SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE

Chapter 5. Pt 2.

SEQUENCES

CHARACTERS

Kurt Vonnegut

THEMES

CONFLICTS

Billy Pilgrim Tralfamadorian

Soldiers

PASSAGE 1

There was a lot Billy said that was gibberish to the Tralfamadorians, too. They couldnt imagine what time looked like to him. Billy had given up on explaining that. The guide outside had to explain as best he could. The guide invited the crowd to imagine that they were looking across a desert at a mountain range on a day that was twinkling bright and clear. They could look at the peak or a bird or a cloud, at a stone right in front of them, or even down into a canyon behind them. But among the was encased in a steel sphere which he could never take off. There was only one eyehole through which he could look, and welded to that eyehole were six feet of pipe. This was only the beginning of Billys miseries in the metaphor. He was also strapped to a steel lattice which was bolted to a flatcar on rails, and there was no way he could turn his head or touch the pipe. The far end of the pipe rested on a bi-pod which was also bolted to the flatcar. All Billy could see was the little dot at the end of the pipe. He didnt know he was on a flatcar, didnt even know there was anything peculiar about his situation The flatcar sometimes crept, sometimes went extremely fast, often stopped went uphill, downhill, around curves, along straightaways. Whatever poor Billy saw through the pipe, he had no choice but to say to himself, Thats life (Page 146-147)

PASSAGE 2

We know how the Universe ends said the guide, and Earth has nothing to do with it, except that it gets wiped out, too. Howhow does the Universe end? said Billy. We blow it up, experimenting with new fuels for our flying saucers. A Tralfamadorian test pilot presses a starter button, and the whole Universe disappears. So it goes.
If you know this, said Billy, isnt there some way you can prevent it? Cant you keep the pilot from pressing the button? He has always pressed it, and he always will. We always let him and we always will let him. The moment is structured that way. So said Billy gropingly, I suppose that the idea of preventing war on Earth is stupid, too. Of course. But you do have a peaceful planet here. Today we do. On other days we have wars as horrible as any youve ever seen or read about. There isnt anything we can do about them, so we simply dont look at them. We ignore them. We spend eternity lookin g at pleasant momentslike today at the zoo. Isnt this a nice moment? (149-150)

PASSAGE 3

Would you talk about the war now, if I wanted you to? said Valencia. In a tiny cavity in her great body she was assembling materials for a Green Beret. It would sound like a dream, said Billy. other peoples dreams arent very interesting usually. I heard you tell your Father one time about a German firing squad. She was referring to the execution of poor old Edgar Derby. Um. You had to bury him? Yes. Did he see you with shovel before he was shot Yes. Did he say anything? No. Was he scared? They had him doped up. He was sort of glassy-eyed. And they Pinned a target to him? A piece of paper, said Billy. He gout out of bed, said, Excuse me, went into the darkness of the bathroom to take a leak. He groped for the light, realized he felt the rough walls that he had traveled back to 1944, to the prison hospital again. (Page 155-157)