"It was about an Earthling man and woman who were kidnapped by extra-terrestrials. They were put on display in a zoo on a plane called Zircon-212." (201)
This quote shows paralellism in the novel. The event being paralleled is Billy's own time traveling experience. Billy is kidnapped and kept in a zoo on the planet Tralfamadore. Later, a woman, Montana Wildhack, is also transported to the planet. Both societies of extra-terrestrials are interested in watching the humans. Billy and Montana are constantly being observed to see how they react to certain things, how they interact with each other, how they reproduce, and basically how they live as humans. Similarly, the Zircon-212 creatures watch the humans to see how they react to playing the stock market. Both circumstances seem strange. I am not sure of the significance of the parallel. The first thing that comes to my mind is that the author is showing us that Billy is putting himself into the novels he reads in the phsychiatric hospital because he doesn't want to live in his own life. Maybe Billy "time travels" to escape the present and who he really is because he doesn't want to remember the past. Billy puts himself into novel like plots and changes details because he would rather live that life than the one he did.
I think this is a terrible blog. I wish you would have thought about this one a little more. Billy can OBVIOUSLY travel through time. In no way can he be seen as mentally unstable, that would contribute to the anti-war theme. I think you are being ridiculous in making such an accusation. Have faith in time travel.
ReplyDeleteps. Notice the sarcastic tone and my true appreciation of this blog post.