Slauter House Five

Diverse Reality's In the novel Slaughterhouse-Five written by Kurt Vonnegut, Billy Pilgrim is Unstuck in time, he reverts back and forth through time, from a time during war war II, to a dream planet called Tralfamadore later on in his life. Most may say that Billy's views on life are warped and unrealistic do to the war. Yet, Reality is what we make of it. It is based on our own personal views of what's around us. One mans reality is another mans fiction.

The author takes us back to a time when Billy was a little boy to a time when he's an old man. It's not till towards the end of the novel when the readers finally figure out why everything keeps moving back and forth through time. Billy explains that we will live forever visiting this moment and that (p. 211) in Tralfamadore. Without TralfamadoreBilly Pilgrim would have probably gone completely insane.

Kurt Vonnegut speaking at Case Western Reserve Uni...

Billy Sunday and wife (LOC)

English: SlaughterHouse buildings in Dresden (the ...

This is a place where everything seems to work out. In this place of serenity, Billy marries a beautiful woman named Montana and they end up having a wonderful child together. While Billy's a very happy man in Tralfamadore he still travels back through time.

The youngest mentioned time in this novel is the time when Billy pilgrim was about six years old and his daddy threw him in a pool in order to teach him to swim. The idea of this reflects an abnormal childhood. This could be some of the earlier causes for Billy's different take on the world. Some people create a different environment for themselves when they are uncomfortable in the one they are in. They make a reality that perfects their world.

War War II played a huge part in Billy Pilgrims's life. He experienced many Conrad's actual death as well as feared for his life many times. He saw a part of the world that would make anyone go crazy. Dresden was a very huge point in Billy's life. They are told that this is a place with no battle and a place where they will all be safe. Later while they are staying there, battle enters the city and Billy loses a close friend. He flashes back to this city many times. This is a city of lost hope for Billy and all his Conrad's. After the war many who participated in the war where mentally troubled. To fear for your own life and to witness so many other lives lost may turn even the strongest minded person weak.

At an old age Billy's earthly body dies while he is giving a speech about tralfamadore. The person who shoots him just happened to be a man who did not mentally leave the war yet also. This man believed that Billy had murdered his old war buddy and vowed to take revenge. The novel shows that Billy still continued to go through time even after this happened.

Tralfamadore is one mans view of life and after life. Many believe in God, I believe in God. Yet we cant say that Billy's views are wrong, because it is his own personal reality that we know nothing of. Billy Pilgrim views yours and my world from a different perspective, just like I might see something different than the next man. One mans reality is another mans fiction.