Full Answer
What triggers Billy's next time trip?
The morphine triggers another time trip, this time to spring 1948. Billy finds himself in a New York veterans' hospital, where he has voluntarily committed himself to a ward for nonviolent mental patients.
What happens to Billy on his trip to the Grand Canyon?
With his father and mother, he is visiting the Grand Canyon. Jumping ahead ten more days, he is still with his family on the same trip, only now they are in the bowels of Carlsbad Caverns. Billy prays for God to deliver him before the ceiling collapses. Suddenly, he finds himself back in 1945 Germany.
What is Billy's experience with the Tralfamadorians like?
Outside, a guide lectures telepathically to the crowd. When one of the spectators asks Billy if he is happy on Tralfamadore, he answers that he is about as happy as he was on Earth. Billy is surprised to learn that the Tralfamadorians are not alarmed by the acts of murder and war carried out on Earth.
How does Billy react to the faces of the quartet?
Upset, he runs upstairs and realizes why the quartet affected him in this way: their faces reminded him of the stunned faces of the German guards upon seeing Dresden for the first time after the fire bombing. Only then, in Chapter 8, does Billy recount his experience of the bombing of Dresden.
What does it mean when someone is smiling?
What is poststructuralist analysis?
What is the story of Slaughterhouse Five?
What is Billy Pilgrim's profession?
Who is Billy Pilgrim?
About this website
Why does Billy travel in time?
Billy is a prisoner of war who in order to survive the war has to travel through time and escape the reality. Time travelling makes Billy comfortable, and relieves him of troubles he is experiencing at the moment.
What is the purpose of time travel in Slaughterhouse-Five?
“Vonnegut uses time travel in order to find a language and structure to discuss the temporal breakdown and confusing interjections continually imposed by traumatic memory” (Wicks 9).
Does Billy time travel in Slaughterhouse-Five?
Throughout, SlaughterHouse-Five, Billy, is randomly time traveling. Whenever, Billy want to not deal with reality, he has an out-of-body experience. In his time-traveling, Billy knows the outcome of many events.
Why is Billy unstuck in time?
To describe Billy's unusual flow of experience, Vonnegut coined the now well-known phrase, unstuck in time. In Billy's case, we might surmise that his non-linear experience of time is a result of PTSD from his World War II experiences, having witnessed the carnage of war and lived through the fire-bombing of Dresden.
Does Billy Pilgrim have PTSD?
In order to illustrate the devastating affects of war, Kurt Vonnegut afflicted Billy Pilgrim with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which caused him to become “unstuck in time” in the novel. Billy Pilgrim illustrates many symptoms of PTSD throughout the story.
What is the message of Slaughterhouse-Five?
The destructiveness of war is the major theme of Slaughterhouse-Five. The protagonist, Billy Pilgrim and other characters like Paul Lazzaro, Bernard O' Harry and including the writer suffer from physical as well as psychological devastation caused by the war.
How did Billy Pilgrim get unstuck in time?
Billy Pilgrim has come unstuck in time. Billy has gone to sleep a senile widower and awakened on his wedding day. He has walked through a door in 1955 and come out another one in 1941. He has gone back through that door to find himself in 1963.
Has become unstuck in time?
Quote by Kurt Vonnegut: “Billy Pilgrim has become unstuck in time.”
When did Billy first become unstuck in time?
1944Billy first became “unstuck in time” in 1944, during the war. He serves as a chaplain's assistant and therefore does not carry a weapon—he has received minimal military training. He instead plays a small portable organ and carries an altar for use in the field.
What does unstuck in time mean in slaughterhouse 5?
Open Document. Being Unstuck in Time in Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut The concept of being "unstuck in time" refers to a person living from one moment in life to another instead of the day-to-day one we live today. The main character of Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five, Billy Pilgrim, does just that.
How do Tralfamadorians see time?
Tralfamadorians don't perceive time as an arrow, but as an all-encompassing experience of simultaneous past, present and future. Without before and after, there is no cause and effect.
What do Tralfamadorians say?
"I am a Tralfamadorian, seeing all time as you might see a stretch of the Rocky Mountains. All time is all time. It does not change. It does not lend itself to warnings or explanations.
How is Billy captured with whom?
On the radio program, Billy reveals his having been kidnapped by Tralfamadorians and taken to their planet, Tralfamadore. Held in a zoo by the Tralfamadorians, Billy mated with Montana Wildhack, a pornographic movie star from Earth, while his captors watched.
Where does Billy time travel to after the Carlsbad Caverns?
the Tralfamadore zooBilly time trips again, and this time he travels to the Tralfamadore zoo, where he is confined in a geodesic dome. Outside the dome, thousands of Tralfamadorians observe him.
What is the time period of Slaughterhouse Five?
1944–1945setting (time) The narrative provides a detailed account of Billy's war experiences in 1944–1945, but it skips around his entire life, from his early childhood in the 1920s to his death in 1976. The author's narration is set in 1968.
What does it mean when someone is smiling?
What this means is that someone who is smiling may be suffering the most. Suffering, thus, becomes a volatile theme that can be applied in many different aspects of artwork and literature and leave a mark on the audience. Painting Analysis:
What is poststructuralist analysis?
It is the study of the natural development of the psyche to structure. In this critical analysis, Lacanianism will be the focus. “ Lacan’s psychoanalytic work is often evoked to explain how power works, why the individual - the subject - is so extraordinarily susceptible to power” (Bertens, 161). What this form of poststructuralist psychoanalysis can do is explain someone’s behavior by deconstructing
What is the story of Slaughterhouse Five?
The story of Slaughterhouse Five is about a man named Billy Pilgrim who goes through a series of strange events throughout his life time. And it all starts when he is in a war in Germany. Billy is resentful towards the war and he makes it clear that he does not want to be there. During the war, he becomes captured by Germans. Before Billy is captured, he meets Roland Weary. When captured, the Germans took everything from Weary, including his shoes so they gave him clogs as a substitute. Eventually
What is Billy Pilgrim's profession?
Billy Pilgrim encounter with the Tralfamadorians granted him an extraterrestrial way of thinking. Billy Pilgrim’s profession as an optometrist symbolizes his awareness to the corruption in the world he lives in. Pilgrim’s ability
Who is Billy Pilgrim?
Billy was an optometrist, who then was drafted into the military. Billy pilgrim reflects the type of man that Vonnegut is himself. He writes of himself through the fictional character, Billy. It is clear that they both suffer with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. PTSD is a disorder
Why does Billy Pilgrim travel through time?
Billy Pilgrim can do this because he has learned of Tralfamadorian time, where the past, present, and future exist at once. Time in the novel is subjective, or determined by those experiencing it.
What is the first sentence of Chapter 2?
The first sentence of Chapter Two illustrates the importance of time in the novel: “Listen: Billy Pilgrim has come unstuck in time.”. Vonnegut attempts one form of time-travel, memory, in his conversations with O’Hare about the war. But they find their memories are incomplete.
What is the Tralfamadorian time?
Thus Tralfamadorian time becomes the novel’s time. Events are not presented as a direct, linear narrative but are instead jumbled, recounted partially and filled in later. Tralfamadorian novels, of which Vonnegut’s might be an imitation, are to be read “all at once,” with “no beginning, no middle, no end.” Because all time can be seen simultaneously, all events have already happened. Thus “free will” in the novel does not exist. As the Tralfamadorians say, “There is no why.” Events that will take place in the future are the same as events taking place now, and as Billy learns, it is up to human beings to enjoy life’s most pleasurable moments.
What does Billy learn about the Tralfamadorians?
As the Tralfamadorians say, “There is no why.”. Events that will take place in the future are the same as events taking place now, and as Billy learns, it is up to human beings to enjoy life’s most pleasurable moments.
What was the money tree in Trout?
Trout, incidentally, had written a book about a money tree. It had twenty-dollar bills for leaves. Its flowers were government bonds . . . It attracted human beings who killed each other around the roots and made very good fertilizer. So it goes.
What is the meaning of each clump of symbols?
But you’re right: each clump of symbols is a brief, urgent message —describing a situation, a scene . . . . There isn’t any particular relationship between all the messages, except that the author has chosen them carefully, so that, when seen all at once, they produce an image of life that is beautiful and surprising and deep.
Where did the American planes take off?
American planes, full of holes and wounded men and corpses, took off backwards from an airfield in England. Over France, a few German fighter planes flew at them backwards, sucked bullets and shell fragments from some . . . . The formation flew backwards over a German city that was in flames. . . . Over France, though, German fighters came up again, made everything and everybody as good as new.
Why is jumping back and forth misleading?
The question is somewhat misleading because part of the explanation for jumping back and forth in time was the fact that, particularly from the perspective of the Tralfamadorians that there is no such thing as time, what has happened and what will happen is part of an all-encompassing present, such that he might jump around, but he is not actually travelling from one time to another, just being aware at different points in the continuing motion of it.
How long is the free trial for eNotes?
Start your 48-hour free trial to unlock this answer and thousands more. Enjoy eNotes ad-free and cancel anytime.
What is a certified educator?
Our certified Educators are real professors, teachers, and scholars who use their academic expertise to tackle your toughest questions. Educators go through a rigorous application process, and every answer they submit is reviewed by our in-house editorial team.
Do we read Tralfamadorians all at once?
We Tralfamadorians read them all at once, not one after the other. There isn't any particular relationship between all the messages, except that the author has chosen them carefully, so that, when seen all at once, they produce an image of life that is beautiful and surprising and deep.
How does Kurt Vonnegut use his voice?
Uniquely, Kurt Vonnegut uses his own voice to stylistically approach his novel indirectly, which results in the inclusion of the author himself, through the technique of breaking the fourth wall. Vonnegut chose to conceal the true meaning of his novel through keen hints and illusions that are intended for open interpretations by his audience, it is meaningless to find a certain real point throughout the chapters since Slaughterhouse- Five and the war are chaotic. The author breaks the fourth wall when he informs the audience of what is going to happen in the book before it happens to give the reader a different experience and allows them to keep all minds open. Kurt Vonnegut induces the audiences queue for their attention by forcefully writing “Listen” (Vonnegut, 22). Vonnegut is presenting himself almost verbally present enlivening his memoir that aims to convince readers of the inhumanity of war .…
What does "unstuck" mean in the movie?
The use of the word “unstuck” portrays a sense of freedom , which Vonnegut is now able to exploit. Vonnegut jumps Billy through time, allowing him to experience a mere fragment of a moment before sending him off again.
What does the father say about fishing?
The sentence where the father says, “I don’t want to go fishing tomorrow anyhow.” Perfectly sums up how much he actually does want to go fishing but knows his son would rather go fishing with his friend. Later in the passage, Trumbo gives the reader a summary of how much the father’s fishing rod meant to him. In a way, the rod acts as a parallel to the loving relationship the father and son have because of how the reader knows that ‘each summer’ they go on a fishing trip and ‘each spring’ his father gets the rod cleaned up. In doing so, Trumbo implies that the break in the tradition is the equivalent to changing the close bond they had. The father ends up giving his ‘treasured’ fishing rod to his son in the same way he gave him his love as a father.…
What is once more to the lake about?
Once More To the Lake Your childhood is something that you must savour and enjoy because you won’t be a child forever. In “Once More to the Lake”, E.B White speaks of the time he returned to a lake after many years with his son. During his time there, he witnesses some alterations to the place and struggles with the thought of change happening in his idyllic world of childhood. Throughout the essay, he explains that his son had many similar experiences that he had as a boy at the lake .Seeing himself in his son he begins to feel comfort within the setting. He also tends to lose a sense of time as his memories begin to flood in.…
How does Nick take control of his dreams?
By reinventing his dream, Nick takes control of his own memories so he still is in charge of what is happening in his mind, if he cannot be in control of what is happening around him. He even goes as far as to make up streams which were sometimes “very exciting” as they give him more opportunity to shape how he sees himself and the world around him (Hemingway 125). When Nick imagines the past, he “creates a stay against his fears by fishing in his half dreams rivers he had fished in his youth and knew well” (Hemingway on Fishing 12). Because the war is unknown and the fear of death itself stems from the fear of the unknown, Nick relives what he knows, something that makes him feel safe and in control. Nick’s memories of fishing, real or imagined, complete his ideals of life which are not met by being in the…
Why does Marlin want to find Nemo?
Marlin is affected when Nemo is lost at sea and it triggers him to go find him because Nemo is all that he has. One scene that is shown that explains this is when Nemo is captured again in gigantic net with a bunch of fish. Marlin tries to save Nemo and says “No, I’m not going to lose you again” (Finding Nemo 2003). Pixar does a great job at screenwriting their films by this element of backstory for their…
Why is Slaughterhouse Five non linear?
Slaughterhouse-Five has a non-linear narrative, which means that the events occur out of the order in which they happened. The plot is non-linear for a number of reasons. First, Billy Pilgrim, the novel’s protagonist, has become “unstuck in time.” He travels between different moments in his life, unable to choose where he will go next, and the narrative travels with him. Second, Slaughterhouse-Five appears to take the Tralfamadorian novel, which has no beginning, middle, end, or suspense, as its model. Telling the story in a non-linear fashion helps achieve this. If the end comes before the beginning, there’s no suspense. If the effect comes before the cause, there’s no cause and effect. Lastly, this narrative structure makes the novel “short and jumbled and jangled,” as the author Kurt Vonnegut writes directly to his editor in Chapter 1, “because there is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre.” Therefore, the novel’s “jumbled,” non-linear structure reinforces Vonnegut’s message about the violence of war.
Why is Kurt Vonnegut's novel short and jumbled and jangled?
Therefore, the novel’s “jumbled,” non-linear structure reinforces Vonnegut’s message about the violence of war.
What was Billy's idea of time and time travel?
It also indicates that perhaps Billy’s idea of time and time travel was developed as a coping mechanism for the trauma of the Dresden bombing, which the subsequent trauma s may have triggered.
What happens in Chapter 9 of The Falling Action?
In the falling action that begins in Chapter 9 immediately following the climax, Billy is in the hospital recovering from the head injury sustained in a plane crash many years later. It is only after the plane crash and the subsequent death of his wife Valencia that Billy begins to speak of time travel and Tralfamadore.
What is the second thread of the book?
The second thread follows Billy’s life after the war as an optometrist, husband to Valencia, and father to Robert and Barbara. After a devastating plane crash from which Billy emerges as one of two survivors, he declares that years ago he was abducted by aliens who took him to their planet, Tralfamadore.
How did Valencia die?
His wife, Valencia, dies of accidental carbon monoxide poisoning after losing her exhaust pipe in a fender-bender on the highway. In this way, her death recalls the deaths of many in Dresden, who died in their shallow basement shelters from carbon monoxide poisoning.
Is there suspense in Slaughterhouse Five?
Second, Slaughterhouse-Five appears to take the Tralfamadorian novel, which has no beginning, middle, end, or suspense, as its model. Telling the story in a non-linear fashion helps achieve this. If the end comes before the beginning, there’s no suspense. If the effect comes before the cause, there’s no cause and effect.
What does Billy ask for on the trip to Tralfamadore?
On the trip to Tralfamadore, Billy asks for something to read. After reading the only Earthling novel onboard, he is given some Tralfamadorian books. Unable to read the alien language, he is surprised that the books' tiny text is laid out in brief knots of symbols separated by stars. He is told that the clumps of symbols are like telegrams — short, urgent messages. Tralfamadorians read them all at once, not one after the other; there is no beginning, no middle, no end. There are no causes, no effects.
What is science fiction in Billy and Rosewater?
Science fiction is a tool that Billy and Rosewater both use to reconstruct themselves and their universe. In a split second, Billy is flung back to 1945 before being hurled ahead once more to the veterans' hospital. Billy's mother is visiting him; when she leaves, Valencia Merble, Billy's fiancée, sits with him.
Why is Vonnegut comparing himself to Trout?
Because much of Vonnegut's writing questions the validity of authority, he is careful not to set himself up as an authority on any subject, not even his own writing. When Rosewater tells Billy that Trout's writing is frightful, we understand that Vonnegut is comparing himself to Trout: Any comments made about Trout as a writer also extend to Vonnegut since he, too, is a writer of little-known, philosophical novels.
Why is Billy estranged from the Dresden camp?
On Tralfamadore, he is estranged because he is a naked alien. In the Dresden camp, he is estranged because of the clownish overcoat he is given to wear: The ragged coat has a fur collar that makes him look like a clown and causes guards and prisoners alike to laugh. The comparisons between Billy's experiences on Tralfamadore and those in the Dresden camp heighten the novel's satire. The horror of his ordeal during World War II is related to the horror of his being kidnapped by space aliens. His captivity on Tralfamadore happens on a fantasy level and is comical, which serves to make his World War II captivity seem far worse because it occurs on a realistic level.
How old is Billy from the Saucer?
As the saucer enters a time warp, Billy is hurled back into his childhood: He is twelve years old. With his father and mother, he is visiting the Grand Canyon. Jumping ahead ten more days, he is still with his family on the same trip, only now they are in the bowels of Carlsbad Caverns.
What happened to Billy in the shed?
He continues shrieking until he is carried out of the shed to the hospital, where he is tied down in bed and given a shot of morphine. The morphine triggers another time trip, this time to spring 1948.
Why is Tralfamadore estranged?
On Tralfamadore, he is estranged because he is a naked alien. In the Dresden camp, he is estranged because of the clownish overcoat he is given to wear: The ragged coat has a fur collar that makes him look like a clown and causes guards and prisoners alike to laugh.
What does it mean when someone is smiling?
What this means is that someone who is smiling may be suffering the most. Suffering, thus, becomes a volatile theme that can be applied in many different aspects of artwork and literature and leave a mark on the audience. Painting Analysis:
What is poststructuralist analysis?
It is the study of the natural development of the psyche to structure. In this critical analysis, Lacanianism will be the focus. “ Lacan’s psychoanalytic work is often evoked to explain how power works, why the individual - the subject - is so extraordinarily susceptible to power” (Bertens, 161). What this form of poststructuralist psychoanalysis can do is explain someone’s behavior by deconstructing
What is the story of Slaughterhouse Five?
The story of Slaughterhouse Five is about a man named Billy Pilgrim who goes through a series of strange events throughout his life time. And it all starts when he is in a war in Germany. Billy is resentful towards the war and he makes it clear that he does not want to be there. During the war, he becomes captured by Germans. Before Billy is captured, he meets Roland Weary. When captured, the Germans took everything from Weary, including his shoes so they gave him clogs as a substitute. Eventually
What is Billy Pilgrim's profession?
Billy Pilgrim encounter with the Tralfamadorians granted him an extraterrestrial way of thinking. Billy Pilgrim’s profession as an optometrist symbolizes his awareness to the corruption in the world he lives in. Pilgrim’s ability
Who is Billy Pilgrim?
Billy was an optometrist, who then was drafted into the military. Billy pilgrim reflects the type of man that Vonnegut is himself. He writes of himself through the fictional character, Billy. It is clear that they both suffer with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. PTSD is a disorder