(Photo Credit: http://whatsonmytube.com)
This chapter reminded me of this cheesy television show,
Quantum Leap. The premise of the show was that the handsome lead character would be sent back and forth in time in order to help with one situation or another. Until the situation was resolved, he was stuck wherever he landed...but one of the main differences between the show and the novel is that in the show, he could become other people...so he might be a woman, or he might be an old man, or he might be African American...that would be even tougher than Billy Pilgrim trying to figure out what age he was. It's much easier to act like yourself, no matter what age.
I love the phrase "unstuck in time," if for no other reason than it indicates that we are all currently stuck in time. Interesting to think about.
When relating Billy's situation, the narrator says, "He says." Does this mean that Billy Pilgrim is unreliable to the narrator? If the narrator doesn't trust the story, should we?
Billy Pilgrim's father dies in a hunting accident while Billy is away at war...Billy's wife dies from a random carbon monoxide accident after Billy survives a tragic airplane crash as the only survivor. Irony? If not, then what do you make of these odd coincidences?
What is significant about Billy's profession?
OK...so you're in New York, you're up late, and you're listening to talk radio. A man calls in and tells a story about being abducted by aliens, being put on display in a zoo, and being forced to breed with a former starlet with the unlikely name of Montana Wildhack...what is your reaction? What do you think of Billy's story?
So according to the Tralfamadorians, when someone dies, they are still alive in the past. All moments -- past, present, future -- have always existed and will always continue to exist. What do you think of this interesting theory? Is it plausible?
We finally find out the source of "so it goes." Does it change the way you hear that phrase?
[Note: Gotta love an author who uses the word "flibbertigibbet."]
vox humana and vox celeste...meanings?
Four survive the Battle of the Bulge: 2 scouts, 1 tank gunner, and 1 chaplain's assistant. Is there any significance to their jobs?
[Note: I hope no one ever describes me as a "filthy flamingo"]
Everyone on the gun crew was killed except for Weary...sound familiar?
A Spanish thumbscrew, in case you were wondering... (Photo Credit: http://medieval-castles.org)
Weary has a sick fascination with torture, don't you think? The Iron Maiden...
(Photo credit: http://123rf.com)
What does Weary's version of the war tell you about Weary as a character?
Why did Billy resent being rescued from the bottom of the pool?
We get the story of Private Slovik, the only American soldier shot for cowardice since the Civil War. Why are we told this story?
When Billy is unstuck in time, why does he visit his only infidelity? Is there a method to the madness of this time travel?
The chapter ends with the surreal scene of Weary beating Pilgrim while Germans watch in wonder...what does the scene suggest to you about the line between fantasy and reality?
52 comments:
The quote, "He says" is two words, but they spark a few questions to me. In reading the chapter, the reader finds that Billy tells some pretty crazy stories-- stories of meeting aliens, stories of traveling through time, and so on. Nobody believes these stories, not his daughter and not even the narrator. So as a reader, am I supposed to believe them? The stories are so outrageous that the simple answer is not to believe them, but that would just make the novel boring. As of now, I'm going to play naive and see what else Billy Pilgrim has to say.
I feel like the alien stories have a little to do with how that Billy was tortured in war. Billy's way of coping with everything that went on was to make up aliens who are symbols of other things. I know that later it described when the aliens take him but I feel like he was just thinking of those two moments and connecting them. Somehow I think that these aliens are like the Germans from the war and that when they were observing Billy it was like that moment in war when he was captured. What Billy's stories seem to be is like the torched of the war; unreal to what the humans first thought of when hearing how the Germans' tortured others, but in the end the truth.
This book is a little like Quantum Leap (although it is a little less cheesy). However, there is one difference that bothers me. In Quantum Leap Sam Beckett's main goal is to change history for the better. Billy Pilgrim seems to have no interest in turning time in his favor or anyone else's. He just accepts that what happens is what is meant to happen. This leads me to believe that Billy is crazy and that the time traveling isn't really happening. I agree with Erin, however, when she said that this would make the novel extremely boring. Another explanation is that the time traveling may be Vonnegut's way of explaining that some things cannot be changed, no matter how horrific they were. There is no stopping war or tragedies even if you know about them in advance. On the other hand, an even simpler explanation is that Vonnegut was just trying to make a war story interesting to a broad spectrum of readers because who doesn’t want to read a book involving time travel? Anyway, it still drives me crazy that Billy is so indifferent to the fact that he is “unstuck in time.” He doesn’t say anything about it. He doesn’t do anything about it. He doesn’t even try to take advantage of his future knowledge. He only indicates this knowledge when he has lost all credibility as a crazy old man with a head injury. I keep telling myself that it’s all part of the theme of unchangeable moments in time, but it still bothers me a little more than it should.
Billy's occupation is very ironic. He makes things clearer for people as he sells frames for glasses. This is similar to what he believes he is doing as he spreads his message of the Tralfamadorians to the world. He is explaining time and death in a way that will help people understand why certain events happen. He is helping people to see, literally and figuratively.
I absolutely love the concept of Billy Pilgrim becoming unstuck in time. It is probably my favorite idea broached in this entire novel. To me, this concept of Billy being flung throughout his past, present, and future, half-hazardously, really conflicts the concept of free will. If a man such as Billy is shot throughout time without his consent, what choice does Billy have in the matter? If Billy doesn't choose where he is going or when he goes, does he truly have any choice in the matter? The way Vonnegut phrases the time travel, becoming "unstuck" in time, makes it seem like Billy is merely a victim of circumstances. Even in chapter two, it is very clear that Billy never changes anything when he becomes "unstuck". Is this because Billy chooses not to, or because Billy has no choice in the matter?
I also really enjoy the Tralfamadorians and the concept of the fourth dimension. If their theory about every thing always existing and continuing to exist is true, then it completely contradicts the concept of free will. If everything always exists and nothing can change before it happens, as it happens, or after it happens, then free will cannot exist. If this is true, then it would explain why Billy Pilgrim never changes anything when he becomes unstuck in time. Anyways, I think this theory is completely interesting. I think it could relate to the idea of parallel universes. It is completely possible that time is not a linear progression. The way many people perceive time, and time travel, is linear. However, if time wasn't linear then the concept that everything is always happening would be completely plausible. It is entirely possible that while I type this, somewhere else, in a parallel universe, I have already typed it and not typed it simultaneously. I mean, Schrödinger's cat, anyone?
I found Weary to be a very interesting character in this novel. Even though his time was short, lasting only from the time they survived the battle to the time he died in the train car, he still was an important figure throughout the novel. One really interesting aspect of Weary was the way he pictured the war. He keeps bringing up how he and the scouts are “The Three Musketeers”. His vision of war is very glorified and exciting. He envisions a future where all three of them, meaning the two scouts and himself, will be given awards and will never be split up. Weary tries to put him into a group with the two scouts, and convinces himself that the group is taking care of Billy instead of just him. This whole idea and vision Weary has makes him seem very dense and ignorant. As a character I find Weary to be annoying and childish. This whole idea of “The three musketeers” just adds to that annoying and immature persona.
This Weary character just annoys me so much and I hope I never meet someone like him in real life. His fascination in medieval torture just creeps me out.
And I wonder if when Billy time travels it is just to see. He never tries to change what happens and that may be because of his Tralfamadorian beliefs but it drives me crazy how he just sits there and watches wrongs happen again and again.
If I had heard Billy on the radio telling his tales I’d laugh, think him mad, and hope that he’s not a violent delusional man.
After I read the word “flibbertigibbet” I was surprised to find out that it was an actual word for a lightheaded person and laughed out loud.
The Tralfamadorians’s theory that all moments in the past, present, and future will always exist is very interesting and it does make sense. A dead person is still very much alive in the past and also in your memories. When I think about it, this theory is like the question that goes like this: When a tree falls where no one can hear it fall, does it still make a sound? In theory, a dead person is of course still alive in the past and a tree still makes a sound, it doesn’t just stop because you’re not there anymore.
Weary's version of the war tells the reader what Weary wants most: glory and friends. He nicknames the scouts and himself "The Three Musketeers" as if they're some close group of companions bent on saving the world. It shows Weary never had either of these two things, and the book goes even further as to show that his vision of the war was completely opposite of his reality back at home.
I'm not going to lie, if I happened to be in New York and heard Billy's story, I would probably laugh. If I heard a tale as bizarre as Billy's where he was captured, put in a zoo, and forced to breed, I would think he was playing a prank or something. I think Billy's story was just a figment of his own imagination in order to block the horrors and atrocities of the war from his mind and replace them with his own version of reality.
Vox Humana- a Human Voice
Vox Celeste- Voice of the Heavenly
Both are Latin and I think it is referring to religious hymns and everyday songs—the ones that make us human, since they're being used to discribe the organ.
Honestly, in the time period of the book, I believe that I would be terrified for Billy Pilgrim. On October 30, 1938, an adaptation of H.G. Well’s novel The War of the Worlds aired as a radio show. The first two thirds of the broadcast were presented as news bulletins. It was said that the listeners were reminded regularly throughout the show that it was only a performance, but panic soon ensued. Many people actually believed that Germans, not Aliens had invaded. But nevertheless, people were injured, killed, and feared for their lives. So I, myself don’t believe the story, but to people of that time, it would possibly be believable.
Weary's version of the war comes across unemotional. Weapons, death, and aggression seem to fuel his spirit and possibly his family's. He appears antisocial and objective. He is a mildly base person (his cherished porn photo, crude jokes) and wants to seem tough when he just acts dominant and abusive. Unmotivated by academics, his activities lean more towards sadistic if anything. One positive trait he has, though, is his ability to stay alive. His violent hobbies have served him well for war. Then again, the scarves he wears on his face may be covering more than skin. I wonder if he'll stick around for the length of the novel. He doesn't seem to fundamental to the plot.
I think Vonnegut killed off both of Billy's wife and father to eliminate two people close to him, two characters that may have sympathized or believed him. This would have taken away some of Billy's solitude, his sort of spacey personality. His memory is decaying and I think he feels utterly alone. There is no one there to help him remember his age or the year. Since his father died while he was away, he may feel like he never have had a chance to grieve, or felt angry he couldn't attend his funeral. Also his wife died just after he had survived a plane crash. Maybe his faith in humanity had diminished after all of these things. His daughter seems like a witch who is trying her best but is tired of taking care of her father and grandmother. Billy's son is kind of the opposite of Billy: was a bit of a troublemaker, excelled at war, is recognized for strength. And Billy's mother's distance only ups his island-like existence.
As I began reading about Billy’s stories about the Tralfamadorian aliens, I kept questioning whether it really happened, whether Billy was just crazy, or whether it was just a dream. If I happened to hear Billy’s story on the radio I would probably just think he was a crazy man in need of help and just turn the radio off.
Billy’s profession plays in with the novel very well. It’s interesting that he provides corrective lenses for people to see more clearly just like how he tries to teach people to see the way Tralfamadorians view the world.
I found Billy’s father’s method of sink-or-swim very interesting. His father threw him into the pool and rescued him without Billy having any say in it. It relates how war throws people into a situation of fight-or-die without any choice.
When younger, a friend told Billy to choose his childhood name Billy rather than William. When I looked up the meaning of William, it was defined by many websites as protector. However throughout the novel, Billy is somewhat described as a coward. He has many non heroic characteristics, for example being weak compared to other men and fearful of many things he encounters in war. I think Vonnegut chooses a non heroic character such as Billy so that war would not be portrayed as glamorous in the novel. Also Billy’s last name is Pilgrim has significance. Throughout the chapters I have read so far Billy is on a journey, whether that be in war, his trip to Tralfamadore, or time travel.
I love history so when the story of Private Slovik was expressed I was intruged and felt that it was foreshadowing a later event. Billy's character is very chaoditc in this chapter. I thought it was humorous as to how he is a chaplan's assiassnt without proper military atire. This description was a nice way to show how nuts and full of chaos war is.
The Tralfamadorians' theory on death to me feels like they treat it just like stage in life or next step in life. A person could very well be alive in another person's memory.I'm not sure exactly how a person could be alive in all moments though. Especially the future. Any one know?
I think Billy Pilgrim is crazy and is imagining being abducted by aliens just to escape bad memories of war.
Call me crazy, but the Tralfamadorians theory about both past and present existing I actually kind of agree with. Maybe not it quite the same way, but I think that all things that happen and that have once existed are stored as memories, therefor they can be relived in your mind and are just existing in a different form. When it comes to the future existing, I think that the Tralfamadorians are in a way referring to fate. That some things are just going to happen no matter what therefor they believe these events already exist.
Does anyone think its odd that Billy made himself a radio show to tell about his being unstuck in time? And why does he call it being unstuck in time? I would call it being stuck in time because he goes with the aliens and then comes back to earth and picks up right where he left off, so he is stuck with the aliens while time is staying still.
Everyone killed on the gun crew except for Weary...Everyone killed in the plane crash except for Billy.
I think that the Tralfamadorians theory is quite plausible depending on the way you grasp it. Figuratively, when someone dies, their memories/past actions are still alive and they might be alive in others hearts. And I agree with Anne that their view of the future might be referring to fate...or possibly Karma?
Weary's version of the war tells me that he is a Romantic who imagines a great adventure and creates his own version of what is happening, glorifying reality and creating a more novelistic version. I think Weary does this to keep himself motivated, to create friends, and to make him seem like a better person then he really is. The way all the clothing Weary has is listed shows the clothing's importance. I think the clothes not only block out the cold, they also block out reality in some ways, allowing Weary to create his alternate reality and allow Weary to believe that reality is actually the way he imagines it.
This book is written with a lot of foreshadowing. I understand that the author/narrator knows the end of the book, but why is he telling us snippets of what is to come, explaining that he knows the rest of the book. It was not written from Billy's thoughts, it was written from a humans perspective of Billy's thoughts through time. Is this whole book written as two stories of his life that his mind keeps jumping too? Regardless it is still written with the Human sense of time, just telling two stories at once. Time is still rel event in sequencing this book.
I agree with the Tralfamadorian's theory. When someone dies, the memory of that person still lives on with every person that was ever involved in their life. The deceased person is not physically there anymore, but the impact that they have made on other people's lives still lives on. The thought of that person also lives on with loved ones into the future. The moments will continue to exist because you can't just erase someone and the time that you have shared with them from your memory.
I believe this theory is a way to describe the attachment that is held on to even when someone passes away.
I think the significance of Billy's profession is that, as an optometrist, he is trying to help others see, while, according to him, he can see on a deeper level because he has become unstuck in time. Once, while with a patient, Billy tries to explain his Tralfamadorian experience. His patient and his patient's mother were appalled at him. It is ironic that Billy is in the business of helping people's sight while he seems quite delusional himself.
I was very interested in the Tralfamadorian's theory. I agree with the idea behind it. When someone dies, they are still very much alive in the past. Everything that happened with that person who died still exists. I like when the book states that all moments are permanent, as well, as part of the theory. Moments of your past are always there and can always be looked back on.
Another thing that caught my eye was the "so it goes" quote that Billy picked up on after agreeing with the Tralfamadorians theory. When someone dies Billy just shrugs and says, "so it goes". Is this how Billy came into saying this about everything that is just "supposed" to happen?
Billy is an optometrist which is a doctor that specializes in the eyes. This is very significant because in the novel Billy proclaims to be able to travel in time in a way to anytime in his life (past or future). He is able to “see” his whole life before him just like he helps other people be able to see properly. For Billy though, he can "see" to a much deeper level than his patients or anyone else because of being "unstuck in time."
Billy’s occupation is very significant and ironic. It is significant because he claims to be able to travel in time in his life. He can see his life right before him. The fact that he makes things clearer for people selling frames or corrective lenses is ironic because he himself tries to teach people to see the way Tralfamadorians view the world. He is trying to help people understand why certain events happen. He helps people see literally and on a deeper level.
I think Billy being the only one surviving and his dad and wife dying is significant and it is irony. I feel like it shows Billy is struggling with a lot more and the Tralfamadorian's theory is somewhat believable. Billy really believes that these "aliens" have something to prove and he is right there with them.
Billy's profession is significant because he's trying to correct peoples' way of seeing things when he doesn't even seem to be able to see things the right way himself. He seems confused and delusional, shouldn't he be trying to fix his own "vision" first?
If I heard what Billy said on the radio, there is no doubt I would think the man is crazy. Although, reading further, this story makes me think that maybe Billy does actually see these things. He flashes back and forth so many times in "time" that it is not normal. He is so thrown off. None of us go through this in real life, so maybe he does see things that we aren't seeing; we just label it as crazy or absurd.
I see Weary as a liar and manipulator, he is so unsure of himself, he needs to twist things around to make things better for himself. (or so he thinks) It's not difficult to realize that Weary is manipulative and power-hungry. He wants to feel above everyone, hence why he was beating on Billy in the woods and got them where they are now..
I think this time travel takes him back in time to times that he wants to forget, just to make him realize they are still there and that they won't ever go away. The past, present, and future are out of his control.
the narrator does use "he says" after that bit of information, but the next line begins with "billy is spastic in time" the narrator may just be acknowledging the story being hard to believe.
billy spends time with beings who can see throughout all of time, and sees a lot more himself than most humans, so it would only make sense that he improves people's vision.
the tramalfadorian concept of time is odd, since it would seem to require all events that ever happened in time to happen at once. it doesn't seem plausible with our laws of physics, but it's a book, so who cares?
vox humana and vox celeste are latin for a the voice of the human and the voice of the heavenly, respectively. they're stops on organs, which alter the sound of the organ itself.
billy resents being rescued because he doesn't want to have to try so hard, he doesn't want to keep going. so every time he gets rescued,it means he'll have to try some more, even though he doesn't want to.
we're told the story of private slovik because billy is showing a similar amount of cowardice, but somehow he manages to survive.
I feel like what's significant about Billy's profession is that, in being an Optometrist, he helps people with their vision. The significance with this is that Billy becomes "unstuck in time" which would mean he see's more than just the now. This could be tied to optometry because it is an enhanced "vision" so to speak.
When a moment passes, it's gone forever. Most people accept this as the truth. The Tralfamadorians, however, believe otherwise. They believe that all moments have always existed and will always continue to exist. I love this theory. It makes every action, every moment, seem that much more important. I believe it's plausible. After all, I've never heard any information that contradicts it. Okay, sure, it's not the best reason to believe something, but it's also not a good reason to not believe something.
I find Vonnegut’s writing to be unlike any other book I have read. First, the story’s timeline is completely out of order. It starts with Billy’s birth, continues with a short journey through his life, and ends in what appears to be the present. Then the story goes back in time, back to when Billy’s was a young boy. Even during his flashes back in time, the story moves back and forth through time again. Sometimes it can get a bit confusing, but it keeps me thinking. The second thing that I noticed was the way the narrator speaks. He or she uses phrases like “He says,” which some believe mean that the narrator is unsure of whether Billy is a reliable character or not. However, while this may be true, I believe that the narrator thinks Billy’s story is important, whether it is completely true or not. I think that the narrator sees an important lesson or message in his story, and he or she thinks it is important enough to share with us.
Billy’s occupation is very significant! He is an optometrist, who helps people find the right lenses and frames. This is significant because he is also trying to show people the Tralfamadorian’s way of life and view of the world. He is trying to teach people to see things in a new light.
I think the Tralfamadorian’s theory is very plausible. They say that when someone dies, they are still alive in the past. The person may not be physically alive, but I do believe that their spirit and memories are still alive in the past. I also agree that “all moments—past, present, future –have always existed and will continue to exist.” If you fell off your bike when you were five, it happened in the past and it will always have happened. It doesn’t disappear just because it happened in the past. The present always exists “here and now,” and the future will always exist as well. Overall, I think this theory is very convincing and I agree with the Tralfamadorian’s view on moments after death.
I was very interested in the land Billy claims to have gone to, Tralfamadore. The experiences he has claimed to have and the way he describes death there was very weird to the way described in war. I think he is trying to make a point that in war when someone dies “so it goes on”. In Tralfamadore people are not cried over, or worried about when they die. Some of the other things Billy described such as the time warp was odd as well. They are remembered when they are alive in the past. I have not decided if I think Billy really thinks he has gone to this land or if war has just made him crazy.
Reading this it is very odd to me Billy’s tactics in war, it’s almost as if he wants to get himself killed so he can just be done. On the third day of wandering when somebody shot at the four and not one bullet hit Billy, he stood politely giving the guy a second chance to shoot him. What! If Weary had not been there I think Billy would have stayed in that same spot until he was hit. Billy did not want to go on anymore, he even quoted “You guys go on without me” (34). Billy won’t do anything to save himself and its sad.
Flibbertigibbet... Yes!!! That's so awesome that Vonnegut used that. Anyway, I really enjoy the Tralfamadorian's theorys' on life. They make everything that we hate on Earth, such as death, seem a lot less dreadful by describing it in a peaceful way. Like when they say that when people die they are still alive in the past. This is also the chapter that focuses attention on Weary. The description of Weary makes him seem like the type of person that you wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley....
Although Weary is an intimidating character, I like him. He adds a very 'war-like' aspect to the book. His caracter somewhat personifies what war is all about. He's big, scary, has all the right war tools, and is wlling to kill. Billy, on the other hand, is the complete opposite. He's bashful, weak, and not into the war scene. They are a nice pair of contrasting characters!
Roland Weary is personally one of the most interesting characters in the story by far. The way Vonnegut describes him is extremely funny and his fascination with weapons and torturing instruments makes his character even more interesting. His extremely exaggerated and mostly untrue version of the war portrays him as a person who likes to make things better than they actually are and he also likes to make it seem like he is the hero and saves the day. Being only eighteen, Weary seems too young to be in such an awful war. His violent and loud personality brought action to the novel and really made this chapter easier to read. I was extremely sad when Weary died in the train car and thought it was interesting that he blamed his death on Billy when he should have technically blamed it on himself.
I find Billy's profession particularly interesting. As an optometrist he helps people's eyesight. After his experience with the Tralfamadorians, Billy preaches their view of life to his fellow Earthlings, thus helping them to "see". I also am intrigued that Billy is helping other people to see "the truth", when he is blind to his own awful condition. He wants others to see the way the Tralfamadorians do, but does not understand that some of what has happened was simply an illusion.
Weary is kind of a creep. Well, not kind of. He really is a creep. His obsession with medieval torture and his whacked-out little fantasies about being a war hero are seriously disturbing. I dislike him greatly as a character, and I can't feel bad for him when he dies.
I'm pretty sure people are right when they say Billy is crazy, but it's a crazy that goes beyond suppressing war memories. I think Billy has issues dealing with death, which is why part of the Tralfamadorian's thoery on life states the dead are still living in the past.
On the very first page of chapter two the narrator is talking about Billy Pilgrim. To me it seems as though Billy doesn't really know where he's at or who he really is. In a way it sounds like he is stuck in a time-traveling machine and doesn't know how to get off of it. He seems confused as to what he is supposed to be doing in life so he is on an endless search trying to find himself and where he really is at. In the book it says that he doesn't have control of where he goes. I feel like a lot of people are like that though. Most of the time we don't know where life is going to take us or what will happen next. We have some control over what happens because of the choices we make and the things we do but we never really know what is going to come from it.
I am intrigued by the view of the Tralfamadorians. If someone had died, they were still alive in the past. The view of life in the present is just a perspective. The Tralfamadorians are trying to show time as being all at once, not just what we see. Just because something happened in the past, doesn’t mean that we should forget that it happened and only look to the future. It says that if something existed, it will continue to exist because of its place in the past. But this view also seems to dismiss death. Billy decided to not be sad when someone died because they were still alive in the past. This view makes it seem as if no one is ever really dead, they are just “in bad condition at that particular moment, but that same person is just fine in plenty of other moments.” (pg. 61) It portrays death as being insignificant.
Roland Weary was a very interesting character to read. Along with a lot of other people, I also feel like Vonnegut really exaggerated his character to an extreme. He his fascination with weapons and willingness to kill makes him seem like the war himself. He is a complete opposite of Billy, who I feel doesn't seem like he belongs in a war at all. I think it is interesting how Ronald warps things in his mind to make other people seem to be the “bad guys.” He seems to never want to take responsibility for himself; he finds it easier to blame other people and move on. I found this to be an interesting part of his character, because it struck me as childish whereas his love of torture devices isn’t childish in the slightest.
I agree with the Tralfamadorian's theory. When someone dies, the memory of that person still lives on with every person that was ever involved in their life. The person may not physically be there anymore, but the impact that they have made on other people's lives still lives on. I am puzzled about Billy going to Tralfamadore... does anyone agree?! Like did the accident mess him up in the head? Because I'm thinking yes! Although,
I do believe this theory is a way to describe the attachment that is held on to even when someone passes away.
At this point in the book, since I have not finished it, I can only attempt to understand what is going on. Billy claims that he came “unstuck in time” before the plane crash and his head injury, but how can we be sure that is true? Is possible that his injury created false memories or altered his real ones? I think it is very possible and likely to be true. This would also explain the narrator’s hesitation, especially with his prior knowledge of Billy’s life. However, that does not mean that this story is meaningless just because it is unreliable. I think that Billy has a mental illness that may or may not be caused by the plane crash, but most certainly was affected by it. He was under a lot of stress when he fought in the war as a young boy. It took away his youth and forced him to mature before he was ready, leading him to believe he no longer had a choice in how his future would turn out. This set him into a depression, which caused him to seek out a way of coping, therefore his hallucinations began.
This chapter’s beginning reminded me of the novel /movie The Time Traveler’s Wife. Both Billy and the time traveler in that story travel through time and have to figure out where they are and what age their current self is. One big difference though is that when Billy arrives at his moment he is properly attired, the time traveler couldn’t take anything with him as he traveled, including his clothes. So if Billy were to think he had it bad, at least he wouldn’t have to steal clothes from somewhere while being in the nude.
When the narrator questions Billy’s reliability I also question it as should other readers. His mental state is questionable to say the least. I find Billy’s loved ones deaths very ironic considering they die while he is out fighting in a war, what are the odds that he is not the one that dies? Billy’s profession of optometry is ironic considering that he fixes people’s sights when his own mental sights should be cleared. If I had been in New York during the radio broadcast I would have wondered what type of drugs the guy was on to be that delusional. Another note I have to make is that the alien’s theory is very thought invoking but highly implausible. Chapter two was much more interesting for me to read compared to chapter one.
“So according to the Tralfamadorians, when someone dies, they are still alive in the past. All moments -- past, present, future -- have always existed and will always continue to exist. What do you think of this interesting theory? Is it plausible?”
This really is a very interesting idea. I believe that anything is possible, and this theory does make sense when you think about it, though it is quite difficult to grasp.
If you could see into the future and somehow change the events preceding the moment that you envisioned in order to change that particular moment, the original moment still exists on some timeline. It must exist, because you saw it happen, and because you saw it happen, you did something to change it. The only difference is that, in changing the events before that moment, you created another timeline where that particular thing didn’t happen.
The same thing can be said about the past (and hopefully this will make a little bit more sense.) If you could go back in time and change something in order to alter a future event, you must have created a different timeline. The original event (before you changed it) had to have happened in order for you to go back and change it.
So, perhaps there are an infinite number of timelines existing, all created because different events turned out different ways.
It is weird that the phrase "and so it goes" is associated with death and aliens. I find it unrealistic to believe that Billy Pilgrim is reliable. I find it more believeable that this "alien abduction" and explanation of death is more likely aa way for Billy Pilgrim to cope with the numerous deaths in his life. He has had so many untimely deaths that his mind has fabricated this theory about time to ease his pain.
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