Tralfamador
The article for my panel presentation on Slaughterhouse 5 talked about how Billy’s most pleasant memories were ones where he had all the necessities of life and wasn’t anxious about anything. Unfortunately, most of the time, Billy would be happy for a bit but then be jolted back to a reality filled with horrors. The author of the article compared Billy’s pleasant memories to him trying to retreat to a womb-like state. The author says that Billy reacts to the horrors of the world around him by withdrawing totally from reality. Billy’s not the ostrich that sticks his head in the sand when in trouble, he crawls back into the egg itself. The zoo on Tralfamador that Billy is put is supposed to be a successful escape from the horrors of reality. The Tralfamadorian theories free Billy from his anxieties. Billy wants is scared of looking back to the past and seeing Dresden, but he’s also scared of looking forward to old age and death. So, the whole “so it goes”...