A Time Of Hope

We continue on the journey through time and the life of Billy Pilgrim with such ease that we do not notice it. From one moment to the next he has advanced twenty years in time and dreaming or watching films of the war. Billy is stuck in the past. At the beginning of the book the author mentioned how you could not remain in the past, but clearly Billy did not take his advice. An example is his watching of the film forward and backwards: “Among the things Billy Pilgrim could not change were the past, the present, and the future.” (Slaughterhouse Five, Chapter 3) This is one of the most influential phrases in the entire book. An obsession can be seen in the character about the past and it is as if he would love to go back and change it. Maybe because of some mistakes we already know of or of one he is bound to make, but the fact is that Billy cannot change time. The mention that Billy does not control the future seems odd to me. I agree that he cannot change the past but why can he change the future?

Something that has surprised me throughout the book and continues to do so is Vonnegut’s mention of time. He mentions time as if trying to teach the reader that you are were you are. You cannot change what has happened and this is something that is very useful to me. When I make a mistake I dread about it for a while but what I have to do is let it go and concentrate on the future. A character that caught my attention was the hobo in the train with Billy. He is under terrible conditions and continues to mention: “I’ve been hungrier than this, the hobo told Billy. I been in worse places than this. This ain’t so bad.” (Slaughterhouse Five, Chapter 3) He does this repeatedly until he dies. What surprised me was his attitude. In a terrible condition there is no need for him to be talking positive. He has no one to cheer up but he still does it. This shows us determination in a person were you might not expect it. Vonnegut continues to intrigue and capture my attention as I read this wonderful book.