So It Goes

Death always happens when you least expect it: “So it goes.” Most people would agree to this statement, and most would try to ensure their survival for the longest amount of time. Billy Pilgrim however, is not one of them. He lives in a constant state of fright due to his time traveling. What I find interesting about Billy’s situation, is the fact that he is doing nothing to prolong his time on earth. On the contrary, he wishes it was all over. He wishes to be left alone so “he wouldn’t cause anybody any more trouble.” In a way this reminds me of a book I read a while ago called Speak. In this book the main character was raped and she constantly feels the need to just disappear, like Billy, she would’ve liked to just “turn into steam and float up among the treetops.”

The Tralfamadorian idea that time is not linear is, to me, one of the most interesting ideas in the second chapter. Maybe that is the way the universe really is organized. As human beings we have come to consider ourselves the most knowledgeable species in the universe, yet we constantly prove each other wrong. If we can prove each other wrong, then maybe we are all wrong right now. Maybe someone will someday discover something that will change the world. Maybe someday we will realize that time is after all, non-linear. By then I will probably be dead, and the world will have changed. Maybe someday we will find that there really is a grand purpose for life and for our existence but for now we are just doomed to wander in a world we barley understand. We watch time go by and then we die. “So it goes.”

Even though the book constantly refers to death (that is not surprising, it is a war book after all) the feeling of the writing is not so serious. I believe this is mostly due to the simple three words the author uses after every death scene, the three words I previously quoted: “So it goes.” This phrase lightens the mood of every death, making it sound as something normal, something that can’t be changed and therefor is not worth dwelling over.

 Death happens: “So it goes.”