The Narrators Doubt

After having the discussion in class on who was the real narrator of the book Slaughterhouse Five I came to the conclusion that there are three different narrators. First of all there is Billy in the present where he refers to himself as I and expresses his feelings and thoughts during each moment. “I like the way you are”, “’I’m not’ said Billy” (Vonnegut 121). Then second there is Billy but in the past: He hadn’t told anybody about all the time traveling he’d done”(Vonnegut 121).And then last there is the author of the book Vonnegut.

Vonnegut is in the book because at first he says: “I have this disease late at night sometimes, involving alcohol and the telephone. I get drunk, and drive my wife away with a breath like mustard gas and roses. And then, speaking, gravely and elegantly into the telephone, I ask the telephone operators to connect me with this friends or that one, from whom I have not heard in years.” (Slaughterhouse-five, pg 4) And then more towards the middle and end of the book: “Billy answered. There was a drunk on the other end. Billy could almost smell his breath—mustard gas and roses. It was a wrong number. Billy hung up.(slaughterhouse-five pg 73). This is the same description of Kurt Vonnegut which leads us to know that yes, Vonnegut is in the book, that he is Billy Pilgrim’s friend and that he is the one narrating the story in different forms narratives. Also it says: “This was I, that was me. That was the author of this book.”(Vonnegut 125) This is a proof that Vonnegut is in the book.

The only question that is still unanswered is why would Kurt Vonnegut write the story seeming to be told in three different narrarives?