Superior To Man

Earlier this semester, we saw the episode of "The Twilight Series", "To Serve Man." On my blog, I talked about how men always think they're superior to other beings. The extraterrestrial creatures in the episode prove them wrong. The men are confident that these creatures want to work for them when they actually want to serve them as a dish. We see a resemblance between these creatures and the Tralfamadorians in Slaughterhouse Five.

In chapter five, the Tralfamadorians display Billy in a zoo, just as we do with animals. The guide in the zoo explains his behavior just as we do with other creatures: "He shaved and sprayed deodorant under his arms, while a zoo guide on a raised platform outside explained what Billy was doing-and why." (PDF) Irony is implied showing men as inferiors in comparison to other creatures. In both Slaughterhouse Five and "To Serve a Man", they make fun of humans feeling of superiority. In "To Serve Man", they use human language against them. In this chapter, the Tralfamadorians place Billy in a zoo. The whole idea of a zoo is having the power to cage another creature. At least Billy realizes the Tralfamadorians are in a sense, superior to him: "Somebody in the zoo crowd asked him through the lecturer what the most valuable thing he had learned on

Tralfamadore was so far, and Billy replied, 'How the inhabitants of a whole planet can live in peace I As you know, I am from a planet that has been engaged in senseless slaughter since the beginning of time." (PDF)

Now, not only can the Tralfamadorians compare to the creatures in "To Serve a Man". They are similar to the leavers. In Ishmael, we learned we (takers), have to start looking at leaver cultures as an example. The Tralfamadorians are also an example Billy recognizes he should follow.

It's great how Vonnegut transmits this in his irony and how he can make fun of his own race.