Slaughterhouse Five

Welcome back to Slaughterhouse Four our podcast on Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut. This week we analyzed chapters 5 through 8 with an emphasis on the historical context at the time.

https://www.wevideo.com/view/2920216034

Annotated Bilbliography

Nick

Eddy, Melissa. “How Dresden Looked after a World War II Firestorm 75 Years Ago.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 13 Feb. 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/13/world/europe/dresden-germany-anniversary.html.

This article was about the way that the bombing is used in modern times to excuse blame from the germans and to say the Americans did horrible things too. The book focuses on the bombing itself which was perpetrated by the Americans and it describes it as a horrific event. However, the author of Slaughterhouse Five purposefully mentions the candles made out of concentration camp victims to make sure the reader still knows the atrocities that were committed by the Germans. I think that the article gives the current German opinion on the bombing which is important because it shows how the city has recovered and changed since the bombing.

Michael

Luckhurst, Toby. “Dresden: The World War Two Bombing 75 Years On.” BBC News, BBC, 13 Feb. 2020, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-51448486.

The article talks about the Dresden bombing itself, how it was not really a unique bombing and that there were several other ones the same or worse. What does make it stand out is the “fire”bombing part. Winds were sucked out by the great flames killing over 20 thousand, and reducing the city to almost ashes. A few thousand tons of bombs were dropped, by about a thousand planes from the British royal air force and the US Air Force. This provides context for what we’ll be talking about, as well as what the book is about. We’ll be able to make a great case connecting the lens we chose to the book, by showing how the authors experience and the way he writes the book, only strengthens and improves not only the insanity and ferocity of the bombing itself.

Samson

Peter Rowe Feb. 7, 2015 11 AM PT. “Dresden: 70 Years Later, Fiery WWII Debate Still Hits Home.” Tribune, The San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 Feb. 2015, https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/lifestyle/people/sdut-dresden-70-fiery-debate-2015feb07-story.html.

The article takes us through a firsthand account of someone who lived through the war and their thoughts on it. Also some historical context and some reasons for the bombing and some explanations about what the bombing was used for strategically. It also criticized the bombing as not effective by comparing it to some similar more modern events. Finally it shows us how some people at the time from the US were sympathetic towards the survivors of the bombing of dresden like the author and the experience she shows us.