IndexRepresenting the character of Billy using different literary techniquesThe motif of mustard gas and rosesConclusionIn a literary text, imagery allows the author to appeal to the human senses through l use of vivid colors and descriptive language. Kurt Vonnegut incorporates this rhetorical device throughout the text of his novel Slaughterhouse Five, through the use of color motifs and olfactory imagery. Vonnegut uses imagery to convey the emotions and personal qualities of the novel's protagonist, Billy. He is able to achieve this by connecting Billy's character to several motifs that continuously appear in the Slaughterhouse Five storyline. Therefore, the presence of color motifs and olfactory imagery in Slaughterhouse Five advances and strengthens the characterization of Billy Pilgrim throughout the novel. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay describing Billy's character using different literary techniques At the beginning of the novel, Billy writes a letter to the newspaper Ilium about his experience on the planet Tralfamadore. He works on this letter in the cool environment of his cellar, where “the temperature in the house was…fifty degrees” because “The oil burner had gone out” (26). The cool environment also affects Billy's body as “his bare feet were blue and ivory” (26). However, “the clams of Billy's heart, in any case, were hot coals. What made them so appealing was Billy's belief that he would comfort so many with the truth of the time” (26). Vonnegut is able to effectively outline Billy's delusional character. First, he describes the colors of Billy's feet as blue and ivory. In Slaughterhouse Five, blue and ivory represent the thin line that divides worldly experiences from otherworldly experiences. To show, whenever Billy is about to "time travel" in the text, his feet turn blue and ivory, and he soon ends up in a completely different location and time. Essentially, the blue and ivory motif is an indicator of when Billy goes from reality to fantasy and back again. Furthermore, Vonnegut uses these colors to show that Billy stands on a threshold separating mutually exclusive states (worldly and otherworldly). Billy's position reflects his state of disillusionment, as demonstrated by his belief that he lives in two worlds: Earth and the four-dimensional planet of Tralfamadore, where the inhabitants exist in all times simultaneously. The extent of Billy's disillusionment is also shown by Vonnegut's use of imagery and a metaphor: the comparison of his heart to hot coals. Billy is so taken with his experiences in Tralfamadore that he has a burning passion for publishing his escapades on Ilium. Furthermore, his heart is warmed because he believes he can impact many people with the truth of the time. In reality, Billy's mental stability has declined significantly since his time in World War II, to the point that he cannot distinguish reality from fantasy. Finally, the contrast between the cool environment of Billy's basement and the fiery passion that exists in his heart suggests his disconnection from reality. The cool environment of his basement represents the mundane reality of Earth, while the fiery passion that exists in Billy's heart indicates his delusional character, as he believes he can change the world by revealing the truth about time. Therefore, at the beginning of Slaughterhouse Five, Kurt Vonnegut is able to characterize Billy as a delusional man who believes he coexists in two distinct worlds using patterns of color and imagery. Later inSlaughterhouse Five, Billy is captured by the Germans and transported on a train with other American soldiers. The train “[was] marked with an orange and black striped flag, indicating that [it] was not fair game for airplanes – carrying prisoners of war” (66). The orange and black motif also appears when Billy has trouble sleeping on his daughter's wedding night. “The wedding had taken place that afternoon in a cheerfully striped tent in Billy's backyard. The stripes were orange and black” (69). The repetition of the orange and black pattern reflects the effect of the war on Billy. Even in the happiest moments, like his daughter's wedding, he is reminded of the horrors he experienced during the war. In a way, the orange and black pattern represents Billy's PTSD, which begins to manifest itself during his time at war. For example, Billy is ordered by a doctor to take a daily nap, yet “Every now and then, for no apparent reason, [he] would fine himself for crying… Only the doctor knew. It was an extremely quiet thing that Billy did, and not very wet” (59). Billy’s sleep disturbance alienates the other prisoners and “nearly everyone…had a heinous story of something [Billy] had done to him in his sleep. Everyone told Billy Pilgrim to stay away” (75). Billy's PTSD also manifests itself when a siren sounds; “He [expected] World War III at any moment. The siren simply announced noon" (55). Vonnegut effectively uses the orange and black motif to illustrate Billy's PTSD, as the colors cause him to think about his time in the war. When Billy's feet turn blue and ivory, he goes downstairs and sees a distorted film about World War II, where “American planes, full of holes and wounded and dead bodies, took off backwards from an airfield in England. Over France, some German fighter planes flew backwards at them, sucking bullets and shell fragments from some of the planes and crew members” (71). The orange and black pattern also represents Billy's view of his marriage, as he associates the stripes on the tent where the wedding took place with the stripes on the train that transported the prisoners of war. Billy feels trapped in his marriage as he didn't marry Valencia for love, he married her for convenience, since his father owns the Ilium School of Optometry (where Billy will later study). Furthermore, when Billy returns to his wedding night, Vonnegut reveals that "he had already seen much of their marriage, thanks to time travel, he knew it would at least be bearable all the way through" (114). It's clear that Billy feels trapped, as he talks about how marriage would at least be bearable. Furthermore, when Valencia tells Billy "I never thought anyone would marry me" (114), all he can say is "Um" (114), which suggests his realization of the predicament he's gotten himself into . The orange and black motif effectively illustrates Billy's feelings as he was once trapped on a train as a prisoner of war and is now trapped in a marriage with Valencia, a person he does not truly love. To summarize, Vonnegut is able to use an orange and black motif to represent Billy's mental fragility and to illustrate Billy's feeling trapped in his marriage to Valencia. The Motif of Mustard Gas and Roses Throughout the plot of Slaughterhouse Five, the motif of "mustard gas and roses" is continually mentioned. Additionally, Vonnegut employs olfactory imagery while using the smell of mustard gas and roses to enhance the text in Slaughterhouse Five. At the beginning of Slaughterhouse.