Slaughterhouse - Five Reading Entry Pages 154-182

In this section, there is a part in the story when Billy is unconscious after being in a plane accident, one that Billy knew was going to happen. After the crash, he is taken to a hospital where he has a surgeon fix his brain and he rests unconscious for two days. What happens while he's unconscious disprooves my idea that his time travels were dreams or desires he wanted. It turns out that Billy dreamt a million, wonderful things, according to the author, some of them true, while others weren't. "The true things were time-travel," (Vonnegut 157). Apparently really is able to see the world more like Tralfamadorians than like humans, meaning that he is close to seeing life in four dimensions. Billy can witness different moments and periods in his life, but we don't know if he can do them on purpose. Also, how do we know that each Billy is not a different Billy. What I mean is what if Billy might be a different person (personality-wise, still same body and person) during the war than say the plane accident. How do we know that the two Billys are the same? He is looking at two different moments in his life, one Billy might be a strange, immature kid while other might be a full grown, professional man.

If we relate Slaughterhouse - Five to Gulliver's Travels, one can see that in both stories the protagonist's change from their true way of being. For example, Billy began to time-travel when he was walking through the forest with the Three Musketeers (this scene might have some special importance since Billy keeps recurring through it and it's where he first time-travelled) and began looking at the world in a different way. He began to see and live like the Tralfamadorians, being able to see different moments in time. He began to think like another "species", like a Tralfamadorian, not like a human being. The protagonist in Gulliver's Travels is an Englishman, a European and most importantly a human being. The protagonist visits the land of the Houyhnhnms, a sort of horse-people. he lives with them and acquires their customs, their way of regarding others, like Yahoos (himself one). He even begins to speak like them. When the protagonist arrives at the island with the Portuguese men, they ask him where he's from. He responds he's an Englishman coming from the land of Houyhnhnms and that he was a Yahoo, just like them. The Portuguese did not know what a Yahoo or Houyhnhnm was, and they laughed at the fact that he spoke strangely, like a horse neighing, probably because of the Houyhnhnms' influence. Both protagonists adapt to a different way of being.

During his eighteenth anniversary party, Billy has some guests over including the extravagant, outspoken Kilgore Trout. Author of many unsuccessful comics, Trout is worshipped by Billy. What is Trout's importance in the story? Probably something about his books, the themes they discuss. Do they relate somehow to the story? The author mentions that Trout does write sci-fi stories, maybe it's through this that they relate to Billy Pilgrim. Weird stories about unusual things. Also interesting, is the fact that during a song in the party, Billy is shockled at hearing it, blown away, and he remembers a memory of the night of the Dresden bombing., where he was with four guards. The singing quartet reminded him of the Dresden quartet. The author mentions that, even though Billy does remember the incident, he doesn't travel back to it. "He didn't travel in time to the experience. He remembered it shimmeringly..." (Vonnegut 177). Why is this? Perhaps Billy only travels or visits places he wants to see, places that are appealing to him, that might show some desire of his. Maybe Billy is afraid to travel to certain moments in time, and he just wants to see moments where he has something he desires.