Billy Pilgrim's 'So It Goes'

Did you know that President John F Kennedy died two years before Joe South Wrote his song. Down in the boondocks is a song about a guy and a girl but he can’t be with her because she is rich. Joe South is the writer but the song was performed by Billy Joe Royal they were friends. Now why did Joe South write this song is it related to his personal life?

“When a Tralfamadorian sees a corpse, all he thinks . . . Tralfamadorians say about dead people, which is ‘So it goes’" (Page 27). The tralfamadorian philosophy is very similar to Christianity. They think people are happy and perfectly healthy in another time and dimension. This is very similar to the way Christians think dead people go to a paradise called heaven when they die.

This quote demonstrates the book’s theme of perseverance because of its powerful motivation to overcome the pain and give it your all.

This quote comes into play while Janie and Tea Cake are in the Glades getting ready to leave because of a hurricane. At this point Janie and Tea Cake have waited to late to leave and are trying to decide if they want to try and beat the water or just stay there. I found this quote important because it ties the title of the book in with the situations that occur in the book. They are sitting there and despite the situation around them they can still find security within each other and God.

In the poem, “Go Down Death” the author, James Weldon Johnson, interprets death not as ending of life but as a new beginning. “Weep not, weep not she is not dead, she’s resting in the bosom of Jesus” (Johnson, 1927). The author portrays the reader with a positive welcoming to death, and to not be afraid of death. Through this poem James W. Johnson expresses his felling that death should be peaceful and a positive experience. The poem “Go Down Death” is about Jesus feeling pity for Caroline who was suffering from pain. Jesus commanded Death, to go look for Caroline in order to end her suffering. Every person has their own religion and beliefs about what really happens after death. This poem leaves the reader under the impression that there

Mr. Frank shows courage, compassion, and sacrifice. This book shares the story of a young girl and her family hiding during world war 2. She goes into hiding in a small annex for two years with another family and two other men. This book shares the story from Anne’s point of view. it’s a great book to read and tells you how they survived for 2 years.

This quote is very important when pertaining to the setting of the story. The main character, Dana, finds herself traveling to another dimension. The quote shows Dana's realization that she is traveling from a California home in 1976 to Maryland plantation-pre Civil War. The setting is finally determined to the reader, as well. Letting the reader know she is switching between two different time periods.

The use of “so it goes” accompanies all mentions of a death in the book, between the death of his own father, soldiers he served with, and even eventual loss of the universe. It shows the variety of death

Death is final, sudden and yet eternal it yawns before and behind us all. In “The Death of

In every individual, a host of socio-historical forces converge and influence the subject’s ideas. Consciously and unconsciously, the individual reflects the confluence of his or her history and culture. In “Sonny’s Blues”, a short story by James Baldwin, the dominant culture constricts the black individual. Subject to the explicit and latent biases of a racist society, the black population of “Sonny’s Blues” attempt to endure oppression and suffering and survive in an unforgiving land. However, they can thrive here with the hope and salvation provided by the communal center of African American culture: religion.

The story “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin centers on the conflicting relationship between two brothers that is explored throughout various stages of their lives. Through the structured, melodic style used by Baldwin there are reoccurring themes of suffering, family, and home that are used to further convey the idea of two brothers who love each other, but don’t understand each other. Ultimately, the relationship between the two brothers is greatly strained due them being polar opposites, their lack of effective communication, and failure to truly hear one another rather than seeing. The characters do not have much in common beyond the blood that they share, thus making it difficult for a bond to form until the walls of judgement are torn

Billy Pilgrim is unstuck in time. Although he does not know everything as the Tralfamadorian’s do and is not able to live each moment at the same time, he is able to move swiftly through time and his memories. Billy is the bridge between the Tralfamadorian beliefs and human beliefs in order to show that humans depend on memory. Billy shows that memory is productive. The Tralfamadorian’s depict a “So it goes” attitude towards death, because when a person dies they are never truly gone. They are still existing in other moments, which the Tralfamadorian’s are able to see at all times. Billy adopts the “So it goes” attitude when people die, but only because he is also able to revisit his memories with the deceased at any moment. However, humans are unable to adopt this attitude towards death. Once a person dies, they solely exist in one’s memories. But unlike the Tralfamadorian’s fourth dimension, and unlike Billy’s ability to time travel, human memory fades overtime and often becomes inaccessible. Yet, once a person has passed away, one can only interact with them through their memories. Humans are not able to adopt the “So it goes” attitude, because when someone dies it is permanent. Human’s heavily rely on memory, remembering is productive and serves a purpose.

The author’s diction makes the reader feel that death ca be defeated. For example, death has been called “mighty and dreadful” but the author shows that it is not more than a “short sleep” where men go for the “rest of their bones.” The general idea of death is frightful and scary, but the reader is told that it’s only a short phase everyone goes through. It’s an opportunity for men to separate their soul and physical body. In

The way that Death communicates with the reader helps them to see many sides of the narrator. Such as their remarks in the beginning of the book, “A small fact: You are going to die....does this worry you?”. They are trying to tell the reader this, so that they aren't frightened later in the novel. Their emotions fluctuate as humans emotions do causing the reader to feel a relation to Death.

One way that this quote is portrayed is by using symbolism. In the short story “Screeno”, written by Delmore