The Children's Crusade

    Kurt Vonnegut's first chapter of Slaughterhouse Five introduces the main idea of his novel.  He begins speaking to the reader as himself and presents his best friend from the Second World War, O'Hare. He describes their experiences during the war and when they were captured by the russians in Dresden. Once again he talks about himself and mentions his odd disease which stimulates him to call all his old friends every night when he is drunk.  This terrible habit leads him to calling O'Hare and telling him about his idea of wanting to write a book of their experiences.  O'Hare invites him to his home so that they can reconnect and talk about the old times.  I find it humorous that Kurt speaks about writing a book based on the Second World War within a book already written about the war.  When he reaches O'Hare's home he sits in the kitchen with him and they laugh as they reminice but then they become serious.  When they remember a time where a man was killed in Dresden for using a tea cup that was not his, they could not hold back the laughter. At that moment, O'Hare's wife, Mary, enters and scolds both of them for laughing at a such a serious and terrible matter. She has a negative point of view on Kurt's idea of writing a book and has no problem making it known. This scene makes it clear why Kurt dedicates this book to Mary O'Hare and a cab driver they met in Dresden. She believes that books and movies encourage young children to want to go to war because these movies and books do not tell or show the actual things that happen during a war.  Kurt lets her know that his book will not be like that because it will only speak the truth.  This scene also explains the title of his book.  He names it "The Children's Crusade" because of her reference to children.
    This book gets very interesting when you become aware of the type of history he is coming from and the odd memories he and his friend have had in Dresden. He flows into every new scene and has a reason for each.  Something I realized while reading the first chapter is a very odd coincidence.  Kurt worked in Iowa University and taught Writers Workshop.  When we write an essay in Mr. Tangen's class we always do Writers Workshop.  We give our paper to a partner and they circle and make known the mistakes we each have made.  Something Mary O'Hare said to Kurt has helped me relate to the beginning of this novel.  I feel the same way she does with violent video games, movies, and books based on war.  There are various imperfect things that come with war, but these games and movies make war look like fun. When you die in a video game it is just game over and you get more lives.  During a real war there really are game overs; the biggest difference is that you don't get any more chances or lives.