While Billy is on his visits to Tralfamadore, and becoming stuck and unstuck in time, it seems very similar to a child being told about the struggles of being a veteran of war. This somewhat connects to the second title of the book, The Children's Crusade. This also makes sense because after viewing something so devastating as a firebombing, it is like the veteran himself is trying to see at like a child would. It also shows the author is holding his promise to his friend's wife to almost dull, if you will, how traumatic the war, and the firebombing of Dresden more specifically, really was. When Billy was writing to the paper about the Tralfamadorians, it was his way of telling the everyone instead of individuals about PTSD.
"The cockles of Billy's heart, at any rate, were glowing coals. What made them so hot was Billy's belief that he was going to comfort so many people with the truth about time" (28).
It is interesting to see Billy's viewpoint of PTSD and how he chooses to describe it. I wonder if the rest of the story will also be told as if a child was telling the story or if the child was being read a rated R book. (If there is such a thing).
I think the alternate title could make sense because after the firebombing, he stops to realize that he was just a child when he was sent to war. It could be that he was forced to grow up, in a sense, because of the war. After all, war is no place for a child.
ReplyDeleteI think that the story will continue in this way of "child narration", because after experiencing such an event, I can see why Billy, and the narrator would try to dim down these events. For them self, as well as for the readers sake, I predict the narrator will tone down the events to a child comprehension level because they are to horrifying to process in any other way.
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