The structure of the first chapter can be categorized under the title of a “frame narrative”. A frame narrative can be described as “a literary technique that sometimes serves as a companion piece to a story within a story”. Vonnegut employs this technique by writing in a first person, although he refers to himself as Yon Yonson, and walks the reader through the process of writing the secondary story which is the focus of the novel (chapter 2 onwards). This dynamic is made evident at the end of chapter 1 where Vonnegut writes:
“I’ve finished my war book now . . . It begins like this:
Listen:
Billy Pilgrim has come unstuck in time. “
On the next page, Vonnegut begins chapter 2 with the same lines, indicating that the rest of the novel is the war book that he was referring to initially.
While chapter 1 may not be a part of the core storyline, it does emphasize the theme of time that that may suggest possible foreshadowing by Vonnegut. When the narrator and the two girls cross the Delaware River, the dynamic of reflecting on the passing of time is introduced. Vonnegut states:
“We went to the New York World's Fair, saw with the past had been like, according to the Ford Motor Car Company and Walt Disney, saw what the future would be like, according to General Motors.
And I asked myself about the president: how wide it was, how deep it was, how much was mine to keep. “
Not only does the narrator recognize the past and future, it is suggested that time itself may be a physical concept, one that has width, and depth, one that can be manipulated. Manipulation of time is further explored as the narrator is stuck in a hotel. It is described:
“The time would not pass. Somebody was playing with the clocks, and not only with the electric clocks, but the wind-up kind too. The second hand on my watch what which ones, and the year would pass, and then we switch again. There's nothing I could do about it. As an earthling, I had to believe whatever clocks said — and calendars.
The narrator suggests a lack of control here as he says, “There’s nothing I could do about it”. It’s also stated that somebody was messing with all of the clocks indicating a possible entity that’s responsible for manipulation of time. This is further supported as he refers to himself as an “earthling” implying there are non-earthlings (time controlling aliens?). With the end of chapter 1 and beginning of chapter 2, Vonnegut once again refers to time as he says “Billy Pilgrim has come unstuck in time”. While it is not clear how time will affect the plot of the novel (time controlling aliens might be a bit of a reach), it can be inferred from the first chapter that the manipulation of time will be a greater theme in the development of the book.
This is a pretty good analysis of the first chapter with regards to how time is treated in this book. As someone who's read it before, I don't want to get into too many specifics, but you're definitely right that time turns out to be a big theme in the book. The "lack of control" is also very accurate, as Vonnegut has a pretty unique version of time travel where the characters are virtually helpless in regards to the shifts in time; they're not controlling anything, they're just "unstuck."
ReplyDeleteAs we read deeper into Slaughterhouse Five, your predictions on the importance of time in the novel hold up really well. We see Billy Pilgrim jumping through time to re-live/see different parts of his life. The idea that the novel is a frame narrative is an interesting one too, since Vonnegut sets up the story as one that he lived through, and yet we are then presented with a plot line based around a fictional character, with Kurt Vonnegut only showing up in a few places. I do think though that the conventions Vonnegut set up in his first chapter, with the repeating of Yon Yonsen being similar to the repeated phrase "so it goes," and the notions of the manipulations of time, are consistent with the tone of the rest of the novel and are useful in getting ready to read the novel.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really interesting way to look at the first chapter. It's like Vonnegut took thoughts that he'd had about his own memories and sense of time, and then blew them up to extremes in the character of Billy Pilgrim. There are hints of the science-fiction aspects of the plot throughout the chapter, but they aren't mentioned in great detail. Also, the Yon Yonson song is interesting - it never makes progress, but keeps swinging back to the beginning of the story, kind of mirroring Billy Pilgrim.
DeleteAfter reflecting on the novel as a whole, you were pretty spot on with your prediction that the manipulation of time will be a crucial theme within the plot line. I think its interesting how different the concept of time in opposition to Mumbo Jumbo, ending the novel with the idea that "Time is a pendulum. Not a river." While Reed argues time repeats itself, Vonnegut seems to argue that time can be manipulated.
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