-
Billy's First Time Travel
When Billy first experiences time travel he flashed through a violet light while leaning against a tree in the war. He flashes to his father throwing him into the pool at the YMCA. At this point Billy has a choice to either sink or swim. This scene sets a choice for Billy's life throughout the whole novel. Will he sink or swim with the difficulties that are presents to him throughout his life. -
Period: to
Timespan
-
Lazzaro's Revenge
During WWII at the prison camp Lazzaro talks about revenge and why it is the sweetest thing. He claims to have a list of people he needs to get revenge on (which includes Billy for killing Weary). Lazzaro tells a story about getting his revenge on a dog that bit him. He put peices of metal in his food so his insides would be cut and eventually kill him. This shows the gruesome effects war can have on people's mental stability. Also it develops Lazaro's characters and foreshadows what's to come. -
Wagon Through Dresden
At the end of the novel Billy is dragged through the ruins of Dresden in a coffin shaped wagon. This is one of his most peaceful experiences in his life, which shows that he is rarely at peace. The wagon that is taking him through the sad town is coffin shaped, this represents all the death that was caused at Dresden and also the death of Billy's mind, body, or life being the same again. -
Poo-tee-weet?
The book ends with "Poo-tee-wet?" A bird whistles that to Billy as him and the other soldiers wander aimlessly alway from the bombing sight of Dresden. This line shows that there is no answer the war or death. There is no explaination to why it happens, the way it does, or to the people that it does. War is an unanswerable question. -
The Veterans Hospital
Billy is checked into a veterans of war hospital for his mental instability, this is where he meets Eliot Rosewater. Billy and Rosewater bond over Kilgore Trout, a science fiction author. These science fiction books that Kilgore Trout writes are very closely related to the PTSD experiences that Billy has with the Tralfamorians. All of these things satirize certain aspects of society like politicians and authority. -
KV meeting with the O'Hare's
In the beginning of the novel KV meets with his old war buddy Bernard V. O'Hare and his wife Mary. KV talks with Bernard to refresh his memory of the war for his novel. Mary chimes in that she hates the fact that children are going off to war and dying. KV promises to name his novel The Children's Crusade. This scene establishes the book as an anti-war book. It also establishes a mood and atmosphere for the book. -
Billy Getting Kidnapped by the Tralfamorians
In the beginning of chapter four Billy is sitting in front of the tv when he is kidnapped by the Tralfamorians. He is taken in their spaceship to their planet where he is kept in their zoo for their viewing pleasures. This is the one of the main points in the book that you see Billy experience the strong effects of his PTSD. Also in this scene the reader is first introduced to the Tralfamorians diagreeeing with human ways of life, like why humans question everything. -
Billy's Anniversary Party
Billys invited Kilgore Trout to his anniversary party. Trout got along well with the guests and struck up a conversation with a women named Maggie. In their conversation Trout made up rediculous things and Maggie would believe all of them. KV is using satire at this point in the novel. Trout represents someone of authority, most likely a politician, taking advantage of the unknowing or uneducated public, represented by Maggie. -
Plane Crash
Billy is involved in a plane crash in Vermont, in which he and only one other survived. When he is taken to a hospital he is placeed next to a historian named Rumfoord. This man knows a lot about wars, but only through books. He thinks Billy is delusional when he starts talking about his experiences in Dresden. He doesn't believe what he is saying. This scene represents the public eye who doesn't understand the true effects of war or PTSD. -
Billy's Death
Billy's death in the novel is an known event. Billy is on Lazzaro's revenge list. He straight up tells Billy that he is going to find him in many years and kill him. This is exactly what happened, Billy was assasinated by Lazzaro. It was a very casual event in the book, in parts made in Billy's head. It was so casual because the Tralfamorians taught Billy that when someone dies they are still alive in other times like the past and the future.
