The literary term 'simile' serves as an example of Slaughterhouse Five: "...the prettiest city many of the U.S. army had ever seen. The sky was so detailed and strange. It looked like a Sunday school image of Heaven to Billy."
I saw this quote's significance when I re-read it. Vonnegut uses a simile by making part of the war seem Heavenly and beautiful to the Americans. Even though Dresden is supposed to be wiped out within weeks, Billy still finds the city amazing.
I found it interesting that he was able to take such an aweful moment and an aweful experience and make it great. The author could have said that the city was beautiful in the eyes of the Americans. Instead, "...the prettiest city many of the U.S. army had ever seen" shows how taken the Americans were with the Dresden, "The sky was so detailed and strange. It looked like a Sunday school image of Heaven to Billy" emphasizes the fact that he thinks the city is as wonderful as Heaven itself, even though he knows of Dresden soon destruction.
I like the way you portrayed this similie. They saw Dresden as heaven, and shortly after they arrived the city was bombed. They believed they had found one of the most beautiful cities they had ever seen, little did they know the majority of them would be visiting the city of angels next.
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