Free will is defined as the ability to act at one 's own discretion according to the Oxford Dictionary. In Slaughterhouse-Five, Billy Pilgrim experiences many events throughout his life with outside factors that go against his free will. There are different ways to view this topic. Many argue if we can actually control our actions, while others argue that it 's impossible for anything to happen without being caused by something else. In other words, everything is structured and no matter what you do, there is no way to change the outcome of any event. In Slaughterhouse Five the aliens, called Tralfamadorians, teach Billy that there is no such thing as free will. The Tralfamadorians also teach Billy that he cannot change the events in his life
…show more content…
Almost every time a paragraph ends with this phrase, Vonnegut talks about death preceding it. He uses the aliens to describe how we have no control on how or when we die, which is lacking free will. Vonnegut says "While Billy was recuperating in a hospital in Vermont, his wife died accidentally of carbon-monoxide poisoning. So it goes" (25). Although his wife died, Tralfamadorians believe that she is still living at some other point in time, so technically she never "died". His wife obviously had no intention of dying at the moment, which lacks free will once …show more content…
Vonnegut shows how Billy has no free will by saying "When Billy got back from his furlough, there were orders for him to go overseas" (32). Billy was an enlisted man and had no choice but to fight in the war, therefore backing up the argument that there is no such thing as free will. The moment is structured that way. No matter what Billy did in his life before getting enlisted, he will always end up going to war. Going along with the structured universe, the aliens inform Billy on how the universe ends. Eventually, a Tralfamadorian pilot presses a button which destroys the universe. When Billy asks why they can 't prevent the incident, they reply: "He has always pressed it, and he always will. We always let him and we always will let him. The moment is structured that way" (117). Neither the Tralfamadorians or anyone else have control on the outcome of the universe. Since the aliens know the outcome of the universe and that they can 't change it, they teach Billy a valuable lesson: ignore the awful times and concentrate on the good
Almost every time a paragraph ends with this phrase, Vonnegut talks about death preceding it. He uses the aliens to describe how we have no control on how or when we die, which is lacking free will. Vonnegut says "While Billy was recuperating in a hospital in Vermont, his wife died accidentally of carbon-monoxide poisoning. So it goes" (25). Although his wife died, Tralfamadorians believe that she is still living at some other point in time, so technically she never "died". His wife obviously had no intention of dying at the moment, which lacks free will once …show more content…
Vonnegut shows how Billy has no free will by saying "When Billy got back from his furlough, there were orders for him to go overseas" (32). Billy was an enlisted man and had no choice but to fight in the war, therefore backing up the argument that there is no such thing as free will. The moment is structured that way. No matter what Billy did in his life before getting enlisted, he will always end up going to war. Going along with the structured universe, the aliens inform Billy on how the universe ends. Eventually, a Tralfamadorian pilot presses a button which destroys the universe. When Billy asks why they can 't prevent the incident, they reply: "He has always pressed it, and he always will. We always let him and we always will let him. The moment is structured that way" (117). Neither the Tralfamadorians or anyone else have control on the outcome of the universe. Since the aliens know the outcome of the universe and that they can 't change it, they teach Billy a valuable lesson: ignore the awful times and concentrate on the good