Chapter One: France, Food, Fat

One day, I stumbled upon a literary term in the passage, “There was a plaster model of the Eiffel Tower in there. It was painted gold. It had a clock in it.

‘There’s a smashin’ thing,’ he said.

And we were flown to a rest camp in France, where we were fed chocolate malted milkshakes and other rich foods until we were all covered with baby fat. Then we were sent home, and I married a pretty girl who was covered with baby fat, too.” (Pg.6-7)

While I was reading the first chapter of Slaughterhouse Five, I skimmed over this passage. I assumed that Vonnegut had no idea what he was writing and it had nothing to do with the plot, but I was mistaken. I read the chapter again. I finally understood the meaning of adding the paragraph. I call this little section in the chapter a “mini” foreshadowing. This section is more like a chain reaction of foreshadowing actions.

            The first foreshadowing action is revealed when the narrator is shown the model of the Eiffel Tower by an idiotic Englishman. Then, the narrator and the rest of the soldiers are taken to a rest camp in FRANCE. Thanks to the wonderful world of Google, I know that the Eiffel Tower is, in fact, located in France. (Duh!) 

            Another foreshadowing activity is quickly discovered. While in France, the soldiers were pampered with chocolate malted milkshakes and other rich foods. Of course, they eventually gained some weight. The soldiers were sent home covered in “baby fat.” The narrator married a girl also covered in some “baby fat.” Obviously, if one eats too much chocolate and food, then they began to gain some weight. Vonnegut describes to the audience that the narrator has some baby fat, and he marries a girl who also has baby fat.  

(I thought the video had a good connection with my blog. Ratatouille film is  set in FRANCE and Linguini is learning to cook RICH FOODS!)