He Was Making it Up as He Went Along

In class, we have talked about the idea of whether the events in the novel Slaughterhouse Five actually happened. I feel that the passage where Kilgore Trout and Maggie White discuss the reality of the content in Trout’s books gives us some insight into what Vonnegut wants us to think about some of the content in his own novel. There is no doubt that the fire-bombing of Dresden is true, but some of the other events, like Billy Pilgrim’s travel to Tralfamadore, are not as historically supported. I find it interesting how Vonnegut incorporates a science fiction writer, Kilgore Trout, into his novel where the main character goes on science fiction like adventures. I think readers are supposed to get the feeling that some of the outlandish things that happen to Billy are not true. In fact, Vonnegut actually does tell readers that Trout’s books are not true. He says, “Trout was making this up as he went along” (218). So since we know that Trout is making his stories up, maybe it is not too ludicrous to think that, since the idea was pointed out in class that Vonnegut may put a bit of himself into each of his characters, Vonnegut himself may indeed be making up parts of his story as he goes along. Maggie White, who actually believes that the things Trout writes about really happened, almost serves as an example of any reader who really would believe all the things that happen to Billy. Vonnegut uses the conversation between Maggie White and Kilgore Trout to show readers that it is ok to question whether Billy’s experiences are true or whether they were just made up as he went along.