Uncertain? Confused? Welcome to Slaughterhouse-Five

Who is Killgore Trout? Killgore Trout is a fictional character based on Billy. In Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut describes his experience of the bombing of Dresden, throughout the eyes of one of his war comrades: Billy Pilgrim. Pilgrim creates an alter ego as well. Killgore Trout represents Billy's insanity. "Can I make a guess?" said Killgore trout. "You saw through a time window." This is one of many aphorisms that outlines the relationship between Trout and Pilgrim. Billy was affected because of the song that "The Febs" sang at his anniversary party, probably because this barbershop quartet would later die in the same plane that he crashed in. An inner part of him saw through a time window and realized this, this inner part of him has a name: Killgore.

In the movie Inception, every dreamer has a totem. This totem allows a frequent dreamer to distinguish from the dream and the reality.  There comes a point in the protagonist's life that he can't stop checking the totem to see in what reality he is at the moment. In the same way, as Billy's madness continues to grow, he needs to further elaborate Killgore Trout's role in the world he thinks is reality.  Billy can be unstuck in time indefinitely, but if Killgore Trout is there, he knows that he is in the "real" time. Trout is Billy's totem.

This may seem confusing to you, reader. Perhaps even overwhelming to you who like it when a book tells you the plot as opposed to you having to close read every word. That is how I feel every time I read Slaughterhouse-Five.  When I started reading the many possible interpretations of this guy flick contributed to my excitement. But now it seems that the more I read the more complicated it gets. Will there be a conclusion to the novel? No!  Every word has a hidden meaning, I can only imagine of the "ending" that is yet to come.  Sadly, I have reached a point in the novel where I don't want to read any more. Why? It will add to the seemingly endless list of unanswered questions that I already have. Now more than ever I want to apply the kiss principle: keep it super simple.

Guy flick:  Book or movie that is especially appealing to men because of the attributes of its plot. -- Antonym: chick flick.