Things I liked (Anas)

There are many things that I that I liked about the novel. One of the things that I particularly enjoyed was how Vonnegut used an unconventional style to write it. By using his unique style, he leaves many things in the book up to us to figure out and perceive. That way, different people perceive the ideas in different ways and there is no definite way that the story should be perceived. An example of the “flexibility” in Vonnegut’s style is the entire story behind whether Billy is actually traveling through time or just a patient of mental distress. Throughout the book, Vonnegut writes about Billy’s time travelling experiences as if he is really travelling through time. He reveals that Billy knew about events in his life before they occurred due to his abduction by the Tralfamadorians. He knew what his son would grow up to be like, his life with his wife and even the time and place of his death. On the other hand, Vonnegut hints that Billy is not actually travelling through time, but just hallucinating. Later on in his life Billy gets admitted into a mental institute, and that is around the same time he starts to “travel through time”. By having Billy in a mental institute, Vonnegut is hinting that Billy is just a patient of a mental disorder. Also, one of times when Billy travels through time, he had been drugged (in the POW camp) and by having him travel through time right when he got drugged, Vonnegut show leans towards Billy being insane and not actually travelling through time. So even though Vonnegut hints towards both possibilities (Billy actually travelling through time and Billy just being insane), he never really picks a definite side.  By not picking a side, Vonnegut leaves it up to us to decide which makes me get more engaged into the novel and enjoy it.