Analysis

In Slaughterhouse-Five, the narrator introduces Roland Weary as Billy Pilgrim's wartime comrade. Despite the term "comrade", Weary's character is the exact opposite. In actuality, he is a bully that exemplifies the mindset for war of a very young man. The idea that war will "be fought by babies" (18) resides within Roland Weary. Going into the war, Weary was only 18 years old which provided him with a burden that affected the way he viewed war and what he wanted out of it. Weary's burden is his insecurity. Insecurity specifically regarding his preparednes, display of aggression and position of authority. In contrast with Edgar Derby and Billy Pilgrim, Weary directs the emotions and experiences of war he feels inwardly on to others around him. Weary creates "The Three Musketeers" as an outlet for the self-doubt and uncertainty he possesses. In some ways, he is attempting to compensate for his age by pinning himself as a leader to forget about how awful war can be and the expectations it sets for young people in society. Weary's character demonstrates the toll war takes on young adults further developing an anti-war theme.

Roland Weary reluctantly includes Billy Pilgrim in his group of "The Three Musketeers" (61) and believes he is doing Billy a service by making sacrifices for him and speaking of all the heroism and glory that comes of the three musketeers. Weary is never nice or loving to Billy, in fact he has kicked, shoved and even "banged Billy against a tree." (60) Weary had "every piece of equipment" (50) known to mankind in preparation for the war in contrast to Billy who didn't have even a gun or helmet, thus allotting him with more justification for power and war stories to tell in the future. Part of the reason why Weary was so hostile and careless was because he longed for, and solely focused on, all the glory and fame associated with war. The "John Wayne" characterization of war in the media made young people in war look appealing, and planted the notion that glory was inevitable.

The tale of Weary's war story, which he spends the entirety of his journey to Dresden focusing on, comes to a halt when a handful of German soldiers stop him in his tracks. He was too busy thinking about the "bronze star" (54) he so heavily coveted as a fraction of his heroic story to even hear the barking of the dog with the soldiers. The boots provided a crutch for his insecurity but were taken away by the Germans. The boots were then traded for a less than equipped pair of clogs. Weary worked against having to have a war story that wasn't glorious or congratulatory and and clogs represented the beginning of that. In the end, Weary died becuase of gangrene caused by an infection in his feet when he wore the clogs. Still raving of the three musketeers, dying Weary only had one request- "he wanted to be avenged, so he said again and again the name of the person who killed him...everybody knew the answer, which was this: Billy Pilgrim." (101) He fully believes that if it weren't for Billy, he would still be alive. Weary was a "baby" going into war and he didn't know anything other than what he wanted to accomplish and how he would do it. In his eyes, billy messed that up and led him to the Germans and ruined his war fantasy. The irony of this situation is, Weary appoints Paul Larazzo to avenge him and he carries out the same determinism to achieve a goal that war has put into his head and displays the effects of it as well.

It might seem like a foreign concept for some people, but war can and has been viewed in a positive light. "The Children's Crusade" (19) is a portion of this conception and with Weary being 18, he still has the mindset of a kid, but has the assumption to fight in a war and look good while doing it. Roland Weary's character embodied the theme of anti-war because Weary was traumatized and blinded by the expectations he had for war to the point where he relied on the protection of material things, anger and leadership as a way to block out the self-doubts he had to achieve his perfect war story.

Personal Connection

Instagram Pages

@R_Weary5

The page about my life and personality as described in Slaughterhouse-Five

@my_life_compared_to_Weary

Welcome to my page where I post about aspects of my life in contrast to that of Roland Weary's