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Billy Pilgrim's View On Death

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“Life goes on anyway if things should change” (“Another You (Another Way)”) is Billy Pilgrim’s view on life and death in the novel Slaughterhouse Five. Pilgrim does not acknowledge the death of people in his life. He thinks that the past, present, and future could not change and is predestined; therefore their death was bound to happen and his life should not be affected by this. Pilgrim uses the phrase “So it goes” to express this ideology of life should continue after death. “So it goes” is a leitmotif in Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five because shows both Pilgrim’s and the Tralfamadorians’ view on death; while interpreted in this light the author continues with the novel’s theme of acceptance of death as a part of life. Billy Pilgrim …show more content…

They have a different outlook on time, life, and death by believing in a fourth dimension. In this fourth dimension time is not real and life happens in moments rather than progressing forward. Therefore, when someone dies, they do not really die because they can go back to another moment in their life. Pilgrim seems to like this philosophy and develops the phrase “So it goes.” He does not want to live certain moments of his life, which is why he is intrigued by the Tralfamadorians. When these tragic moments, such as the death of his loved ones, happen, he wants to forget it and be in a different moment. This is why he uses the phrase “So it goes” because his life will continue and he can be in another moment instantaneously. He uses this throughout the novel and travels from moment to moment. He lives out his own death at point, but is fine in the next moment. This instant change comforts him at a time of loss; it is Pilgrim’s form of mourning. Although it is a non-traditional way, it helps him while he tries to suppress his emotions. The Tralfamadorians also believe in a predestined life. Billy comes to believe in this by continuously repeating that he cannot change his past present or future. When life is planned out, he feels as if there is nothing he can do but continue with it. But the life of others is something to be valued, therefore he should treasure the moments he had with them. Death is a natural

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The Tralfalmadorians’ belief in fate demonstrates the idea that one should accept the things that cannot be changed. When Billy is abducted by these aliens, they explain to Billy that there is no such thing as free will. The aliens are able to see into the fourth dimension, where “‘[all] events are structured’” or preordained (Vonnegut 85). They believe that no one has control over his or her destiny because the future always exists a certain way. Billy uses this philosophy to help himself cope with the realities of death and war.

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This shows of Bradbury’s attitude of growing old, and later embracing it and death. Furthermore, death to Bradbury is simply a lot of nothing. “Death is a stopped watch, a loss, an end, a darkness. Nothing (Bradbury 243). " This quote further proves Bradbury’s thinking of death as not knowing when it is going to happen.

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I can’t say I know much but I’m certain of two things in life; time can’t be changed and death can’t be stopped. In Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut the phrase ‘so it goes’ is used 106 times in the novel. In this book, Billy Pilgrim, the main character, believes he is unstuck in time. I believe Vonnegut used this sentiment as a way to cope with tragedy. He utilized it as a euphemism for death and acquired a new perspective on the matter.

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So it goes. ”(Vonnegut 22). Although he managed to accept his wife’s death, this event caused him a lot of pain. This shows that if you have the right mindset, you can learn to endure hardships and become a happier

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This also establishes the characteristics of the Tralfamadorians which proceed to teach him many things in regard to life. One of the major things that Billy is taught is incorporated throughout the novel is the idea of, “So it goes”. This can be found several times throughout the chapter when something is not for certain or when it is a natural occurrence in daily life. This is one of the parts of Billy’s ideology when he finally understands what it means.

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The constant repetition of this phrase demonstrates not only Billy Pilgrim’s indifference to the deaths of others, but it also trains the reader into thinking this way in the context of the novel. During the later half of the book, every time a character dies, the reader thinks to themselves that phrase. “So it goes.” It’s the equivalent of saying “Oh, well” or “That’s just life,” because that’s the point billy Pilgrim is experiencing. The idea of “So it goes” is a perfect representation of the views of the Tralfamadorians, which is where the main edge of Vonnegut’s use of fiction comes in.

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The Tralfamadorians are also part of his PTSD. They are sort of hallucinations that come from the terrible and pointless massacre that Billy had seen in his life. They are used as a coping mechanism for Billy Pilgrim, in his quest to find meaningfulness in

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Vonnegut says “So it goes” to somehow make the impact of death seem simple and calm which makes readers really think about what death means to them. Death happens everyday but not always around us, it doesn't seem to affect those who don’t experience it often like Billy or Vonnegut. We as people know that death is inevitable one day, but do we really consider how often it actually happens around us. While Billy was recovering from the plane crash, his wife dies. “ His wife died accidentally of

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The note that Vonnegut decides to compare the current situation of the war and the British officers with a Cinderella story brings a humour to the story; exposing a beautiful story out to a dark, miserable reality. The author also uses strong descriptions; he includes that “candles and the soaps were made from the fat of rendered Jews and Gypsies…” (Vonnegut 98). He finishes the following description with the phrase “so it goes.” It is believed that this is a fairly simple phrase to close off such a strong point and embellish it with how it relates to a Cinderella story.

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Billy eventually accepts the views of the Tralfamadorians as the lack of free will is prevalent is his life. He is drafted against his will to participate in a war he has no drive to fight in. He has a notable lack of training, is innapropriately dressed as Cinderella, is generally indifferent about his survival, and yet manages to live while those around him

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Billy Pilgrim has a serious case of post-traumatic stress disorder. He shows many of the symptoms when showing the audience of his time travel and the abduction by the Tralfamadorians. Vonnegut never officially states whether or not these events are true or not. Much of the research that

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Death is a natural part of life. For many, it is a concept that we are trying to avoid, yet death is unavoidable; all living things eventually die. Life itself is a journey; each step and decision we make shapes our destiny and our future. We will counter Joy, happiness, and hardship through our choices. All these experiences added meaning to our journey.

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In the novel “So it goes”, was used by Vonnegut to illustrate the irony of life. The author uses this expression where one can’t find a logical explanation for the strange things that happen in life. Like in the following passage from his novel, Slaughterhouse – Five, Vonnegut writes, Weary was as new to the war as Billy. He was a replacement, too” (Vonnegut 34). Following this the author goes on to define that one act of anger in the war that Weary took part in, firing of a single 57mm round from his anti-tank gun at a German Tiger tank.

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The expression "So it goes" takes after each notice of death in the novel, adjusting every one of them, whether they are common, accidental, or purposeful, and whether they happen on an enormous scale or on an exceptionally individual one. The expression mirrors a sort of solace in the Tralfamadorian thought that despite the fact that a man might be dead in a specific minute, he or she is alive in the various snippets of his or her life, which exist together and can be gone to again and again through time travel. In the meantime, however, the reiteration of the expression keeps a count of the combined power of death all through the novel, in this manner indicating out the terrible inevitability of death. The quote on (page #): pg. 96: “On the candles and the soap were of German origin.

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Vonnegut follows this up with "Billy is spastic in time, has no control over where he is going next", making it clear that the character isn't time travelling willingly. Due to this, the plot is nonlinear and oftentimes spastic in the way that the life experiences happen. Billy Pilgrim seems to floating around in the world, following wherever the wind takes him. The plot always follows Pilgrim's character and so, wherever the time takes Billy Pilgrim next, the reader is taken on the whimsical path with

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