So far, Billy Pilgrim has been shown as a largely one dimensional, undeveloped character. His few emotions that are revealed to us are subdued and unspecific. He never seems to have any strong desires or reactions. This makes me think that Billy’s personality, or at least the narrator’s representation of it, is correlating with Tralfamadorian philosophies.
As one Tralfamadorian said, “All time is all time. It does not change. It does not lend itself to warnings or explanations. It simply is. Take it moment by moment, and you will find that we are all, as I’ve said before, bugs in amber” (86). On the same page the Tralfamadorian suggests that there is no such thing as free will, saying, “only on Earth is there any talk of free will”(86).
Both of these views, so contrary to common human philosophy, seem to be represented in Billy. In chapter two, page 24, Billy’s life is outlined: he went to college, got married, was set up in business by his father-in-law, became rich. Each of these events is presented as a moment “trapped in amber,” without any hard work or emotion attached to it. Then he goes to war and seems incapable or unwilling to have any self preservation instincts. Even being captured by German soldiers seems to have no emotional impact on him. It is as if Billy does not recognize that he has his own free will. He makes no attempts to make changes in his life, as if he recognizes the Tralfamadorian view that moments in time are already set, and unable to be controlled.
Is it the narrator’s style that gives Billy this unemotional, detached quality, or is that actually an accurate representation of Billy’s personality? Do you have other ideas of why Billy is portrayed so one-dimensionally?
Molly,
ReplyDeleteI too felt as if the Billy Pilgrim was portrayed differently than other characters in various novels. So far (by page 102), I have felt very little emotional connection to Billy, which I did not expect in a war novel. Perhaps the author does this on purpose as to create the more "realistic" aspect to this seemingly unrealistic book (Tralfamadorians, unstuck in time etc). The realistic part being that not all people, or soldiers rather, of this war were characterized as brave, memorable, action-prone. Some were like Billy, who "wouldn't want to do anything" or "wished everybody would leave [them] alone"(34). Your questions definitely got me thinking about this topic!
That's really interesting to think about. It does seem like people who want to glorify war show brave, strong characters, where as this anti-war book shows a passive, dull character. Maybe his unemotional responses to the war show that he's too overwhelmed to react.
DeleteI did not realize that before, but now, when I am reading your post, I have to think about it. It is really interesting, that Billy is described differently, and that he lives by Tralfamadorian’s philosophy (that we cannot change anything).
ReplyDeleteI think, that it is an accurate representation of Billy’s character, however i do not know author’s intention to create this character, which is very different to other war book’s characters.
This whole book does not really make sense to me, so far...but I am hoping it would become more and more comprehensive for me, while I continue to read.