Billy Pilgrim: a mythical man

Are Heaven and Hell in the fourth dimension? (pg.107)

        Mythical creatures such as vampires, werewolves, dragons, wizards, giants and goblins have formed part of the Eastern and Western cultures. They have become religious symbols and built the base of today's fictional literature. "Harry Potter," "Lord of the Rings," and the "Twilight Saga" have become exciting novels to young readers. These themes are not only considered "in style" but have created an abnormal curiosity for myths to the society of  today. Why are we obsessed with fictional characters and magic? Why has Vonnegut introduced "fantastical powers" to his war novel? Why has he combined such a real topic with such a fictional topic? Why is Vonnegut making his piece be less credible? Or is he trying to convince his readers "time-traveling" is real?

              Billy Pilgrim although lives during a very memorable moment in human history, is not credible as a real person. He is a man who does not have a strong character, in a way Billy is fictional. Pilgrim can be seen as a mythical creature, he time-travels and communicates with extra terrestrials. What is Billy's purpose when delivering Vonnegut's novel on WWII?

            Vonnegut searches to create a different perception of what war is like, when creating a character like Billy. This protagonist portrays  innocence in war, however demonstrates a higher mentality. Those people who interact with Billy in the third dimension, claim he is "Dead to the World." "...and still gets the credit for being alive." (pg.108)  Pilgrim reminds me of Forest Gump, this character as well, demonstrates a lack of liveliness, nevertheless we underestimate these two characters. Forrest Gump and Billy Pilgrim, are very much alike, for they are more aware of the supernatural.

          If these two characters form part of the real world, would they be able to prove that mythical characters or places such as Hell and Heaven exist? These myths form part of our culture, how did we acquire our knowledge on them? If they do exist, is Billy Pilgrim capable of proving they are part of our universe?

         Would we be able to discover what happens in the after life through characters like Billy Pilgrim?

Real Fairy Tales

Slaughter-House Five
Kurt Vonnegut


         Since the first homo sapiens settled within communities and formed cultures, there has been no peace. We are constantly in battle. The human race has always judged an discriminated their own kind, even if we define ourselves as one specie, we manage to become enemies of our own people.

          War can be defined as two or more separate groups that engage in conflict. Nevertheless, it is contradicting when society invokes the human race as "one team." However, if we plan to live among war, who is our opponent? Who is the "enemy?" Who is our challenger? The truth is, we have no enemies. This has led us to  create our "pretend" offenders.  This situation can be perceived as a children's imagination game. Where their must be the "witch," there must be the "prince charming" and he must always save the "damsel princess in distress." Although, at the end of the game, the children leave their play house, remove their costumes, and go to the kitchen for some cake.

        Why can't real life be a children's game? Where we enjoy playing the bad witch, or the good princess, however after the game is finished, we take off our costumes. For some reason, humans have always had the urge to fight, like children we to create our own "fairy tales." However, when we obtain the desire to fight, we don't let go. We stick to our mythical character and forget we are someone else. This is the reason why humans describe themselves as "cold hearted." This is the reason why all of the Hollywood movies today portray the message of the movie "Avatar." Society has come to a point where it identifies itself with violence and war. Our favorite childish game has become war.

<<"So-" said Billy gropingly, "I suppose that the idea of preventing war on Earth is stupid, too."
"Of course."
"But you do have a peaceful planet here."
"Today we do. On other days we have wars as horrible as any you've ever seen or read about. There isn't anything we can do about them, so we simply don't look at them. We ignore them. We spend eternity looking at pleasant moments-like today at the zoo. Isn't this a nice moment?"
"Yes.">> (pg. 120)

          Would humanity have been more peaceful if we had ignored savage-like actions? Are the Tralfamadorians correct, when they say they ignore the violence and focuse on the positive side of their flawed four dimensional world? However, how can one witness a dark incident and simply ignore it? Wouldn't one want to form part of this battle, where one is fighting against evil? Nevertheless, how is one sure one is preventing the world from the villains? How does one prove, one is not the villain. This situation reminds me of the Broadway play, "Wicked," where the play explains that the "Witch of the West" from the film "The Wizard of Oz" is not the "bad witch," and the "Witch of the East," is not at all the "good witch." If we play the war game and are not sure if we are part of the good side, how can we keep on fighting?

      We enjoy creating wars because their will always be a hero. So if humans need to feel satisfied and reassured when a "good witch" saves the day, why would we ignore war? Tralfamadorians say that to find peace on Earth, one must ignore the violence and continue thinking happy thoughts. One must look at war as a children's game and not part of reality.

      How can we even consider war being a children's game? Murder is one-hundred percent real. So if humanity has come to view war as reality, we must not ignore it. If humans will accept that war is not a game, then we must recognize we are responsible for the real crimes.

     Tralafamadorians are wrong, we must never ignore war to find peace of mind. Peace of mind is very different from the actual peace of action.

When its Really Hard to Care

            Why do we value  something that does not have any real importance? Why must we care for the things that have no meaning?  Life is simply thrown away when we pretend we care.

           Billy Pilgrim confesses he hates his job as an optometrist. Reading about his field, bores him tremendously. Studying this topic makes him sleepy and shatters a shimmer of light into darkness. Optometry might as well be the most tedious job a person could have. It might as well not be even a job, rather than a slow death. It is suicidal yet silent. Although Billy does not say this, in the book it states "Billy Pilgrim tried hard to care." (pg.61) These words say absolutely everything Pilgrim might be thinking at the moment. 

         Today, one really doesn't find importance on studying certain subjects. We just question and make up excuses for why the topic seems completely usless and irrational. However, by the end of the day, one gives up and realizes that one's lack of experience can lead to invented judgments. What we truly can affirm and judge at our age, is our perception of beauty. 

             Young adults nowadays are not only surrounded by materialistic influences such as propaganda, but most importantly, our search for physical attractiveness. This has caused us to become obsessed with the physique. Infatuation is our desperation in the single life. Teenagers base popularity on good-looking people. For looks define a person and their value through some adolescents eyes. However, if our social life depends on this diminutive aspect of life, then is it grating to say that "its really hard to care?" 

                Are these the people one wants as friends? Those who call themselves your companion, however are only interested in what you have to offer them. In addition, those who search for popularity and are attracted by your social skills, are determined to climb the steepest mountain in order to stand on top. Beauty is money, which buys power. However, what importance does popularity have if people only care about one's sexual appeal? In addition, what importance does beauty have if people will only see you from the outside, rather than the inside. Only a small percentage of the world would be interested in getting to love the person inside. 

              Beauty is an illusion. For their are thousands of definitions for physical attractiveness. In addition, it forms part of a body who will later be gone. The world will not be grateful for a person's beauty after they have passed. The world will not remember one's popularity. So, why is beauty important.  Why is it so hard to care? Why am I trying to care?

             Billy Pilgrim is going through this same crisis. Throughout the book, this character demonstrates how his constant struggle to agree with others has made him unhappy. Before the war, Billy was "someone who tried to care," however, after the war Billy was a person who "didn't care." His talks on the radio about Tralfamadores, demonstrated how this protagonist has surpassed the "its hard to care" crisis. What caused Pilgrim's change of mind? War is like a awakening for those who once threw away life, by letting it pass unhappily. So why was Billy transformed after this memorable experience?

           We all need an awakening. To stop pretending who we want to be, and start being who we actually are. 

The Recipe to Time Travel

         Slaughter-House Five
            Kurt Vonnegut                

                         Billy Pilgrim is an alcoholic.

      In chapters one, four, and five, Pilgrim describes the smell of "mustard gas and roses." When Billy calls operators in the middle of the night to find his lost war friends, he is comforted by the idea of driving his wife away by this smell.  After this telephone incident, Pilgrim claims he despises recorded music when he has been drinking "a good deal." This could be one of the reasons Billy needs "magic fingers" in order to sleep. Alcoholism could also explain the hallucinations of Tralfamadores abducting Pilgrim, and exposing him to the world of no time.

"Time travel" is a significant aspect or side effect of this horrible addiction. For Billy might enjoy getting drunk, for he believes he comes in contact and relives his special memories. Its also a method this character might use to escape from dangerous or violent situations, he does not want to live. So he goes into a world full of lively memories.

            However, in war there was barely any money to buy alcohol for every soldier. This substance might bring great use to those whose bodies ached, stomach growled, and faces became became purple, numb from the cold. Nonetheless, alcohol was the last beverage a soldier would receive in a World War. This makes one wonder how Billy came to "time travel" while being sober. In some way, it contradicts  my whole theory. Then again, it makes one reevaluate the long-term effects alcohol might have left on Pilgrim's brain. Is Billy Pilgrim naturally mad? Or was it the liquor that affected his mind? What has made readers believe Pilgrim was once "normal?"

            I stand by my word. Pilgrim did have an alcoholic problem after the war. For his dysfunctional personality made him weaker than other veterans to heal war traumas. In chapter four, when Billy becomes miserable after Barbara's wedding, he starts to smell "mustard gas and roses" once again.

          He wakes up that night with a call of strange drunk, Billy claims he can smell the "mustard gas and roses" through the phone. Is the drunk caller Pilgrim himself? Only until he sees a "soft drink" on top of the windowsill, does he notice the bottle doesn't have a nourishment table. For as long as he knows, the bottle can be pure liquor and the reason that its almost empty is because Billy is an alcoholic.  As this "soft drink" reminds him that their is more in the kitchen, he runs downstairs to open a bottle of champagne. Although this drink might have a low level of alcohol, it is something, and it is the only thing left over from the party. As Pilgrim's lips reach out for the opening of the bottle, does a voice in Billy's head scare him. "Drink me." With those simple, two words, Billy retracts and leaves the kitchen to watch T.V. After this, he experiences a movie who's sequence runs backwards. This character might run away from his powerful weakness. The depressions this addiction caused Billy to experience led him to become neurotic when he comes to close contact with the substance.

           Billy has no control over his "flashbacks." Billy has no power over his body when he "time travels." Lastly, Billy can't sleep. Liquor is the reason why Billy can be defined as chaotic.

The Phony Truth

Slaughter-House Five
Kurt Vonnegut                                    


    "The photographer wanted something more lively."

          This clip is from the movie The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. It demonstrates how the Nazi's used false propaganda to encourage the European population to become part of their party. For this video is phony, Pilgrim as well is forced to form part of this idiotic political technique.

Slaughter - House Five
Kurt Vonnegut

Chapter Three

Boom! Boom! (Shot guns) (Sergeant yelling) (Bomb landing in a trench) (Blood spattering in the camera) Director shouts: "Hey you! The one dressed in rags! Fall down and pretend your dying!" Then, he once again cries out: "No! No! You are doing it all wrong! Foolish birdbrained people, you are useless! Now everyone, go to your first position, and from the top!"      

          When one observes this episode in "Slaughter-House Five" as an outsider, one can't help but notice how pathetic and ridiculous it is. Just imagine a professional photographer and film producer in the middle of a battle field, trying to get a perfect shot to show to citizens the powerful atmosphere experienced in World  War II.

         When the Germans captured Billy Pilgrim, they would create a scene of war and use Billy as one of the characters. A group of soldiers would gather around a field and shoot prisoners, while photographers and professional film directors produced advertisements on WWII. These broadcasts would implant a certain image on ignorant Europeans. The Nazi's purpose was to convince the public that war was no big deal. War was taken care of, and victory would obviously fall into the hands of the Germans.  Hitler along with his army, would make certain to the German population that the economy would grow after the war, and bring only benefits to those who dreamed of "bathing" in money. As the this word spread, confidence of Nazi power submerged within the air. 

           Money. Money. Money. Germans wanted money. Through power they would obtain these tiny pieces of green paper. Shocking, phony images would accomplish this vision. For, the Nazi's pretended they were supreme. They acted as if they knew what was wrong with the country. They knew how to fix it. In addition, they knew who to blame. Most importantly, people wanted it to be solved, no matter how, or by whom. Power would go into the hands of anyone who desired it. 

          If society has been able to put up with lies created by the government, in order to obtain fortune, then what is the truth? Are the pictures we see in war museums reenactments of historical occurrences? If so, how do we know these incidents weren't modified by the producer?  Nevertheless, it is more than obvious, that their are different points of view in war, and some of these might be valid. Though, who is demonstrating their perspective and who is victimizing themselves? People who recognize their mischiefs will always negate them, until the point of confession. However, their are few people in this Earth that will admit they represented and event or a situation falsely. In conclusion, we now don't really know our real past. Who was the villain? Who was the hero? What side aimed to create a utopia? What side impeded this, and made the world a dystopia?

          Our complete lack of factual historic occurrences will lead us to make false judgments or assumptions. Through a simple overview of an event, we can infer the purpose of every clashing side. "Assumption is the cause of all faults." 

Ancient Nightmares

Slaughter-House Five

Kurt Vonnegut        

         Flashbacks, are they memories? Or are they visions? World War II is part of my past. So as Billy emerges into a series of flashbacks, I will zone into the world of war. Into a place that is familiar to me. There is no baby fat in these stories. There is only bony bodies. There is only one chance to survive, and it is to become unstuck.

                   1942 Puica and Sara Bercovici 

                        It was 1945, and Lieselotte Viktor, had left her hometown, Bythom, Poland. For her family had Jewish friends and were constantly persecuted. As her mother led her to a train station, Lies’s eyes filled with terror, for the space was diminutive and she was about to live there for three weeks. The cart was filled with crying infants, and when disease spread they died. They had to be tossed out of the train and soon there was silence. There was no longer any crying, no longer any words.

           

            Her mother was desperate to get off of the train. She would say they would step out of the wagon as soon as they reached a German city. Finally, they reached Dresden and as fast as they got off of the train they got back up. The streets were filled with injured and dead American and English soldiers.They thought that would be the worst thing they would ever see, until they looked back and  saw the city explode into flames. All the houses and buildings were destroyed. Only ashes were left behind. Ashes that could have been the Viktor family. Ashes that disappeared in mid air. So it goes.

            The Americans had invaded Walter Munstermann’s village, Rodenberg.  The houses were being taken over all the soldiers, and his house had been seized as well. His whole family was homeless. There was no food. There was no water. There was no place to go. After being accepted at a neighbors house, the Munstermann family discovered there were hidden foodstuffs inside a chest in the families old backyard.           

Walter, a 10-year old boy was the only person in the village who knew English, with this ability, this young boy had to demonstrate bravery and heroism by going to his house, where all the American soldiers were resting. Once he got to his home, he began to speak to these men, surprised at the boy’s abilities, Walter became an intimate friend to these soldiers. When lunch time came, Walter would join the Americans in their meal.

           

            Walter was a leader in his village. His job was to activate the  flieger alarm when allied planes would come near the village. This young boy would run up to a high hill and bang the alarm as hard as he could. People would then hide in basements. As the alarm would screech, the small German village street’s would die out. So it goes.

            

               Puica Bercovici, was originally from Romania, however she went to live in Iasi with her parents. Death camps were only near her house, and her father’s soap factory was the reason she wasn’t in the camps. Puica was Jewish and there had been times where German soldiers would storm into her home and push her against a wall. As these Nazi’s were about to kill Puica and her mother, Samuel, her father would  desperately interfere and show their papers. The Bercovici family was lucky. The government needed their soap. Soap was their savior. Soap never got to the German consumers. So it goes.

So it goes. So it went. World War II isn’t what Billy Pilgrim describes it to be. Roland Weary is fictional in the real world. Where time is not an illusion. Where baby fat is a myth. Where war is not something to remember but to relive in Pilgrim’s book.

Baby Fat

   Slaughter-House 
   Five
   Kurt Vonnegut

                     Innocence makes light an illusion within darkness. Billy Pilgrim would sweeten and sugar his life with rich foods, like milkshakes, chocolates, meats, and different pastries. These would accumulate into fatty innocence. His stomach would be full, his mind would be satisfied and the French resting camp would now appear to be Disney World. Everything seemed like a game, people would die beneath his feet, bombs would terminate lands and the people in it. However, Billy's baby fat disguised the living nightmare with illusions and fantasies. Life was a yellow brick road, full of adventures, obstacles and lively characters. Everyone in the army was highly equipped and dressed with this life-time supply of baby fat. However, after the war, it began to fall and peel. Soon after all the soldiers initiated a new life, they began to see the truth about reality. There was no longer any baby fat covering their bodies and minds. Life was not what it appeared, it was no place for innocence, it was a place for grown-ups.

       Billy only matured after all of his baby fat ran out, then it was time to become serious. Veterans who had been once fat, were now scrawny and deadly skinny. They saw their past, which they loathed. Ex-soldiers experienced continuous flashbacks of their previous nightmares, nevertheless, this time they saw a new face of war. No man detests war as much as those who lived it. Only through the experience is a person able to calculate the true dimensions of such monstrous actions. The growth of a person is born from a source of discovery and acknowledgment  from living. Those people who have lived and learned are truly content and oriented through life. Only some are stricken with righteousness and the vision of the road which leads to a personal utopia.

Dystopia exists, for imperfection is natural. Only can utopia come to life if one has been able to battle through baby fat and bones. Meaning, innocence is only an illusion. In addition, bones are ruthless and lifeless, for they suction the capacity of light there can be. The perfect human form is no where near slender proportions nor a plump appearance. Just the simple, natural figure is perfection found.

The Fringe Division

Slaughter-House Five
Kurt Vonnegut    

     "Billy Pilgrim has become unstuck in time? 

What does Vonnegut imply?

                     Dresden, Pilgrim's first book on World War II, illustrates the story of  a soldier named Billy, who crashes in a plane and is abducted by Tralfamadores. These E.T's are described as beings who live in four-dimensions, see the future, the past, the present, and most importantly have the power to control time.

        Time is one of Billy's biggest frustrations, it is nothing but an illusion. On the other hand,  as Earthlings we believe that time actually exists. The world for humans revolves around this term of existence. We manage to synchronize our lives with the rest of the world through time, which forms a global network. This system separates human's bodies of the future, the past and the present from the mind. Although unconscious, man has been able to forget time is only a misconception of reality. What is reality? Are we living in the present? Or are we living in different times? How does our destiny change when our "future selves" take wrong or right decisions. How aren't we able to recognize ourselves in different moments if we are the same person?

        When Pilgrim states, he has become "unstuck" in time, he is claiming he is no longer unaware of his actuality in different times. A dimension can defined as an alter-world, where the same person lives a separate moment.  However, do the actions in a distinct dimension affect this dimension? Nevertheless, how are we definite that this is the present? Is it possible, that at this moment we are living the past of oneself? If so, our future has already been chosen for us, where predestination is our only option. Everything  is planned, we have no control over our future, now that our future self has already lived our life. So who are we?

       What is our purpose in life if we have already lived it? Are we here to correct our own mistakes? Will we pay for our karma, while our future self lives without any consequence? Or, are we the future beings, who create our own path, while our past selves deal with our sins?

      What if we practiced different lives in each dimension? Would we have no connection with ourselves whatsoever? The American T.V series, "Fringe," where Dr. Walter Bishop, Harvard University scientist,  was able to create a machine, which eliminated the "fringe division" of the parallel universe. Meaning, he combined the dimensions, where there was no longer a separation of time. Throughout the series, viewers are able to comprehend how this discovery preformed a domino affect. The future, past, and present went into chaos, and what was known as the present changed drastically.
Time might be an illusion, however what would we become without it. We can consider it a method of organization. To divide and have one life. One future. One present. One past. 

"And I asked myself about the present: how wide it was, how deep it was, how much was mine to keep." (pg. 23)