Slaughterhouse Five- motif

"Billy was the next-to-last human being to reach the door.  The hobo was last.  The hobo could not flow, could not plop.  He wasn't liquid anymore.  He was stone.  So it goes." PAGE 81

This quote provides an example of a motif that persists throughout the novel.  Every time someone dies in the book, the narrator says "so it goes."  This motif provides the emotion or lack thereof present when someone dies.  The motif is effective in showing that the deaths are all felt the same because he responds with the same saying.  The motif also shows how the war has hardened the men to death.  It effectively shows that death is not regarded as it is outside the context of war.  The men do not mourn the loss.  They just move on from it.  The narrator's phrase shows that he does not feel the pain often associated with death anymore.  The motif is effective in proving the harsh reality of death in war.  In this way it is not regarded as of significant value because he does not spend time discussing or further explaining the circumstances.