Oh Mr. Pilgrim, how do you accomplish this incredible feat known as time travelling? Is it really a divine gift allowing you to move through time, or is it merely just your imagination, taxed from the stress of war? With the possibility of travelling through time, I honestly don't understand why you haven't tried changing your life. You had the ability to right all the wrongs with your life, having seen everything an endless amount of times, yet you idly walk through your time travelling moments, not even trying to alter things for the better. Why wouldn't you stop Weary from bullying you or not board the airplane you knew would end the life of your father-in-law? My understanding of this has led me to believe that you can't control what happens, because it isn't a case of time-travelling.
Another possibility is shell-shock, a word used to describe the physiological trauma caused by the horrors of war. This option also seems improbable because let's be honest, what misfortunes have you seen in war? Casually strolling through while your comrades die at your side, not even armed or prepared to fight the enemy? Have you pondered the gruesome feelings that others experience in war times? Is there not a time where you felt disgust at the sight of death and decay that lies around you? I doubt so, with your monotonous way of living.
This leads us to my theory. Your so called "time-travelling" is induced by a powerful hallucinogen, allowing you to supposedly see the past as well as the future. I've racked my brain for any other possible methods of how you do what you do but this comes to me as the only possible logical answer. And we all know that you're no stranger to drugs either; remember the giraffes? Now wasn't that a drug-induced hallucination? What other explanation is there for the deranged visions that you perceive? with all this talk of tralfamadorians and such. Who would honestly believe your stories of such dubious creatures? The moments where you lose track of time and lose all the feelings in your body. Hasn't it happened before, such as when you nearly froze yourself to death without being able to feel or even notice that your daughter was outside your doorsteps. Hallucinogens dull the senses and leave you in this monotonous state. So pick your poison, Mr. Pilgrim, your adventures await.
While I don't share the view that these visions are induced, I do question Billy's seemingly passive acceptance of his destiny. You would think that he would at least try to alter what he knows will happen to him. I would, anyway, if it involved something negative or painful.
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