In time of danger we all react in different ways, it all depends on who our brains respond to what is happening around us. In the case of Billy his mind his completely block and he starts travelling to the past. Nobody can wake him, it’s up to him when he wants to come back and face reality. Many of us consider travelling as moving from one place to the other, but while reading Slaughterhouse Five I realized that recapturing memories can also be consider as travelling. I imagine that Billy wanted to keep travelling for eternity, but life is about waking up and facing the dangerous reality.
Last weekend I had lunch with my mom and grandmother and they started telling me how my great grandmother suffered the same way Billy did. Her mind would suddenly take her back to the war. She would forget that the war is over and she would start screaming BOMBS! I was able to see how this kind of events might mark a person for their rest of their lives. Even though she didn’t fought in World War II she had to experience it all. She had to pass through difficult times where they only had a piece of bread for a family of six. This affected her way of life after the war, she would appreciate every moment in life and wouldn’t complain. She never wanted anything new because she had enough with her one pair of shoes.
As I was reading slaughterhouse five I instantly started thinking about my great grandmother and in a way I understood what Billy was going through. Even though I didn’t had the opportunity to get to know her I knew that she was a person one should follow. She was able to survive a war and at the same time raise a family. She was able to do so by facing reality.
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