Coming Unstuck in Time-Chapter 2

Coming Unstuck in Time

“Billy Pilgrim has come unstuck in time…. Has no control over where he is going next, and the trips aren’t necessarily fun” (pg 23). This sentence might be found illogical at first, but subsequently the Tralfamadorians give sense to it. He claims to have been kidnapped by an alien planet called Tralfamadore. However insists on it as unidentified   by humans because years in this planet are only microsecond on Earth. For a moment, they reminded me of the Martians in The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells. In a way, they are both alien species which are more developed and have superior qualities than humans. In this case, they pity humans for only being able to see 3 dimensions. Tralfamadorians have no destiny; they know exactly what lingers before them. However they can decide at which moment in their exact life they want to be.

From the Tralfamadorians Billy learned that time is basically inexistent. This reflects the non-chronological way in which Billy`s story is narrated throughout the book. “He has seen birth and death many times….and pays random visits to all events in between” (pg 23). Billy takes his Tralfamadorian experience as an inspiration for life. Deciding that time shouldn’t exist, the story keeps on jumping into random events of Billy`s life with no order. They all happen at the moment it does for a reason which replicates Billy`s “present” thoughts and feelings at the instant.

“All moments, past, present, and future, always have existed, always will exist”.  No moment will ever decease or be awaited. Therefore, Billy follows the Tralfamadorian custom of thinking about death as any casualty. It makes sense because since past will always exist, the memory of the person will always be available. When Billy sees someone dead, he remembers about this creed that for him equals “So it goes”.

Billy applies “So it goes” in every moment because there is nothing bad that will last or matter, so being indifferent is his solution.  Following the Tralfamadorian habits unconsciously helps Billy over pass war in an evasive way. He can get out of it at any moment and if a bad ting occurs it is “So it goes” so he does not get affected.