Billy Pilgrim

E945057

Billy Pilgrim is the time-unstuck, war-scarred antihero of Kurt Vonnegut’s novel, whose disjointed experiences satirically explore free will, trauma, and the absurdity of war.

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Statements (46)

Predicate Object
instanceOf antihero
fictional character
literary character
protagonist
appearsInWork Slaughterhouse-Five NERFINISHED
associatedWithTheme absurdism
anti-war sentiment
memory and fragmentation
createdBy Kurt Vonnegut NERFINISHED
exploresTheme determinism
free will
post-traumatic stress
the absurdity of war
the nature of time
trauma
firstAppearanceIn Slaughterhouse-Five NERFINISHED
hasCharacteristic fatalistic
passive
time-unstruck
traumatized
war-scarred
hasChild Barbara Pilgrim NERFINISHED
Robert Pilgrim NERFINISHED
hasExperience World War II combat
firebombing of Dresden NERFINISHED
hasMentalState disoriented in time
emotionally detached
hasOccupation optometrist
hasPhilosophyInfluencedBy Tralfamadorian view of time NERFINISHED
hasRelationshipWith Valencia Merble NERFINISHED
hasRole World War II soldier
hasSpouse Valencia Merble NERFINISHED
influences readers’ perception of war in Slaughterhouse-Five
isAbductedBy Tralfamadorians NERFINISHED
isFrom Ilium, New York (fictional city) NERFINISHED
isHeldIn Slaughterhouse-Five (Dresden slaughterhouse) NERFINISHED
isNarratedBy an intrusive first-person narrator
isPrisonerOfWarIn Dresden NERFINISHED
narrativeFunction embodiment of trauma and dislocation
vehicle for satire of war
perceivesTimeAs nonlinear
simultaneous moments
survivesEvent Dresden firebombing NERFINISHED
symbolizes the ordinary American soldier
the psychological cost of war
visitsPlace Tralfamadore NERFINISHED

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Slaughterhouse-Five character Billy Pilgrim
Slaughterhouse-Five protagonist Billy Pilgrim