy is abducted by the Tralfamadorians in chapter 4, he wonders “Why me?” I thought it was a very valid question. Actually, I would have wondered the same thing. But when the Tralfamadorian responded, it sort of opened my eyes. I loved how he related moments in time to a bug trapped in amber. “Well, here we are, Mr. Pilgrim, trapped in the amber of this moment. There is no why.”(pg.77)  People tend to over-think life. We analyze everything and question every minute.  But this quote tells me that life is unexpected, and I’d rather worry about now.  Most people think I’m reckless for not thinking about my future. But why would I want to spent my life worrying about my future? Life is all about living the moment, about enjoying every experience to the fullest. Besides, the way I see it, we never get to live the future. We are always living in the present. So we might as well make the best out of it. When you look back at your life, memories are all you will have. If you make the best out of every moment, you will have memories worth remembering. This chapter reminded me of a quote I once read, “The problem with people is that we can’t ever seem to simply exist in this moment. We are always poking in the past or prodding into the future.”

Should We Look Back?

GOD GRANT ME

THE SERENITY TO ACCEPT

THE THINGS I CANNOT CHANGE,

COURAGE

TO CHANGE THE THINGS I CAN,

AND WISDOM ALWAYS

TO TELL THE

DIFFERENCE

Billy mentions that this prayer helps him move on. When he talks about this, he has already been through war. I think that the reason why Billy finds these words so soothing is that they help him accept his past. He has so many memories about war, probably a million regrets as well. This prayer tells him that he just needs to keep on living, accepting the fact that time is not under his control. Yes, he can go back and look at his past. But he can’t change it. It also says that he should  have enough courage to change the aspects he can control. Once he can tell the difference between the two, he will find peace.

I can relate to Billy in the sense that when I read this prayer I also find it comforting. Sometimes I just think back and wish I could change so much. Then I realize that I need to accept that whatever has happened already did. It can’t be changed. It is pointless to wish you could alter your past, you will feel unfulfilled since it’s impossible. But it is possible to change some aspects of your life to ensure a better future.  

Life-Long War

My appreciation for soldiers became stronger when I saw the movie “Saving private Ryan”.  I admired how these men gave everything to defend their own country.  A soldier is the perfect example of selflessness since they put their nation before themselves.  By seeing the movie I also realized how crude and horrible war is. But I never thought about what came after war for a soldier. Chapter 3 made me realize that a soldier’s suffering doesn’t end with war, it resides with the person for the rest of their lives. After the war was over Billy is still somewhat obsessed with war.  “A siren went off, scared the hell out of him. He was expecting World War Three at any time.” (pg.57)  As a soldier Billy got used to staying alert at all times. As a result, anything that happens around him he relates with danger or war.  This is why I think that being a soldier is a lifetime experience.  It’s not something that can be “just for the moment”. It is something that will scar anyone for the rest of their lives.

As I read the chapter I realized billy tells his story in different time periods. He jumps from his past to his present continuously, “traveling in time”. This got me thinking about the Tralfamadorians. Maybe Billy is one of them, that would explain why he can “jump” from time to time.

4 Dimensions?

I would love to be able to perceive time like the Tralfamadorians. For them, time is very different. They are capable of seeing the world in four dimensions. “They can see how permanent all the moments are and they can look at any moment that interests them.”(pg.27) Can you imagine how much easier our lives would be if we looked at time this way?  Death would not be as dreadful, since everyone would always exist in the past. Bad times wouldn’t be as disappointing, since we could go back to our  happy times.  Our past would never get lost in time, but we would still be able to advance towards our future. Our lives would not be in chronological order, and neither is the book in this chapter.  I think that this chapter gave us an example of how a Tralfamadorian would see Billy’s life.

In my previous response, I had mentioned how Vonnegut was obsessed with time. I think he wrote about the Tralfamadorians because he would also like to be able to see the world in four dimensions.

Is There Enough Time?

I love reading a book when I know about the author and his way of thinking. It gives me a little more background and helps me understand some of the things behind the book. This is the reason why I felt attracted to this book right away.  In the first chapter the actual story has not started. Vonnegut is introducing himself, his past and all the little details that led him into writing this book.  I find it very interesting that he did this. It connects him to the reader in an insightful way and helps us understand things better.   I also like the way he does not write in chronological order, but instead just throws information at us. He talks about a lot of aspects from his life, but the most important is his memory about the Dresden bombing.   He desperately tries to remember good stories from Dresden to write in his book.  I noticed that he doesn’t have a main story he wants to tell, he just wants to express a certain message about war. He feels the obligation of writing an anti-war book after living the ruthlessness of war.

  I also notice that the author is somewhat obsessed with time.  I can relate to him in the sense that I feel time passes to quickly. Sometimes it is hard to realize when your present became your past.  He also expresses his frustration for not being able to start writing the book. He has thought about it and done plenty of outlines, but the writing never came.  This happens to me a lot, I feel like I have so much to say that time is not enough. I usually have so many ideas at once, I have trouble expressing them in paper.

The perfect life

Many people may think their live is perfect. Truth is, most of their lives are just satisfying.

“I have a perfect life. It isn't much,   But it's enough for me. It keeps me alive   

And happy in a vague way: no disappointments”

He starts by affirming that his life is perfect. Then realizes it’s not really that fulfilling. A perfect life can’t be “enough”, it can’t just keep you alive. It has to exceed all your expectations and it has to make you feel like you are truly living. You may feel like everything is ok because there are no disappointments. But then you will start to understand that “ok” will never be enough. You will feel empty, and nothing will be as you perceived it before. He says that in order to have a perfect life you have to grab on to a delusion. I disagree with this. You shouldn’t spend all your life grabbing on to something that was never more than a misconception. If you do, one day you will realize your life was never joyful. As I read this poem, I picture an old man full of regrets. I picture someone who thought their live was flawless but was never completely happy. As he grows old he realizes things just lose their charm, ego can’t save him from reality anymore. He looks back and realizes how much things can change with time.