Slaughterhouse Five, pages 52-71

Chapter three of the novel talks about Billy Pilgrim’s and Roland Weary’s experiences as American prisoners of war. During the chapter, Billy "unsticks" in time a couple of times and is able to live through memories that will occur in the future, when he is back at Ilium and when he is abducted by the Tralfamadorians. This makes me wonder whether Billy actually went to this planet, or just had a series of memories in which he only imagined he was in Tralfamadore… Were the remnants of his future life revealed in his memories actually real events that took place in the future, or just the product of Billy’s daydreams?

I also wonder what the Adam and Eve that Billy Pilgrim supposedly saw on the commodore’s boots at the beginning of the chapter really means. (“Billy stared into the patina of the corporal’s boots, saw Adam and Eve in the golden depths. They were naked. They were so innocent, so vulnerable, so eager to behave decently” (p.53)). I know this fragment of the narration cannot possibly be interpreted literally, which means it must have some sort of symbolical definition. Does it symbolize a new beginning or a new era in Billy’s life? If so, what views or circumstances were subject to transformation?

Throughout the novel, we have been exposed to a narrator who participated in World War II and is writing a book about Dresden, which begins in chapter two and proceeds throughout the book. The narrator’s book, or the book inside the book, is a collection of memories and stories gathered throughout his experience at war. However, there are several inconsistencies concerning the credibility of the narration. One would think that this was a story told by Billy Pilgrim to the writer of the novel, but, for example, on page 54 and in many other places in the chapter, the speaker translates the conversation of the German soldiers. Pilgrim does not know German, and is therefore unable to have translated the conversations of the soldiers into English, as they appear on the book. This makes me doubt about the character of the narrator. Who translated all the bits and pieces of information to the writer of the book? Is the narrator a type of omniscient being who can see everything, a character who also has the capacity to "unstick" in time, or just another individual who accompanied Billy throughout his journey but is not present in the actual narration?

“Among the things Billy Pilgrim could not change were the past, the present, and the future” (p.60). I believe this quote is very important in setting the trend of the novel and once again confirming the reality of being able to "unstick" in time. It also reasserts the reality of having a determined fate, or destiny. This instance caught my attention because it reminds me of myself and about what I think about life. Personally, I believe the concept of destiny eliminates the charm and wonder of being human and of being able to control our own actions and make our own decisions. Having a determined fate means being unable to control yourself and make the good or bad choices that will guide you throughout life. It undermines the foundations of all great religions, especially Christianity, and the idea of working hard to achieve eternal salvation. Who cares if you are good or bad if you are already destined to go to Heaven or Hell? Although I personally don’t agree with this concept, I believe it is the key to the existence of the four dimensional world. Individuals are able to see into the future because there are events which are destined to occur at a specific time and at a specific place. If personal free will actually played a role in our fate as human beings, we would be unable to see into the future. Are destiny and the four-dimensional world or free will within a limited time and space what governs our universe?