Ivanna Guerrero
English 2
September 9, 2015
Fate and Free Will in “Slaughterhouse-Five” The novel, “Slaughterhouse-Five” by Kurt Vonnegut, is about a war veteran named Billy Pilgrim who goes through war and at the same time goes back and forward in time to a moment in his life. He went from times he was in war, back to when he was an eye doctor, back to war again, then forward to when he was at home writing to the newspaper, back to war again, and so on. He went through hard times in life and good ones too, but ever since he went to Tralfarmadore he learned that if you can’t change time then free will doesn’t exist. Tralfamadore was a planet three hundred million miles from Earth which in there lived the creatures called Tralfamadorians. …show more content…
Billy Pilgrim and the Tralfamadorians believe in fate. The Tralfamadorians were the one that taught Billy to accept death. That he can’t change when he dies, he just does because of fate. This affects the story because if he did not believe in fate he would’ve not lived freely, and not cared for himself. He would’ve cared for himself more, since he would want to live longer. He would’ve had a different mindset of the world. For example, in the novel he said, “So it goes” (Vonnegut 140), many times throughout the book. So instead of saying oh well that’s how life goes he would get at least a little upset because his friend died. It would also affect the story because he would’ve died later than he did. He knew when he was going to die because there was this man that promised he was going to kill Billy for revenge. So Billy was going to give a speech to a large audience so he knew that this man was going to send someone to be there ready to kill him. So his bodyguards were surrounding him so that nobody can hurt him, but Billy said this to them, “No, no…It is time for you to go home to your wives and children, and it is time for me to be dead for a little while-and then live again” (Vonnegut 142-143). Then he was killed. So if he would just let the guards protect him then he would’ve died later on. Since he believed that you can’t change time nor death, he decided to die right there because that’s what fate had for …show more content…
This novel is basically wrapped around the ideas of free will and fate. Both ideas are important to the novel. Without these ideas in the book then Billy wouldn’t have died when he did. Also, the Tralfamadorians would probably not even be in the book and if they were then they would try to fix the mistakes they have done like blowing up the whole universe. Everyone has their own opinion if they believe in fate or free will. Do you think your life is made by the choices you make or predetermined by
English 2
September 9, 2015
Fate and Free Will in “Slaughterhouse-Five” The novel, “Slaughterhouse-Five” by Kurt Vonnegut, is about a war veteran named Billy Pilgrim who goes through war and at the same time goes back and forward in time to a moment in his life. He went from times he was in war, back to when he was an eye doctor, back to war again, then forward to when he was at home writing to the newspaper, back to war again, and so on. He went through hard times in life and good ones too, but ever since he went to Tralfarmadore he learned that if you can’t change time then free will doesn’t exist. Tralfamadore was a planet three hundred million miles from Earth which in there lived the creatures called Tralfamadorians. …show more content…
Billy Pilgrim and the Tralfamadorians believe in fate. The Tralfamadorians were the one that taught Billy to accept death. That he can’t change when he dies, he just does because of fate. This affects the story because if he did not believe in fate he would’ve not lived freely, and not cared for himself. He would’ve cared for himself more, since he would want to live longer. He would’ve had a different mindset of the world. For example, in the novel he said, “So it goes” (Vonnegut 140), many times throughout the book. So instead of saying oh well that’s how life goes he would get at least a little upset because his friend died. It would also affect the story because he would’ve died later than he did. He knew when he was going to die because there was this man that promised he was going to kill Billy for revenge. So Billy was going to give a speech to a large audience so he knew that this man was going to send someone to be there ready to kill him. So his bodyguards were surrounding him so that nobody can hurt him, but Billy said this to them, “No, no…It is time for you to go home to your wives and children, and it is time for me to be dead for a little while-and then live again” (Vonnegut 142-143). Then he was killed. So if he would just let the guards protect him then he would’ve died later on. Since he believed that you can’t change time nor death, he decided to die right there because that’s what fate had for …show more content…
This novel is basically wrapped around the ideas of free will and fate. Both ideas are important to the novel. Without these ideas in the book then Billy wouldn’t have died when he did. Also, the Tralfamadorians would probably not even be in the book and if they were then they would try to fix the mistakes they have done like blowing up the whole universe. Everyone has their own opinion if they believe in fate or free will. Do you think your life is made by the choices you make or predetermined by