I noticed something's about when, where, and potentially why, Billy time traveled. (Like why at a certain moment) On page 63, it says “Billy went on weeping as he contemplated the cripples and their boss… He closed his eyes, and opened them again. He was still weeping, but but he was back in Luxembourg again…. It was the winter wind that was bringing tears to his eyes” (Vonnegut 63). I thought that maybe he went back in time because he felt like he was in a similar situation as he was before.
By thinking about the time travel in this book, I can’t help but wonder if there is perhaps a “higher power” controlling when Billy time travels, and when to. Is there someone picking specifically when he needs to change dimensions, when he needs to remember a certain time, or when he needs to be taught a lesson? Or is it all done randomly and he can’t help it, he just sort of ups and leaves the current time?
This aspect of time travel is very complicated to me, and it brings up many questions as I am reading the book. I just feel as though there are so many components to time travel that have to be put into consideration when writing a book about it. I wonder how much time Vonnegut spent thinking it out, and planning it out so that it would work? However I also feel that he may have just sat down and went with the flow of the time? And maybe that’s why Billy’s time travel is not organized.
This thought of something greater than human controlling Billy did not even occur to me. Nice thinking outside of the box! I don't understand the time travelling situation either. I have been thinking it's random because there's no lesson learned, unless it's an indirect lesson that the reader finds out about as they progress into the book? Taking the time to thoughtfully think about a broad topic, such as time travelling, requires a lot of effort. Writing a book about it, I would imagine, would require an abundance amount of effort, and because of this, I feel as Vonnegut did spend a lot of time thinking about the concept of time travelling. Perhaps, because he didn't understand the whole thing, the writing came out as unorganized. If someone doesn't understand something (whether it be a book, event, a concept or something else), it is very difficult to write about it, let alone, write something organized about it.
ReplyDeleteI understand what you are saying about how hard it would be to write a book about a concept that it hard to understand. So it must be that he [Vonnegut] thought about this part of the novel for a while. And I think that the fact that he may have not understand or may have avoided some of the factors of time travel makes sense as to why the aspect seems slightly unorganized.
DeleteDo you think it's possible that Vonnegut skipped around on purpose, in order to show and make his readers think about time travel? The concept of time is too complicated to understand. "Is time all just an illusion? Did humans make up time as a way to organize their life?" These questions, and other questions related to time won't have a right answer to them because they can't be proven. Because of this, perhaps Vonnegut skips around in the story to make readers empathize with the confusion that Billy may be experiencing?
DeleteIs he really traveling around in time or is it all just in his head. Is he really not going anywhere or is he really traveling through time?
ReplyDeleteI want to say that all the time travel isn't really happening physically, but more mentally and emotionally. I feel like the moments when Billy time travels, those are his memories that he is reflecting upon.
Delete