Vonnegut Violet Light Essay

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2. At one point in the novel, Billy’s time-jumps stabilize for a moment. Vonnegut writes, “This was when Billy first came unstuck in time. His attention began to swing grandly through the full arc of his life, passing into death, which was violet light. There wasn’t anybody else there, or [sic]any thing. There was just violet light- and a hum.” (Vonnegut 43) In this scene, he continues to “swing” through stages, back into life, until “he was in pre-birth, which was red light” (43). These two colors are a split complementary duo on the color wheel; they share a common hue, yet look quite different and carry distinct meanings. This speaks to the duality of birth and death. Vonnegut possibly chose violet light for death because of its strange contrast with the known natural world. Violet light in this context, like death, is foreign and imposed. It is not a typical color used in relation to death, like black or red, which characterizes Vonnegut’s approach to death in this novel. The red light is maternal, but also strange. The usage of symbolism in the colored light speaks to Billy’s emotional structure, and attempts to create a concept of what cannot necessarily be written concisely.
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Vonnegut’s use of science fiction highlights the discrepancies in our scope of understanding, and adds postmodernist nuances to his characterizations. Reality in this novel is skewed and jumpy, purely a reflection of Billy’s erratic perception. The science fiction is a device in this novel, not a style. War has so disrupted Billy’s psyche that he hallucinates. These visions of the Tralfamadorians are manifestations of trauma, as well as a rationalization mechanism, which can be applied to the seriousness of the lasting and penetrating effects of war on the remainder of the existence of those who have experienced it. The “fourth dimension”, where all moments in time exist and continue simultaneously, is symbolic of the way trauma permeates every aspect of post war
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4. Dark humor is used throughout this novel as a way to present serious themes in a lighter way without detracting from or belittling their seriousness. It is an effective defense mechanism used to deal with the terrors of war. Vonnegut incorporates also irony and satire. A strong example of the utilization of dark, situational irony is in the case of the hobo. Vonnegut writes, “On the eighth day, the forty-year old hobo said to Billy, “This ain’t bad. I can be comfortable anywhere.” “You can?” said Billy. On the ninth day the hobo died. So it goes. His last words were, “You think this is bad? This ain’t bad.” (79) This pure example of human fallacy in such a serious context is morbid, but with the way it is written, it is absurd and funny- such as with other terrible things within the book. Vonnegut’s approach to the plight of prisoners in this manner makes it a less intractable subject, and the humor is necessary because of the inevitability of tragedy.
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6. The “illusion of free will” has been much debated by philosophers and psychologists alike. Some cases are straightforwardly lacking, such as being drafted into a war- but doesn’t one still have the option to circumvent the system, and escape the draft? But even then, your options are limited and the will is not truly free, except within the parameters now set- and is that truly free at all? The sheer number of variables that can limit the scope of the free will is enough to discount the idea itself. But - free will does have the capacity to exist, only, it is not absolute. To make an argument for or against it would be entirely dependent on those limiting variables: despite consequences, you can do whatever you want to do. However, there are cases where free will is suppressed. There are cases wherein the free choice is an illusion and it is determined by variables outside any sort of personal control; people think that they are exercising their free will by buying a piece of clothing at a department store. Countless other people exercise their will to buy this same piece of clothing that has been created to mimic the design, fabric, and color of previous seasons of runway fashions, and has been chosen for that particular department store based on a demographic analysis of the surrounding area.
In a cheap sense, humans are perfectly capable to determine their life’s course: on the two ends of the spectrum, they can either meet the criteria for acceptance and adhere to the equation for success, or fail to do these things, face negative social consequences, and lose the free will to operate in certain contexts. Not to say that if you do absolutely nothing, the loss of a wide range of options is not your fault, only that societies themselves severely limit the will- but the inability to function in a certain place the way that you would like to is an oppression of the free will. An argument against this could be to participate in acounterculture type movement, but isn’t a reactionary action a direct result of the original action, making it a result rather than a completely free choice? In sociology, the relationship between the individual and the generalized society is mutually policed, limiting the range of choice. Again, despite the probability of consequences, one is free to do as they wish. The existence of societal consequences is arguably a limitation on free will.
Billy Pilgrim has no freedom to choose the course of his life, or even in what order to follow that course; “He is in a constant state of stage fright, he says, because he never knows what part of his life he is going to have to act in next.” (19).
8. Billy Pilgrim’s name is itself an illusion