Billy's Thoughts on death

Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut

So Billy's perspective on time is obviously incredibly abstract and hard for the human mind to even fathom. One interesting concept that comes with his extraordinary outlook is his idea of death. It is a much more soothing concept to embrace. Billy states his idea to a little boy in this fashion, "that his father was very much alive in moments the boy would see again and again" (Vonnegut 135). According to the Tralfadorian concept of death, since all time (past, present, and future) exist the same, then those who have died are just in a bad state in that point in time yet are still very much alive in the other points in time. Such an abstract idea does pose as interesting and soothing idea to grasp, however, taking this practically, such an idea could never possibly apply to human beings who are unable to see the fourth dimension that the Tralfadorians do. Such a dimension is what enables them to always be with their loved one's, as long as they were to focus and live the time that they lived. Putting all philosophy aside, this idea is obviously a coping mechanism for Billy's tortured and corrupt mind. As a man who has seen the supposed "worst massacre in World War 2", he obviously has seen much death that he now must cope with. By going along with these wild ideas mitigate the eternalness and finality of death, he understates the concept to himself, making it much more easier to cope. It is all just another fiction of Billy's disabled mind.