Billy Pilgrim: fact or fiction? (Anas)

I think that Billy Pilgram is not actually traveling through time. Rather, his experiences are a result of what he has been through in his life. I believe this because, all his "strange" activities started after the airplane crash from which he was the only one to survive. As if the crash was not enough to shake him up, his wife died shortly after due to poisoning. Also, during his childhood he experienced many traumatizing situations such as being thrown into a pool by someone he trusted and standing at the edge of the Grand Canyon. He was able to get past these "road blocks" and lead a successful life, until finally the crash uncorked the bottle that that held in the experiences. Before the plane crash he was leading a successful and prosperous life, but as soon as the incident occurred his life turned upside down. He lost interest in his occupation, and started to lead a strange and solitary life. After his recovery from the crash, he decided to tell the world about his "abductions" by the Tralfamadorians. His story was so absurd that even his daughter lost trust in him. This is shown in their conversation: "'What is it about my letter that makes you so mad?' Billy wanted to know. 'It's all just crazy. None of it's true!' 'It's all true.'"(29). Billy’s actions made his family feel embarrassed and that he was a lunatic. In the book, Vonnegut says that, "Barbara was only twenty-one years old. But she thought her father was senile, even though he was only forty-six- senile because of damage to his brain in the airplane crash." (28). This supports my belief that Billy had been severely affected by the plane crash. So due to the fact that Billy never mentioned the Tralfamadorians before his plane crash, I think that him “travelling through time” is just a result of his traumatic life experiences.