Chapter 1

"People aren't supposed to look back.  I'm certainly not going to anymore" (Vonnegut 22).

The picture shows a road at night, with everything farther than a few feet away obscured in the dark.  In this quote, Vonnegut reflects morosely on the past, seeming to imply that it is better to forget and move on than to hold onto dreams of things that could have gone differently.  The picture reflects this idea that anything far from where you are should be forgotten and fade away.

I find this quote interesting because it contrasts with points brought up later in the novel that time is connected, and isn't just one linear chain.  In his personal life, Vonnegut certainly endured hardships in his past, but the very fact that he wrote Slaughterhouse Five and other books that looked back on his experiences proves that he didn't stop looking back.  And personally, I disagree with the quote.  We are shaped by our experiences, and are the people we are because of the things we have done and have lived through.  When we look back we can be sustained by the good times, grow stronger from the hard times, and learn from our mistakes.  We wouldn't be complete as people without our pasts, so as tempting as it can be to forget the past, it is impossible to truly never "look back".  

Vonnegut, Kurt. Slaughterhouse Five. New York City: Random House, Inc., 1969. Print.