Accepting An Uncomfortable Truth

Being aware of death as the final, unavoidable last act in every human life, is just the beginning to trying to explore the unconscious effects this fact has on how we live our lives. Society’s views also affects our understanding of this most important issue. In the sixth chapter of the novel, Slaughterhouse Five, by Kurt Vonnegut we are introduced to the position of the main character, Billy Pilgrim, to his own death in the hands of his killer, Paul Lazarro. Lazarro, one of the people Billy meets during the war, is convinced that Pilgrim was responsible of the death of Roland Weary, Lazaro’s only war friend, threatening Billy of sending someone to kill him after the war. “Billy Pilgrim says now that this really is the way he is going to die, too. As a time- traveler, he has seen his own death many times, has described it to a tape recorder.” (Vonnegut, Pg. 50) Being able to confront death as a natural part of life is one thing, but being able to document it on tape with the greatest serenity possible is simply incredible. We are not used to having these types of encounters in a sentence of a book, even with the greatest clues an author can give us. It is probably one of the techniques Kurt uses in his book, to clandestinely bombard the reader with statements that change the perception of his characters and the story giving it suspense, depth and action.

How convinced the reader is about Billy Pilgrim’s tranquility with death, is something we are assured, as Billy states the following in one of his Tralfamadorian conferences in Chicago. “If you protest, if you think that death is a terrible thing, then you have not understood a word I've said.” (Vonnegut, Pg. 51) His audience seems more terrified about his death than he is, as he claims to know that his assassination is that same night after he leaves the conference. Vonnegut makes it look like Billy is more interested in his audience knowing the reasons for him acknowledging that death isn’t a bad thing, it’s just one bad event that is small compared to all the good moments a life contains. As soon as we are able to understand this and be taken again by the author back to World War II we can appreciate how complete Kurt’s game is. He has taken us on a trip about Billy Pilgrim’s life, Tralmafadorian style, making a depressing story funny and joyous for the reader who shouldn’t be looking for any special message or moral ending, but just understanding how life has to be taken in a detached, non judgmental fashion in order to truly enjoy each second of this lifelong film.

Vonnegut gives us the last amazing piece at the end of this chapter, as the American prisoners of war enter Dresden. “It was Fate, of course, which had costumed him-Fate, and a feeble will to survive.” (Vonnegut, Pg. 54) The importance of destiny in Vonnegut’s narration is vital, we need to ignore this permanent question of Why are things happening? to be able to appreciate the book at its greatest extent and understand the goals he is trying to achieve with this piece. His Tralfamadorians are especially powerful in this chapter, given that they leave their position as characters in the book, to become the whole philosophy in which the reader is now immersed. In this way, they become important not only to Billy, in order to understand the horrible events of his life but for the reader. The reader who has become a more independent, all-knowing and curious observer. This allows Vonnegut to continue his narrative without alarming anyone of the presence of a non human character in the book. Billy’s higher-self comfortably disguised as an ET, who will probably end up convincing us all.