At long last, my final post. The lucky blog that I have selected to review is one of the most creative blogs that I have read this unit. My final post is dedicated to Zach's blog on Slaughterhouse-Five.
Censorship S*cks
In this blog post, Zach makes a number of good arguments, all of which I can agree with. Zach starts by making the claim that "a book that generates talk or “controversy” for whatever reason is a good book" and I concur; if a book leaves a reader with a lasting impact, whether positive or negative, it has done its job. Vonnegut even provides the reader with a disclaimer in the first chapter, claiming that his novel would castigate the atrocities of war. From this warning alone, one can determine that the book will likely contain violence and profanity, and an individual that opposes both should put the book down and read something else.
Another point that Zach makes is that the severity of the "controversial" content is ridiculously low. As a reader, I did not realize that I was reading content that was "out of line" until it was pointed out to me, due to the fact that profanity and sexual references have become so common in society today. Zach writes that the F-bomb is dropped constantly in schools today, as students use is as a verb, noun, or adjective whenever need be. However, "when this “profane language” is written down in a book for people to read, alarms go off." An unfortunate characteristic of society is that it holds a double-standard for realistic literature; an author is expected to depict society as truthfully as possible, yet he/she is expected to leave out all of its negative aspects. As "controversial" as some of the content may seem, it is required in order to uphold the realism (besides the aliens and time-travel) of the novel.
Multiculturalism > COMPLETE Assimilation
Once again, I agree with the ideas presented by Zach in this post. Vonnegut appears to be an author who writes more for himself than others; he has nothing to prove. For this reason, I believe that he would have nothing to gain from casting the Germans under a better light. As Zach states, "[Vonnegut] just wrote it how it was, and how he saw it." From Vonnegut's experiences as a POW, one can assume that he came in contact with Germans quite often. To Vonnegut, the Germans themselves were not the enemy; their leaders were the ones waging the war. In Zach's own words, Vonnegut "gives the enemy a face" to demonstrate that the Germans were 'people' too.
I also shares Zach's views on the issue of assimilation, as everyone should be proud of their culture and past. Even though everyone should be proud of their heritage, many individuals aren't, as their culture could be associated with countless stereotypes. In Vonnegut's case, Germans were given a bad repute in North America, due to the fact that they were viewed as corrupt and barbaric. As Zach states, assimilation in never justifiable, and cultural conformity is the coward's way out.
What Would Vonnegut Think?
I concur that Vonnegut would approve of our blogging assignment due to the fact that we're "doing exactly what he did, except in a different form." As Zach states, "Whatever message [Vonnegut] wanted to voice, he would voice it through writing. And that's basically what a blog is: having an opinion and then voicing it by posting it for the entire world to see." If Vonnegut were still alive, I'm confident that he would have been a blogger instead of an author. As I already mentioned, Vonnegut wrote more for himself than others, and his novels were used as a means of getting his ideas across. With the expansion of the Internet, it has become easier for an individual to do just that, as setting up a blog in today's day and age takes no longer than a few minutes. Even though blogs may not be as successful as novels, "the message [offered by a blog] kind of gets transferred from one person to another." Although it would be much slower, a blog could still make as much of an impact as a novel. Due to the fact that we're offering our ideas for the world to see, just like Vonnegut did before us, I believe that he would approve of our efforts.
And so conclude my blogging days. Somewhere in my living room, a dog barked.
-Arshdeep
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