slaughterhouse-five chapter 7

In this chapter, Vonnegut continues with Billy and the Tramalfadorians, specifically Valencia. He tells about Billy's departure from the Tramalfadorians and his plane crash with the four- eyed bastards barbershop quartet. They sing many songs before the horrid crash, one which is about a polish man, reminds Billy of a hanging he witnessed of a Polish man who had sex with a german woman. With this memory, Vonnegut shows the extremities different consequences can have in different places. Different cultures view certain acts as vulgar and unacceptable, while others view them as gross and impolite but not a big deal; being in the war introduced this thought to Billy.

Later in the chapter, Billy travels to the time where he fractures his skull, but survives and is taken to a hospital by Austrian skiers. The next time travel was to a syrup factory. In this factory, Billy discovers the workers secret. The malnourished ones, sneak and hide spoons all around the building and when not being watched, they take small spoonfuls and eat it. At this time, Billy was scrawny and malnourished; therefore, he followed what the workers did and took a sample of the syrup. The minute it touched his lips, his body shivered in delight. Seeing that Derby was also in need of good nourishment, Billy snuck a spoonful of the syrup out of a small window that connected to the outside where Derby was working, and gave him a mouthful of syrup. Gratefully, Derby smiles and instantly feels much better. He even begins to cry of joy. With this, Vonnegut shows how the war teaches soldiers to watch out for each other and make use of all the resources they have. This is a very good skill to acquire and it is very useful.