In chapter seven of Slaughterhouse-Five, Billy Pilgrim gets in the not so sudden plane crash. This crash leads to him getting a fractured skull, and ultimately going on a myriad of frenetic time jumps. These flash trips in time give the reader multiple glimpses at different Billy Pilgrims. In this case, Vonnegut almost is giving the reader clues and pieces of this character. Rather than giving character descriptions, Vonnegut give experiences and actions Billy Pilgrim does to indirectly characterize Pilgrim. This way of compilation creates the "real" Billy Pilgrim.
Throughout all of his time trips and flashbacks the reader sees things that are unique to that specific place in time; however, those are not to be focused on. One must string the similarities of the different Pilgrims to assemble the true Billy Pilgrim. Vonnegut's odd but truthful way of characterizing adds to the authenticity of the character a midst the science fiction persona. Even in the end of Pilgrim's life the real Billy is not present: "So Billy experiences death for a while...Not even Billy Pilgrim is there," (Vonnegut, 143). This furthers the point of ones self in entirety is not present at one point in there life, even death.
The glimpses in time can actually help one look at his/her own life or people ones met. One must look at that person in a whole rather than who they are in a specific year. In truth, what one person is at that moment in time is not a true barometer of who they are in their life.
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