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Essay / A Strange Case of Self-Assertiveness in Vonnegut's Novel
Supposing you received an anonymous message informing you that you were going to die due to a car accident tomorrow at noon, would you use that message to try to avoid death or do you simply accept and embrace your destiny? Many people would probably be willing to make an effort to stave off death. But Billy Pilgrim's reaction is acceptance. Slaughterhouse-Five, written by Kurt Vonnegut, presents protagonist Billy Pilgrim as accepting almost every event that has happened in his life, including his own death. Billy is indifferent and apathetic towards his surroundings. He appears to be a fatalist, which sends readers the superficial message that Vonnegut advocates passive acceptance. On the other hand, the message itself is hidden a little deeper. Instead of actually persuading the reader to truly believe in the idea of fatalism and abandon free will, Vonnegut hoped to inspire the reader to resist fatalism and think deeply about what free will means. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Vonnegut uses the phrase “it’s structured that way” to explain why the events happened. When Billy is first trapped by Tralfamadorian aliens, he asks why he was chosen. Instead of giving an explicit answer, the Tralfamadorians respond with three questions: “Why you? Why us anyway? Why something? » (97). Three consecutive “whys” evoke a deeper thought: do people make decisions simply because they are forced to? Tralfamadorians believe that "this moment simply is" (97), indicating that moments always occur without any reason. However, the inability to think of a reason, or the lack of awareness of having one, does not mean that the reason does not exist. Humans are not manipulated by God or Destiny. They are the ones who have the power to choose the path to follow. Paths are created by choices, while choices come from reasons. The Tralfamadorians did not meet Billy because time is structured or because they are destined to meet him; they encountered him because the Tralfamadorians made the decision to study Earthlings and chose to come to Earth. The Tralfamadorians, characters advocating fatalism, have also made an implicit decision that indicates that Vonnegut is in fact encouraging the reader to side with free will. Billy Pilgrim, in an ironic twist on free will, learned to accept and embrace his destiny after meeting Tralfamadorians. They once told Billy that the universe had been destroyed by one of their pilots while he was "experimenting with new fuels" (149). Faced with the question of why not prevent it, the Tralfamadorians explained to him that the pilot "always pressed it, and he always will" (149) and that they "always let him and always will let him" (149). 149). The Tralfamadorians convince Billy that these and all events cannot be changed by any creature. Even though they know how the universe is going to be destroyed, they are unwilling to make changes due to their belief in fatalism. Conversely, what would happen if the universe was ultimately destroyed simply because they took no action to save it? It is their belief in fatalism that causes the end of the universe, but they use the excuse "time is structured" and fatalism to explain and cover up their fault. Billy stayed on Tralfamadore for several days, and when he left.