A Reflection in the Phone

In chapter 4 of Slaughter-House Five there is a part when Billy made me remember about the first part of the book. When Billy cannot sleep and goes to his daughter's bedroom, the phone rings and "Billy answered. There was a drunk on the other end. Billy could almost smell his breath-mustard gas and roses. It was a wrong number" (P.73 Vonnegut). This reminds me of the first part of the book when Billy called people he hadn't been in touch for years, being drunk at late night. I don't know why did Vonnegut used this occasion to remind the reader what Billy did when he was drunk at late night. Maybe he used this to reflect Billy. The roses are a symbol of love and they could actually represent that he mostly called women that he had been with late night. When it says that it was a wrong number it could mean that because he is sober in this moment, he is ashamed he would be too shy to do it so he would need to be drunk to call these old friends.

Another thing I noticed in the reading is that Vonnegut doesn't need a person to die to say "So it goes". When he goes downstairs in his house, right before watching the WWII movies, he found a bottle of champagne "So Billy uncorked it with his thumbs. It didn't make a pop. The champagne was dead. So it goes" (P. 73 Vonnegut). I personally think Vonnegut is mocking his own saying when he says "So it goes" after saying that the champagne is dead. So he could say: "That statue is dead. So it goes". By this point this saying has lost its meaning to me. Another way to interpret this is that he is so depressed and champagne makes him drunk so when he is drunk he is depressed and everything makes him sad.