Death, Hopefully

What would life be like if people knew how they were going to die? I think it is very interesting how Billy Pilgrim remains calm when he knows he is going to die in no time, because even if I knew that I had always died and that I always would die I still believe when the moment of my death came I would not be tranquil at the time. I also believe that if I knew how I was going to die I would live my life in a very different way than how I have, but I understand that because every moment of one’s life has already happened and always will happen there is no way to change the things that have happened or to do anything in the future in a different way that the way the thing is supposed to be done in. When I analyze what is going on in the book I think Vonnegut has a purpose by saying that Billy Pilgrim knew how he was going to die, and I think this was probably to allow Billy to have a “better” war experience where he is not suffering every moment because he’s afraid he will die. If Billy already knows that his death will come years after the war then he has no reason to worry about being killed in the war and he focus his attention in other events that should be observed so they can be told to other people. On the topic of death, I also think thought that the description Vonnegut gave of it was very interesting as it was different from most descriptions of death that I’ve read. “So Billy experiences death for a while. It is simply violet light and a hum. There isn’t anybody else there. Not even Billy Pilgrim is there,” (Vonnegut, pg. 142) I have always imagined, maybe it could be said that I hoped, that death was a state of the soul where it could observe what was going on in the world without being able to take any part in it. I guess this is what I want because it scares me to think that one day you will just be…nothing. What is nothing? What does nothing feel like? Sadly, we won’t ever be able to know. Reading this description of nothing, though, takes away most of the hope I have that death won’t be boring, that I will be able to see how life goes on, the changes that take place, and if the many problems that humanity has will ever be fixed.