Every individual’s life is made up of a collection of moments that all add up to the sum of that person’s identity. These moments can be traced in things such as photo albums, journals, but perhaps most profoundly are memories. In his novel Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut presents the protagonist Billy Pilgrim in a series of time shifts that range from him being a small youth to an old man. As a result of these frequent shifts in space and time one may be inclined to think that Vonnegut doesn’t permit readers to get a full grasp of who Billy Pilgrim is and what exactly is going on. While the plot deviates from the conventional linear structure it does not hinder our understanding of who Billy Pilgrim is but rather gives more insight into
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freewill and whether or not one is true and the other an illusion. Over the course of the novel we are shown several instances that argue in favor of fate rather than freewill deciding the course of events in one’s life. For instance when Billy is thrown into the pool by his father and rather than swim he decides to sink and actually wishes to remain at the bottom. Against his wishes however, he is retrieved from the pool and brought back onto the surface. In this example we are shown that Billy’s will does not change the outcome of events. Another instance that further supports this argument is that Billy does not choose to go to Germany as an infantry soldier. Billy’s life is led by forces that are beyond his reach and his personal preference changes absolutely nothing to the outcome of events. However, Vonnegut appears to contradict the points he makes on fate with examples that suggest freewill also plays a role in deciding the way things turn out. In Billy’s optometry office there lies a plaque with the serenity prayer. The serenity prayer with its line “The courage to change the things I can” opposes the tralfamadorian philosophy of accepting events as they unfold. Ironically enough, the knowledge that is bestowed upon Billy by the tralfamadorians leads him to share this information with the world to try to change how they view time and life and death. Going out and symbolically acting like the …show more content…
When Roland Weary in in the boxcar, dying from his foot wounds he received marching, he instructs every soldier alongside him to avenge his death by killing Billy Pilgrim. Vonnegut portrays revenge in the same manner that he depicts war as both not solving anything and furthering suffering because of pride. In the beginning of the novel when Vonnegut tells his publisher he’s writing an anti-war book his publisher’s response is “You might as well write an anti-glacier book too.” The meaning of this reply expresses the futility of writing an anti-war novel because war and revenge stem forth from humanity’s ignorance and pride. It doesn’t end with war and revenge either, as Billy shows how the human condition limits his understanding of the tralfamadorians. When the tralfamadorians tell Billy how the universe will end Billy, both arrogantly and ignorantly, questions why they don’t try to change the outcome if they have foreseen how it happens as if they are capable of changing events. Billy’s initial understanding of time and resistance to the tralfamadorian ways is a result of the limitations that are placed on the human mind. Aldous Huxley in his essay, Heaven & Hell, makes a similar interpretation of the mind and how human evolution has structured the mind in a utilitarian way inhibiting human perception of the true state of
freewill and whether or not one is true and the other an illusion. Over the course of the novel we are shown several instances that argue in favor of fate rather than freewill deciding the course of events in one’s life. For instance when Billy is thrown into the pool by his father and rather than swim he decides to sink and actually wishes to remain at the bottom. Against his wishes however, he is retrieved from the pool and brought back onto the surface. In this example we are shown that Billy’s will does not change the outcome of events. Another instance that further supports this argument is that Billy does not choose to go to Germany as an infantry soldier. Billy’s life is led by forces that are beyond his reach and his personal preference changes absolutely nothing to the outcome of events. However, Vonnegut appears to contradict the points he makes on fate with examples that suggest freewill also plays a role in deciding the way things turn out. In Billy’s optometry office there lies a plaque with the serenity prayer. The serenity prayer with its line “The courage to change the things I can” opposes the tralfamadorian philosophy of accepting events as they unfold. Ironically enough, the knowledge that is bestowed upon Billy by the tralfamadorians leads him to share this information with the world to try to change how they view time and life and death. Going out and symbolically acting like the …show more content…
When Roland Weary in in the boxcar, dying from his foot wounds he received marching, he instructs every soldier alongside him to avenge his death by killing Billy Pilgrim. Vonnegut portrays revenge in the same manner that he depicts war as both not solving anything and furthering suffering because of pride. In the beginning of the novel when Vonnegut tells his publisher he’s writing an anti-war book his publisher’s response is “You might as well write an anti-glacier book too.” The meaning of this reply expresses the futility of writing an anti-war novel because war and revenge stem forth from humanity’s ignorance and pride. It doesn’t end with war and revenge either, as Billy shows how the human condition limits his understanding of the tralfamadorians. When the tralfamadorians tell Billy how the universe will end Billy, both arrogantly and ignorantly, questions why they don’t try to change the outcome if they have foreseen how it happens as if they are capable of changing events. Billy’s initial understanding of time and resistance to the tralfamadorian ways is a result of the limitations that are placed on the human mind. Aldous Huxley in his essay, Heaven & Hell, makes a similar interpretation of the mind and how human evolution has structured the mind in a utilitarian way inhibiting human perception of the true state of