Seminar reflections
One of the main things that we discussed that stood out to me was the idea that Billy was just a crazy old man. For example whenever he travled in time, or go visit the tralfamadorians he was dreaming instead of doing it in person. I found this interesting because the author (Kurt Vonnegut) wrote the book in a way that makes this a possibility. The book clearly states that Billy is not crazy or senile, however it gives examples of him doing things that only a crazy or senile person would do. I believe that this book was written in a way that no specific opinion is expressed. The book allows the reader to make and develop their own opinions. I personally believe that Billy’s character is not crazy and what was happening to him was really happening to him. This is not an expected point of view because the book offers more evidence towards Billy being crazy than not.
Did billy pilgrim really get kidnapped by aliens and travel in time or was it all a dream or even a hallucination. I think that this book emphasizes this question very well. There is tons of evidence showing both sides. Parts of the book point to billy being a complete crazy person and others that claim him to be sane. In the seventh chapter billy experiences a plain crash where he is the only survivor that alone is enough to make someone crazy. Also almost every time billy time travels he closes his eyes almost as if her was going to sleep. At one point in the book billy wakes up after his time traveling which means that he was asleep.
I believe that billy is doing all these things and that he is not crazy. I believe this because at the end of the book he is famous. He is famous for being right about time and the aliens. And for knowing it before everyone else. He also goes in extreme detail when he travels in time. Another reason is that when he does time travel he goes into extreme detail and he always remembers what he did and how he did it. Normally this is hard when waking up from a dream. He also thoroughly believes that they are true. Wouldn't you think him to realize that he is waking up every time he gets back. Or that he is sitting in his bed.
This book reminded me of some sort of political comedy. When I read this book I kept thinking about how it connected humor with a stronger message. If Vonnegut wants to make a point he shows it through a joke ore through irony. At one point when reading the book I started to think about the show The Colbert report . I was reminded of this because on this show most of his points are hidden in humor same as in slaughterhouse 5
Slaughterhouse 5 was a lot more humorous than AQOTWF and had more of an uplifting tone at most times. Where as AQOTWF was way more serious and on topic. In AQOTWF was depressing throughout the book. It focused on the bad things rather than the good ones. There was a lot more bad things as well. I think that slaughterhouse 5 was a much more fun book than AQOTWF.
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