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.

Sleepless Nights

So it's kinda late. 

I was listening to some mellow music when I suddenly got the idea of creating a "Playlist" page for my SH5 blog. My inspiration came from the song called Losing Your Memory by Ryan Star. I think it completely relates to Billy's whole "time travelling" ordeal. It seems like his subconsciousness was taking over his consciousness, which is why he constantly jumps back to moments in his past. He can't control anything that's going on in his mind. Like it says in this song, Billy needs to "wake up"  from this surreal state and go back to his normal life.

Anyways, here is the video. Enjoy!

Who is Yon Yonson?

Yon Yonson. This mystery man has come up several times in the first chapter of SH5. After a little digging around on the Internet, I've discovered that he's simply a figure in a child's rhyme.

But why does Vonnegut make use of such a figure? I hope to come up with something as I read further into the book.

Hello World.

Hi everyone!

This blog is designed for anything and everything related to Kurt Vonnegut and his novel, Slaughterhouse 5.

Though I have to admit, this is my first time creating any sort of blog, so I'm still trying to learn the ropes around here. I've got plenty of ideas to bring to the table and I'm really excited to see how this will turn out.

Keep checking in for more updates! :)