PT(ralfamadore)SD
During our discussions, we have talked about Tralfamadorians and their connection to both Billy and Vonnegut's trauma. Originally reading this book I thought the sci-fi element was added purely for entertainment, or to add more to a story Vonnegut was having trouble writing. As we continued to unpack its mysteries, I saw how Tralfamdore was used to illustrate PTSD in a new light.
During Billy's time travel, he is thrown from place to place, without choice. He is forced to relive each moment as if it were his first time experiencing this, unaware of the memory he is in. It has become clear that these moments of time travel mimic triggering memories of people with PTSD. Aside from the one moment Billy thinks about the trigger of the bar quartet and its connection with Dresden, time-traveling seems disconnected.
I then began to think about Tralfamdore itself and how their idea of moments always existing fit in. The lack of free will humans experience could be thought of as the lack of free will people have in reliving their experiences with PTSD. As mentioned in class, its as if Vonnegut has created Tralfamodre to justify his experiences as he deals with his trauma. His inability to remember anything tragic or have any harsh feelings from the war mimics the "so it goes" mentality of Tralfamadorians. Since every moment has always existed and will always exist, many emotions are removed from moments we would consider tragic and heartbreaking.
Though I do not fully understand the connections between Vonnegut's own experience and Tralfamadore, I found this idea interesting to think about. This book, in my opinion, seemed the most unique to those we have read throughout the semester; I wonder how our next readings will mirror or contrast Slaughterhouse 5.
During Billy's time travel, he is thrown from place to place, without choice. He is forced to relive each moment as if it were his first time experiencing this, unaware of the memory he is in. It has become clear that these moments of time travel mimic triggering memories of people with PTSD. Aside from the one moment Billy thinks about the trigger of the bar quartet and its connection with Dresden, time-traveling seems disconnected.
I then began to think about Tralfamdore itself and how their idea of moments always existing fit in. The lack of free will humans experience could be thought of as the lack of free will people have in reliving their experiences with PTSD. As mentioned in class, its as if Vonnegut has created Tralfamodre to justify his experiences as he deals with his trauma. His inability to remember anything tragic or have any harsh feelings from the war mimics the "so it goes" mentality of Tralfamadorians. Since every moment has always existed and will always exist, many emotions are removed from moments we would consider tragic and heartbreaking.
Though I do not fully understand the connections between Vonnegut's own experience and Tralfamadore, I found this idea interesting to think about. This book, in my opinion, seemed the most unique to those we have read throughout the semester; I wonder how our next readings will mirror or contrast Slaughterhouse 5.
I am also interested in the "PTSD" view of the novel, as I think it needs to be addressed in order to capture the extent of Billy's experience. I agree that he seems to be unwillingly transported through time, but I do not know what to make of this psychologically. I like the analogy you made between the lack of free will in both the Tralfamadorian view of time and PTSD patients. Perhaps it is a reflection of Vonnegut's experience, but we will never really know. I wonder how the apathy, indifference and general passivity displayed by Billy connects to all of this.
ReplyDeleteI think what is interesting is the contrast between Billy's experiences after the war, and Vonnegut's experiences after the war (in real life). The connection between Billy and Vonnegut is so interesting but goes completely untouched and unanswered throughout the novel, except when they randomly run into one another during the war. In some ways, I tend to surmise that Billy wasn't unlike Vonnegut at all, but this "so it goes" attitude was what Vonnegut felt himself slightly adopting because he couldn't cope with the horrors he's seen. But how does Billy's time travel and experience on Tralfamadore fit into this?
ReplyDeleteI too wrote about this in my most recent blog post! This is so right! I think that Tralfamadore is a method for Billie to escape the PTSD and also a symptom of PTSD. It is the antithesis of PTSD where instead of having flashbacks to negative memories, you have flashbacks (or flashforwards depending on how you think about it) to positive memories, focusing on them as a method of being happy for all of eternity
ReplyDeleteI think that Tralfamador comments on more than a lack of free will in reliving trauma. The tralfamadorian view is that our actions are inconsequential because the future is predetermined. Vonnegut displays this with how characters live or die regardless of their actions during the war. The patriotic edgar derby is killed for stealing a teapot while the clueless billy lives but has a mental illness. I think that Vonnegut doesn't want us to constrain the ideas he presents with Tralfamador to just billy's mental illness.
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