Chapter 1- Direct Characterization

As I read the first chapter of Slaughterhouse-Five, I sarcastically thought to myself, "Self, isn't this terrific? It's a book about a man writing a book...". Luckily, with help of direct characterization, I was intrigued. The quote, "And not many words come now, either, when I have become an old fart with his memories and his Pall Malls, with his sons full grown" (2) is a prime example of direct characterization and is the reason why I am still giving this book a chance. (This has nothing to do with the fact that the quote has the word "fart" and that I have an immature mind to which I find the excerpt hilarious.) Anyway, the quote shows that in the narrator's old age, time has become limited and adventures cease to come around. The memories mentioned are about his exciting yet torturous time serving in the army in World War II while he makes unbreakable bonds with his fellow soldiers. This is probably the equivalent to the "good ole days" most old people LOVE to talk about that they forcibly share at family reunions...
The rest of the chapter tells the tale of the narrator's failed attempts at writing a book of his experiences in Dresden during World War II.