Delusions In Vonnegut's

Vonneguts character Billy is showing frequent signs of mental illness throughout the book. Most of the chapters show his delusions in the repeated use of the extraterrestrials, the Tralfamadorians. Many scenes from his travels with the aliens can be seen in different parts of his life that Billy may not have realized he had seen and taken to insert into his own imaginary delusions. Vonnegut gives us many scenes to prove that the Tralfamadorians are just a construct of Billy’s broken mind through the use of Kilgore Trout's science fiction novels and other pieces of his life.

Vonnegut states that “Billy had a framed prayer on his office wall which expressed his method for keeping going, even though he was unenthusiastic about living. A lot of

Hanging from it, between her breasts, was a locket containing a photograph of her alcoholic mother-grainy thing, soot and chalk. It could have been anybody. Engraved on the outside of the locket were these words: God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.” (208) So Vonnegut places the same prayer Billy had at his place of work is on a necklace around the neck of the woman who is in the Zoo with him. Billy obviously already has knowledge of the quote, and is placing it on her. Vonnegut uses repetition

In Kilgore Trout’s story he writes “They were simply stimulants to make the Earthlings perform vividly for the crowds at the zoo to make them jump up and down and cheer, or gloat, or sulk, or tear their hair, to be scared shitless or to feel as contented as babies in their mothers' arms” (202) In the short explanation of Trout’s book he writes that the aliens want the earthlings to entertain them, which is why they are in the Zoo. Then in Billy’s stay at his own Zoo the Tralfamadorians clap for Montana Wildhack just like the aliens from Trout’s alien planet. Not only that but they are both referred to as Domes and Zoos. The story of The Big board shares many of the same qualities with Billy’s Tralfamadorian stay, because when reading Trout’s book he pulled the same concepts from this story to create his own more elaborate story. Even when he was taken to the planet he didn’t freak out, he knew, and waited for them to come get him. Why did the same thing not happen with Montana when she was taken? He was the only one who was unstuck in time but the same events happened to Montana, the only explanation is that he was creating his own story, but because he was mentally unstable there was plot holes he couldn’t