In Slaughterhouse Five, the main character, Billy Pilgrim, is a soldier who becomes unstuck in time, beginning to experience every moment of his life at different points, jumping back and forth in the time stream. As a result, he encounters the unfortunate aspects of the past, and the terrible boredom and fearful death of his future. Billy is fatalistic, constantly feeling as though his life will not amount to anything, and that he knows exactly how everything will end. Because of this, Billy's own sanity is called into question at various points throughout the book, as he uses his ability to see his future and the future of humanity. Billy is shown to be mentally unstable in the book, becoming paranoid and trauma-stricken, having issues with post-traumatic stress disorder. This is not because of him being crazy from the beginning, but instead experiencing terrible things that forever change his perspective on the world.
The use of themes - messages and subjects that the novel's content shows in depth - is very important to this book, and the extent of Billy's sanity. The novel's chief theme - dealing with the effects of stress and trauma on our present - is centered around how Billy deals with the knowledge of his past and future, as well as his sanity. While some may claim that Billy Pilgrim is a schizophrenic, this does not strictly apply, because he lives an extremely functional life apart from the time shifts: "having a family, running a business, and being a respected member of society" (Vees-Gulani 176). He hallucinates quite a bit, and hears voices; he also has trouble fitting in with society at times; however, these do not happen to the point where schizophrenia would be a good explanation. Also, these hallucinations come about as a result of his war experiences, not some mental disorder that he has always had.
Billy's condition is, in fact, closer to post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. Because of his troubles in World War II, particularly his capture with Roland Weary at the Battle of the Bulge, this PTSD starts to manifest itself and he is institutionalized (Vonnegut 126). This PTSD, sure to make him unable to interact in the world after the war, shows just how poorly his country is prepared to care for those who fight for them: "When Billy returns home, America does not provide him with the possibility of working through his war experiences, particularly the bombing of Dresden, and thus occasions Billy's chronic suffering" (Vees-Gulani 177). Constantly flashing back to those moments in WWII, Billy has not really left there emotionally, because his trauma will not let him leave. He experiences the same kinds of issues that many post-war veterans experience, including inescapable reminders of his captors. Seeing a barbershop quartet at his party beings him to flash back to four Dresden guards who, "in their astonishment and grief, resembled a barbershop quartet" (Vonnegut 179). It is these kinds of terrible, crippling reminders of his former captivity and trauma that leads to a loss of sanity in Billy.
Billy's kindness toward others, in spite of his PTSD and his other emotional problems, manages to help define him and his overall outlook toward life. He is a fatalist, but he cannot be called a defeatist, as he always attempts to engage with the events in his life as best he can. His constant attempts to move forward in light of the terrible things he experienced shows him making an effort to combat his PTSD, and fully engage with his surroundings. Even the presence of the Tralfamadorians (who can be thought to be hallucinations brought on by his PTSD), and their philosophy of trying to make sense of the universe : "Why you? Why us for that matter? Why anything? Because this moment simply isThere is no why'" (Vonnegut 76-77). This fatalism is something Billy takes on as well, as he starts to understand that life is what you make it.
The mental state of Billy Pilgrim is tied directly to one of the major themes of the novel - namely, that of the basic facts of life and death that define human beings. Despite the mental toll that his war experiences and the flashing back and forth in time have on Billy, he remains very fatalistic, seeing the subtle differences between life and death: "How nice -- to feel nothing, and still get full credit for being alive" (Vonnegut 134). One of the major points of the book is accepting death, and a man's place in the world throughout his life. Knowing that he is going to die, he spends his final moments affirming to a crowd he is speaking to that he will soon die. As they protest and try to stop the murder, he replies, "If you protest, if you think that death is a terrible thing, then you have not understood a word I've said" (Vonnegut 181). This sentence brings home Billy's outlook on life, which his mental state has helped to inform; that one must accept their deaths with grace and understanding. It is a good thing that he is dying, as it will bring him an end to his own suffering and pain, and he understands the finite nature of his life. It must end, and it must be now, and Billy feels set free by letting go of the desire to stop it or change it. He understands that it must happen, and so he lets it happen.
In conclusion, the theme of the book is how people deal with their traumas. Billy Pilgrim is somewhere between sane and insane; his post-traumatic stress disorder brings him to the point of madness, and his shifting in time is still very disorienting and deeply affecting. However, throughout the book he maintains an overall positive disposition toward his place in life at that moment, and he comes to accept the inevitability of his own death. In fact, he comes to celebrate it, as it turns out to be an extremely fortunate thing to know exactly when you are going to die. Billy's PTSD is tied very closely to his fatalism, or his quest to gain it; Billy tries to move forward with his life after the war, but simply cannot, as his hallucinations and traumas keep coming back to him. Eventually, however, he realizes (with the help of the Tralfamadorians, real or imagined) that life is not defined by clear reason, and that he simply must accept things as they are. With that in mind, he greets his inevitable death with courage and bravery, and reassures everyone that it is a good thing.
Works Cited
Vees-Gulani, Susanne. "Diagnosing Billy Pilgrim: A Psychiatric Approach to Kurt Vonnegut's
Slaughterhouse-Five." CRITIQUE: Studies in Contemporary Fiction, vol. 44, no. 2
(Winter 2003), p. 175. Print.
Vonnegut, Kurt. Slaughterhouse-Five. Delacorte, 1969. Print.
