Shock Therapy In Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughter House Five

Shortly into the novel Slaughter House Five, Billy Pilgrim became “lost in time” and cannot control where he travels and whether he is in the past, present, or future. Billy saw anything from his own birth, various experiences from his life, and his death. This is because of the harsh things Billy had to go through as a young soldier, which would later affect how he lived life. These events traumatically changed Billy, for better or for worse, and his character.
Kurt Vonnegut develops the character of Billy Pilgrim through his traveling to the planet
Tralfamadore, the shock therapy he received, and his flashbacks to his time as a soldier in World
War II.
Billy is having distorted memories and hallucinations due to the shock therapy he
received …show more content…
Zubin

explains how shock therapy is very capable of changing who you are, how you see things, and how you remember things. This effect of memory distortion is very prevalent in Slaughter House
Five. All of Billy’s memories were changed and lost in his head, as he was lost in time, due to shock therapy. It brung out extreme things like imagining he was abducted and taken to a new planet. Shock therapy is the main reason why he claims to be “lost in time”.
Another event that shows how Vonnegut develops Billy Pilgrim’s character is through his constant flashbacks to World War II. Being a soldier is not a favorable to everyone. War is a very horrifying thing to some people. Especially at a young age as Billy was. Many are against war, because of the sheer amount of death. This is why Mrs. O’Hare disapproved of Vonnegut writing the book, and her children even hearing about what Kurt and her husband went through, unless he named it the Children’s Crusade. Soldiers see things in wars that are very