Symbolism- Chapter 4

   

     Chapter four was one in which readers saw more of what Tralfamadore is and how it effects who Billy Pilgrim is. The big symbol that came out of this was the alien telling Billy that everyone is just a bug "trapped in a blob of amber" (85). He went on to explain that this was a symbol implying that there is no such thing as free will, and said that Tralfamadorians see time much differently than humans do. He said that they see time as humans "might see a stretch of the Rocky Mountains" (85). This image, as a symbol, is a very strong one. Everyone has seen those blocks of amber in which bugs are stuck. Those only move as a human picks it up and strings it along, and that is what the alien is trying to explain.
     As he moves on in his explanation, he gets even more complex when he says, "All time is all time. It does not change. It does not lend itself to warnings or explanations. It simply is," (86). This is the point in which he denies that free will ever existed at all, and suggests that everything will happen no matter if one tries to prevent it or not. This also made me go back and think about Billy Pilgrim when he knew that he was going to be abducted by aliens, but did nothing to stop it. It almost seemed as if he had heard this explanation, and no matter what he did to try and avoid it, he was going to be abducted.