Slaughterhouse-five

Throughout Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-five, Billy Pilgrim experiences the reality of fate, although the people around him do not realize the extent of external things controlling their lives.  Billy keeps a framed prayer on his office wall that says, “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom always to tell the difference.”  Most people believe that only certain things are inevitable, while the rest are under their control.  For example, the narrator describes how Americans believe it is their fault when they cannot find a job or something bad happens to them.  Billy explains how they waste so much time feeling guilty for no reason when the narrator says, “Among the things Billy Pilgrim could not change were the past, present, and future.”  Constantly Billy travels through time with no rhyme or reason.  This may be symbolic of how his life is out of his control and the memories of war keep coming back to overwhelm him.  Billy repeatedly travels back to his time in World War II where he knows the fates of his friends and himself.  He constantly references how people are going to die and that he feels bad that these characters have no idea.   Also, when Billy knows the plane to the optometrist meeting will crash, he decides not to warn the other passengers because he wants them to have peace of mind.  In this situation Billy is only a little uncomfortable, if not indifferent, to the events that will occur, but in contrast, the passengers are completely oblivious.  Billy’s realization that his fate is inevitable allows him to see from a more objective point of view.  Billy decides to marry his wife because it is in his fate, not because he completely loves his wife.  He sees that he will become an optometrist and follows that path without questioning it. Like the Tralfamadorians, he sees that chasing after success is a waste of time.

                As people on Earth do not realize that they are lacking all control and dwell on the negative situations, the Tralfamadorians embrace it and look only at the positive things in life.  The Tralfamadorians don’t see time as we do; they see time all at once because it is not linear.   Billy sees time similarly to them rather than people because he has witnessed his entire life.  This view of the world helps Billy maybe cope with the traumatic events of war because he sees people as dead for only an instant, while they are alive at some other point in time.  This way of thinking has probably helped him deal with the many deaths he witnessed during war.  Maybe this idea of fate and lack of control is comforting to Billy because he knows what events will occur in his life, but it also makes him a more passive character.   His passivity caused by the knowledge that he cannot control his own life makes me indifferent toward him, and I view him as an almost weak character, which proves his characterization as an anti-hero.