Now to dive into the bulk of this post. On page 194, Billy Pilgrim and some other Americans board a horse-hitched wagon and return to Dresden to claim some souvenirs. While the others are in the slaughterhouse claiming their major awards, Billy lives in what he claims to be his happiest moment; sunbathing in the wagon. I find this to be rather odd. Billy Pilgrim is finding calmness in a moment directly following the end of a war, and he is enjoying what he knows to be an empty victory.
Two German doctors standing by happen to notice the horrible state of the horses pulling the wagon. Upon notifying Billy of this, he begins to cry. As I explained in the last post, Pilgrim is upset because he has destroyed their well-being, and is resembling Jesus Christ in his innocence, and sadness for the mistreated innocent.
Later in the chapter, Vonnegut goes on to describe the plot of one of Kilgore Trout's novels in which a man goes back in time to see Jesus. In a particular passage, a Roman soldier asks twelve-year old Jesus and his father to build a cross. "Jesus and his father built it. They were glad to have the work. And the rabble-rouser was executed on it. So it goes." To me, I can't help but look at this and translate it into the irony of a man predetermining his fate. Jesus knew his fate, as did Billy Pilgrim; yet both of them followed the path leading up to it simply because that is how it is.
Now I shall jump to the last two pages of the book. As Billy Pilgrim and Montana Wildhack are being displayed in the Tralfamadorian zoo with their child, he notices the inscription on her necklace. It reads the same as the plaque on his wall when he is an optometrist in Ilium. "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom always to tell the difference." The reappearance of this prayer in the novel suggests to the reader its importance as it pertains to the alien philosophy. Like epigraph about Jesus, this too relates to the theme of the book: To accept the fact the everything is, was, and always will be, and to not dwell on each moment in accordance with another. Also, to ignore the bad things in life, and choose to rather spend an eternity in the pleasant things.
Finally, I will end with something completely different. I've been meaning to write about this for some time. Has anyone else made the weird connection between the fact that Billy Pilgrim can see into the fourth dimension, and he's an optometrist? Just a little something that I realized.
I never made a connection between the fourth dimension and him being an optometrist, but now that you mention it, it changes my thoughts on Billy being able to see into the fourth dimension. Good observation!
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