Writing Assignment #1 - Billy Pilgrim: Fact or Fiction

I think the question should really be: Is Billy Pilgrim a lunatic or a time traveller?

From all the moments in Billy's life that we've already encountered, I think it's reasonable to say that he's a little mentally deranged. Okay, more than just a little. This man has experienced an endless train-wreck of disastrous events. From his childhood pool incident, to the grotesque conditions in WWII, to the deaths of multiple family members, Billy has had more than enough reasons to be mentally unstable. Also, how can we explain the existence of Tralfamadorians that he keeps on mentioning? Only after the plane crash did Billy start talking about these creatures. Though his explanation was that he was waiting "until the time was ripe" to share his information, we can deduce that these extraterrestrials are simply a figment of his imagination.

However, in the midst of all the confusing, disorderly events in the novel, I think there still exists a little bit of logical sense. Between every "moment" in Billy's life that he "travels" to, there is some sort of connection. For example, Billy falls asleep in the boxcar of WWII and finds himself 20 years later at his optometrist office, after accidentally dozing off while seeing a patient. In this case, sleep is what connects the two events. In Billy's subconsciousness, his memories transition from one to another via one common element (eg. sleep, darkness, sex), which makes it seem like he's travelling through time. What I'm picturing right now is a thin string that links all the jumbled odd and ends into one intricate, but followable plot. I think Vonnegut did a good job making the readers try to piece together the plot.