A Duty Dance with Death
Dresden
Summary
"So it goes"
Vonnegut is aware of the tone and word use in his novel. He does it to impact and capture our attention. Sorrow, confusion, desperation, and a various others are felt throughout the novel. His ideas shape the way he writes but also how we percieve the story. Hypotaxis and parataxis are widely used in the reading.
EX. "We were captured together in the war. I told him who I was on the telephone. He had no trouble believeing it. He was up. He was reading" (Vonnegut 4). - Parataxis
EX. Then we were sent home, and I married a pretty girl who was covered with baby fat,too" (Vonnegut 7). - Hypotaxis
The phrase "So it goes" is presented everywhere in the novel. His expression towards it is as if it is a wave of calmness for his sanity.
Billy Pilgram
Motifs
"So it goes"
"Mustard gas and roses"
"And so on."
Time
Children
Many others are mentioned in the novel, but these are the most noticable ones. He may use them to refer to something specific that we should pay attention to. Vonnegut wants us to pay special attention to certain motifs that will maybe later on cause us to realize that specific idea.