A talking pillar of salt?!

In the closing paragraph of chapter one, Vonnegut metaphorically compares himself to a pillar of salt. This phrase alludes to the biblical story of Lot and his family as they fled the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Because of the rebellion during this time, God sends two angels to destroy the city of Sodom where Lot resided yet he and his family were spared. The angels told them to retreat to the mountains and not to look back and when Lot’s wife disobeyed for one last glance upon her home she was immediately turned into a pillar of salt. Likewise, Vonnegut was spared in the destruction of Dresden in World War II. Somehow he survived the sudden bombing of the city where thousands upon thousands of others were killed. In this way, the author feels as if he can relate with Lot’s wife. War is horrific and scarring to many soldiers who have spent lifetimes trying to forget the sights that they have witnessed. However, Vonnegut feels a duty to look back on the destruction of the city of Dresden and to document it for others in a book because he was a lucky survivor. Not only does he compare himself to Lot’s wife but he also draws parallels between Sodom and Dresden. Sodom and its many citizens were destroyed by sulfuric rain from heaven while Dresden’s thousands were annihilated by a rain down of bombs form the sky. Lot’s wife looked back on a city blackened by sin while Vonnegut recalls a city blackened by war. In the biblical story, Lot and his daughters continue on yet Lot’s wife forever remains a pillar of salt on the plain. In the same way, the author feels as if he is stuck in time; focused on an event that forever changed his life and impaired his ability to actually continue normally on.