Free Will in Slaughterhouse Five Free will and destiny are themes that recur throughout Slaughterhouse Five. The position taken regarding the idea of ​​free will is that it is an illusion and that it is something that humans invented as an idea to console themselves. Vonnegut uses the science fiction element of an alien race, known as the Tralfamadorians, as a way to portray this idea. Billy Pilgrim, the main character of the novel, is kidnapped by this alien race and they attempt to explain to him the nature of free will and destiny as they see it, although Billy has been a victim of his lack of free will his entire life. life. Billy Pilgrim's concept of the nature of free will and the lack of its existence begins with his abduction by the Tralfamadorians. They appear, absurdly, as toilet plungers with eyes that can see into the fourth dimension. Their view of free will is that time is already mapped out, every event has already happened, and that everything happens according to that pre-established plan. They believe that every moment has already happened and that all these moments are continually repeated. Nothing can change this predetermined destiny and it is useless to try to fight the inevitable. This vision leaves them with a sort of resigned acceptance of their fate and the recognition that they have no power to change it. They claim that humans are the only entities in existence that have created a concept of free will and that this is the result of their mistake about the way time works. According to the Tralfamadorians, humans operate under the assumption that time is a linear progression, allowing humans to believe they can control their own destiny. A Tralfamadorian states: “If I hadn't spent... half the card... to potentially change the outcome, Billy does nothing. His impending death is something he faces with little resignation. He spends much of his life knowing that Paul Lazarus will be the ultimate cause of his death, but maintains the "so it goes" attitude that is so prevalent throughout the novel. This also certainly indicates that Billy has little control over his life. and the thing that happens in it is the fact that it can't control where it will jump in time. Early in the novel he makes it known that he has the ability to jump to different areas of time, but that it is not an ability he is able to control. Billy doesn't choose whether to go forward or backward in time, or to a pleasant or unpleasant moment, but it happens at random. Furthermore, although he can go back in time, he cannot change anything that has already happened.