RB VS KV

I’ve discovered something extraordinary. But first watch this video:


Now, I present to you…..

How Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five and Rebecca Black’s Friday are Similar to Each Other

1. The Repetition
This first point is by far the most straightforward connection. After reading SH5, we all know how much Vonnegut likes to use the certain catch-phrase “so it goes”. He uses it one-hundred and sixteen times, to be exact. I haven’t bothered to count up the number of times Rebecca Black says the catchphrase “it’s Friday” in Friday, but it’s a ridiculous, overwhelming amount as well. It is important, however, to distinguish the uses of the repetition. Vonnegut uses “so it goes” every time death occurs. The phrase emphasizes the numbness after so many deaths, until the readers learn to accept each tragedy as “just another occurrence”, and move on. Rebecca Black’s “it’s Friday” phrase serves a different purpose. The constant reiteration enforces the prominent theme of the song: Friday. After four minutes of listening to Friday, listeners get a solid understanding of Black’s excitement and passion for that particular day of the week. Nonetheless, both Vonnegut and Black use repetition to achieve different objective in their media.


2. The Poteweet
Vonnegut’s uses the bird chirp “Poteweet” effectively, especially at the conclusion of SH5, to imply that there really is not anything intelligent left to say after a massacre like Dresden’s. Similarly, when Rebecca Black introduces the lyrics "yesterday was Thursday/ today is Friday/ tomorrow is Saturday/ Sunday comes afterward", she's implying that there is not much left to be said about Friday. Black and Vonnegut can only discuss their ideas to a certain extent, before it is up for their audiences to realize the plainness of the subject matter. When there is nothing significant left to talk about Friday or the bombings of Dresden, Vonnegut and Black both rely on simple lyrics/phrases to hint how everything that needs to be said has already been covered, and that all that is left is for the audience to interpret the information.


3. First-Person Narrative
At key moments in SH5, Vonnegut occasionally reverts to the first-person narrative, which is easily distinguishable from the abundant third person perspective that is used. For example, when Billy is touring the prison camp toilets and notices someone suffering from diarrhea, Vonnegut adds in a small detail saying, “I was the that person [excreting my brains out]”. This writing technique validates Vonnegut’s experiences and reminds the reader that many of the events in SH5 are actually recounts of Vonnegut’s real-life war experiences.

For Rebecca Black’s song, the majority of it is actually first person. Essentially, she is narrating her own life on her lyrics. The first-person narrative is especially dominant in the introduction of the song: “Seven a.m., waking up in the morning, Gotta be fresh, gotta go downstairs, Gotta have my bowl, gotta have cereal …”, as Black recounts her own routine life in the form of lyrics. Both Vonnegut and Black use first-person narrative to connect to their audiences more with their own personal life, instead of only referring to an estranged, third person character that may seem too distinct to relate to.


4. Varying Perspectives
There are instances in SH5 when neither Billy’s nor Vonnegut’s view is used. Instead, a different character’s emotions and character flood the pages. An example is Valencia, when she is rushing to the hospital to see Billy. It is only by viewing Valencia’s perspective that readers obtain a true sense of her frantic and hysterical emotional state.

Likewise, Friday does not solely use Rebecca Black’s perspective. Some point in the middle of the song, an interlude interrupts the lyrics depicting Black’s typical day. The interlude showcases an African-American rapper who exudes his enthusiasm for Friday by describing the rush he feels when he is cruising the streets and passing school buses. Although only taking mere seconds in the song, this interlude symbolizes one of the most crucial themes in Friday.

Depicting an African-American adult celebrating exemplifies the universality of Friday. Everywhere around the world, listeners of different ethnicity and varying ages, whether it be teens like Rebecca or adults like the rapper, can relate to Friday. Incorporating a person with a different cultural and social background in the song Friday really accentuates the bigger, more profound hidden themes of the song Friday: universal happiness and acceptance.


5. Fate
Perhaps one of the most essential connections that I made is regarding fate. Fate is a concept that is deeply explored in the novel SH5. The motto written on Pilgram’s office, the Traufmadorian concept about being trapped in amber, and the general nonchalance attitude Billy adapts throughout the novel, all support the notion that we are merely existing, and that there is no use fighting against the unalterable.

Rebecca Black also refers to fate in Friday. She expresses this profound theme by weaving them in her seemingly shallow lyrics.When she is debating which seat to take (Kickin' in the front seat / Sittin' in the back seat / Gotta make my mind up /Which seat can I take), Black is actually exploiting the pretense of free will. Her music video depicts a car with all the seats occupied by her friends except for the middle back seat. Naturally, there is only one outcome that can happen: Rebecca must take the middle back seat. However, Rebecca still decides to challenge fate in her lyrics and point out multiple possibilities when there is actually only one. By doing so, Rebecca Black mocks the idea of fate. The way the story unfolds in the music video and her ultimate decision (she ends up taking the middle back seat) implies that challenging fate is a futile action, and that in life, the inevitable that has already been set in stone is bound to occur. Like Vonnegut’s novel SH5, Friday explores the notion of fate quite extensively.