Albert Hammond Jr, an American musician, once said that “you lose your innocence from gaining knowledge”. In our everyday lives that’s true. Now more than ever, kids are exposed to a wide range of adult suited material. However, within the context of “Slaughterhouse Five” and more specifically my selected passage, it’s war that proves to be the knowledge that ushers in the rapid removal of innocence. Kurt Vonnegut uses his characters and the metaphor of their physical appearance to comment on the ways in which war is misrepresented and because of that, its ability to stip away innocence and youth. He further communicates his message by addressing events such as the aptly named Children’s Crusade.
Vonnegut employs the metaphor of facial hair to make a statement on the misrepresentation of age, and ultimately the effects it has on
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The scene I selected begins on page 106, with an interaction between the English Colonel and Edgar Darby, who’s keeping a watchful eye over the morphine induced Billy Pilgrim. Darby and the aging Colonial strike up a conversation, commenting on the clean shaven Americans, when they realize that this change in appearance has sparked a major realization. Originally, they believed that the war was “being fought by aging men like [themselves]” ( ) when in reality, the ongoing “wars were fought by babies” ( ). Their beards had given soldiers a manly and battle tested appearance, obscuring their actual age, a symbol for how war alters men physically and mentally. When the hair is removed, they instantly become youthful, clean shaven like a baby, fresh, new and not yet exposed to the “senseless slaughter” ( ) of war. Vonnegut's clever usage of facial hair obscuring the perception of the soldier age and maturity, is an excellent catalyst into the symbolism of the Children’s Crusade. The Children’s