Slaughterhouse Five
Posted: May 13, 2023 - 2nd reading
Your whole life, every moment, is here - right now - and will always be here - forever.
Having already read "Slaughterhouse 5" I had a sense that I missed enough of the book, or did not understand it well enough, that I should go back for a second reading. So I followed my instincts.
"Slaughterhouse 5" is about the life of Billy Pilgrim - an East Coast American, son of a barber, World War II soldier, prisoner of war, witness to the bombing of Dresden, optometrist, husband, and father. All very normal isn't it? Now, we add in the more exotic aspect of his life which is: Billy Pilgrim was also abducted by aliens and subsequently returned to Earth.
But there's more: Billy Pilgrim is a time jumper - he experiences moments when he suddenly goes forward and backward in time. So at any moment Billy could be living his life in his, say, forties, then suddenly, he "jumps" back to his life in his twenties. This happens again and again in the book and dictates the structure of the book. We go along with Billy as he jumps from one time period in his life to another. And these little "time jumps" form a pastiche in which we put together Billy's life.
But there is yet more to the book. Because of the way it is structured, coupled with the knowledge learned by Billy from his alien captors- the Trafalmadorians -the book brings forth the concept that all of time exists all at once. That the moments of our lives are not really sequential but are present always. Therefore we, in a sense, cannot die, at least not permanently, because all our moments exist now, all the time.
As I've mentioned in my first book review, I've ran across this concept in another book. A book of philosophy called "The Consolation of Philosophy". The other instance when this concept was communicated to me was when I was watching a film about the accomplishments of Albert Einstein; I got from that film that all time existing now is an Einsteinian concept. And here it is again being stated by Kurt Vonnegut in "Slaughterhouse 5".
The foreword to the edition I've been reading is by Kevin Powers and he refers to "Slaughterhouse 5" as "wisdom literature". I heartily agree. There is something very comforting in this book's concept of all time existing now, forever. If every moment of our life is happening all at once then every moment we have experienced, we are currently experiencing, and we will experience has been pre-set - fated. What is now the use of worrying about things? The important practices now become faith and acceptance. Having faith in the universe that the kind of life we have been given is the best choice against the backdrop of the collective "allness" of the universe. This leads to the practice of learning to accept our pre-destined fate as how things should be.
Another thing I want to note from this second reading is that I am getting a sense that every sentence of this book has been carefully written by Vonnegut. It is an interesting read all the way, with these wonderful details sprinkled all over the book.
Having finished a second reading and looking at the structure of the book, its details, and messaging, I am getting an appreciation of how well-written it really is. It's a wonderfully crafted piece of art.