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?