So it goes in the fourth dimension
Slaughterhouse five introduces the Tralfamadorian concept of time. It states that time is a fourth dimension just like the three dimensions that humans can see. Aliens on Tralfamador can see through time just like humans can see through space. Just like our three dimensions, everything has a certain observable position in time that cannot be changed, meaning that humanity's concept of the future is just as fixed as the past. While Billy Pilgrim can't freely see though the fourth dimension like the aliens can, he does time travel randomly. He has seen his future and knows the futures of those around him, including when they die. Billy marks every mention of death with "So it goes", showing how the future is inevitable.
The Tralfamadorian view of time is problematic. Is the way we all die inevitable? Can we really not change the future? From a physical standpoint, the Tralfamadorian view makes a lot of sense. If we had a sufficiently detailed model of the universe down to the precise location of subatomic particles and an infinitely fast computer, we could simulate the course of the universe and predict the future. This is obviously impossible as such a machine would have to simulate itself, but it does give credence to the Tralfamadorian view of time.
So what if death is inevitable and we really can't do anything to change it? Does that make it okay to say "so it goes" whenever someone dies? It is inherently impossible to predict far into the future, but if it became possible, we would have to reconsider our views on death. I someone's death still sad if we know that it is coming? Should we try to save someone if they are just going to die anyway? Billy's time travel may just be a mental illness, but the moral questions that it raises are.
Interesting. I agree that the idea of seeing time raises some moral dilemmas, and I especially find it interesting how the Tralfamadorians talk about mass murders on their country. They seem completely okay with killing off significant numbers of each other. While you would expect some super advanced race who can see time to have world peace, they are actually much more willing to kill each other. They just don't care, saying "so it goes."
ReplyDeleteThe Tralfalmadorian viewpoint can definitely be very immoral - to just brush aside all emotions and grief that comes with death, and assume all of our decisions as inevitable and therefore we should have no accountability. How can one really see a massacre like Dresden, or something like the Holocaust, as a "so it goes" event? I don't see it as something that Vonnegut encourages for the ordinary citizen to have, however, but he puts into perspective the deep trauma that can come with witnessing an event like that and how comforting it can be to have such a viewpoint to cope with it for somebody like Billy.
ReplyDeleteI love this post.. It's honestly so weird to think of fate. In the Trafeldorians ideology, everythings already planned out for you. There is no such thing as free will as us humans have it out to be. If I were to jump off a cliff right now to avoid my fate, It's my fate to jump off a cliff to avoid fate. That's super weird to think about.
ReplyDeleteI find your mention of fate interesting. I hadn't thought of the Tralfamadorian view like that. As I was reading I never got the impression that the Tralfamadorians know how you will die, and thus making the events of your life concrete. It's a cool thought. I could see how this perspective rationalizes the use of "so it goes" and makes it seem better than it sounds when describing people dying.
ReplyDeleteLogically, I think Billy's idea of "so it goes" makes sense. You can't really do anything about the future, and everything comes to an end. However, I think that the way Tralfamadorians see things is very detached. humans are more emotional creatures, and even though everyone dies eventually, we still mourn their loss and reminisce in past memories.
ReplyDeleteIt’s interesting to look at the moral questions raised by this idea of time traveling. The interesting (and slightly dark) think to think about with death is where suicide plays into this. If death is inevitable and you know when you’re supposed to die, what would happen if you decided to commit suicide before that date? Would you be physically unable to die until that specific date, or would it change to accommodate your actions? That would then mean that the future isn’t in fact set in stone, as you could change at least a small part of it. But then where does that small part stop, is it just through suicide that the future can be changed? It brings up some interesting questions about how this whole thing is supposed to work, as there would technically not be any emotions as emotions usually form as a reaction to things, but reactions become pointless when you have always known that something was going to happen. It just all goes around and around in a weird mental loop that I don’t think my 3rd dimensional brain can understand.
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