Unstuck in Time: Billy's Dilemma with Time Travel

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Not only can time travel affect one's closest affiliates, but it also affects the way onlookers perceive the adventurer. As Billy’s gift of time travel began one day without warning, he was left baffled and bewildered. On top of this, it began when he was at war, which is not exactly a time or place to take a moment and reflect. Billy refers to his first instance of time travel as becoming “unstuck in time” (Vonnegut 43), and the first witnesses of his abnormal behaviour are his fellow soldiers. Billy is walking through the forest and stops to rest against a tree when his mind starts dashing and suddenly he is everywhere but the present, until Roland Weary interrupts his travels. Weary shakes him to life and throws him in the direction they …show more content…

He believes Billy to be a complete fool with no brains, however his perceived incompetence is as a result of Billy’s internal battle against time travel. Because Billy’s time travel is not his physical absence, but moreso mental, those around him cannot understand why he acts so oddly. Furthermore, not only do other POWs judge Billy, but so do the enemies. The German soldiers are parading the Americans around Luxembourg when Billy is taken to photograph a staged capture. Throughout the picture taking, Billy travels to the future and is left with an unfit expression described as, “his face wreathed in goofy good will, they menaced him with their machine pistols,” (Vonnegut 58). Again, Billy is left looking quite senseless because in his mind he is elsewhere, and in this situation the Germans think he is reacting erringly, putting him in a threatening …show more content…

Time travel in Billy and Henry’s lives, whether it is made clear or kept secret, corrupts the way that spectators view and judge them. Because those around him are unaware of the voyage going on in his mind, people think Billy is an imbecile, but likely because they are uninformed. Conversely, Henry is quite open when it comes to his disorder, however people are still skeptical about the stability of his life and the way it will affect others as a result of their minimal knowledge of time

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