Response to Hasnain’s blog (Gynter)

Firstly, I would like to say that Hasnain’s blog has a very nice layout and organization of topics that is very easy to follow and enjoyable to read.

I really enjoyed Hasnain’s post about where he would time travel if he had the ability to. I think a lot of people, Hasnain included, would return to times of economic recession or depression in order to play the stock market and become wealthy. Others would return to pivotal moments in history such as the American Revolutionary War to become famous commanders or generals, while some would take today’s scientific knowledge and travel back in time with it to establish themselves as one of the greatest thinkers in human history. Whatever case, I think a lot of people would simply return back in time to attain wealth, fame or power. I, on the other, hand would choose to travel to happy moments in my life. Whether it be having a good laugh in Massey cafeteria with my friends or celebrating my 5^th birthday. I would like to pose the same question to Hasnain, if he had a chance to travel back in time to any moment of his life, where would he go? Every person in the world has a favourite childhood memory. Also,what would Hasnain say to his young elf when he travels back in time? One thing is for sure though; I would not like to travel forward in time. I like the surprises that life brings me and I would not like to find out my future. I want to be able to discover it on my own.

I really enjoyed the insight that Hasnain was able to provide to the reader in his seventh post. I absolutely agree with Hasnain that Vonnegut is a very special writer. His ideas of time-travelling are not your typical Hollywood “go back in time to change the future” cliché. I would have to agree with Vonnegut that if you could travel back in time, the events are set and you already know what will happen. There is nothing you can do change them. The reason Vonnegut did not include the butterfly effect is because he believes in the idea of fate. Overall, I must say that I really enjoyed reading this post as it gave me better understanding and perspective of the how writers and Hollywood directors perceive time.

When it comes to Hansain first post, I must say that I have to disagree with it. It is very clear in the book that when Billy is placed in a mental institution, the author is trying to tell the reader that Billy is indeed mentally unstable. The amount of “detail and figurative language” that describes Billy’s time-travelling is the narrator speaking and not Billy himself. Also, it is very common for people to remember the smell of a place when recalling a certain memory. Billy is able to do it better than the rest of us because he has a vivid imagination (like most mental patients). Just like for the sake of entertainment you were able to convince yourself that Billy became unstuck in time, Billy was able to convince himself that he became unstuck in time in order to escaping the many traumatizing experiences of his life: his father’s death, his wife’s death, the bombing of Dresden, the plane crash etc… Many mental patients will create alternate realities to escape their hard life. In Billy’s case, he was abducted by aliens and slept with a beautiful actress on a different planet.