Characterization- Chapter 2

     After chapter one, when Vonnegut basically explained how this story came to be, chapter two consisted of introducing it and the main character, Billy Pilgrim. At first a normal, married optometrist with two children, Pilgrim was living a life full of success in the business world after spending time in Germany during World War II. However, after suffering through a plane crash later in his life, he saw a different side of the world.
    His life completely changed after he was the only one who survived this plane crash. His wife died while he was recovering from head injuries and soon after he was abducted by aliens that he described as "two feet high, and green, and shaped like plumber's friends," (26). However, these aliens, called Tralfamadorians,  had something different in their make-up, and that was that they could see in four dimensions. Vonnegut also explained that they pitied humans for only being able to see in three. Additionally, this fourth dimension gave them a view on death that differed significantly from that of humans. As Billy Pilgrim explained, " 'When a Tralfamadorian sees a corpse, all he thinks is that the dead person is in bad condition in that particular moment, but that the same person is just fine in plenty of other moments," (27).
     These events shaped Pilgrim into a different person, and through the characterization provided by Vonnegut in this chapter, readers learn what makes him so different. After his plane crash, Pilgrim gave up on business and began to talk and write letters about his experience with these foreign creatures. It is obvious that they changed his outlook on life. A man who was once an average, American citizen is now becoming what some people is crazy. But is he really crazy?
     It seems as though he has gained this fourth dimension through his travels through time and episodes with the Tralfamadorians. Billy Pilgrim seems to be a step ahead of everyone when he says "So it goes" every time  something bad happens in his life. It reminds me of a quote that was hanging up in Mr. Ray's room all year by Ralph Waldo Emerson that read "To be great is to be misunderstood." At this point, Pilgrim's stories are unbelievable, but maybe he is just a step ahead of everyone else.