Free Will In Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five

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A predominate theme in Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five is the concept of free will vs fate. Vonnegut uses many symbols to present this theme and is a driving force in the overall outline in which the novel is written in. The most predominant one, however, is how Billy Pilgrim, the protagonist of the story, is taught about this idea and most importantly by whom. Billy is taught the truth about free will vs fate from aliens that abduct him that are from the planet called tralfamadore. This aliens referred to as tralfamadorians teach Billy about time travel and about how the illusion of free will is only really present on earth, and that all events in our life are actually already decided by fate and that not even with time travel we can

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