themselves with death through the religious themes that are presented in this book. Vonnegut offers many new ideas to explore through fantasy, religion, science, and human experience. The mere concept of time is yet another theme that is mentioned to capture the audiences curiosity. One of the main themes of the novel is the bugs in the amber which refers to the existence of the past, present, and future all intertwined together at once. Billy Pilgrim moves backward and forward through time as if time itself were a photo album. The reader is told abruptly that Billy has come unstuck in time (Vonnegut 23). He might be in the middle of the war in Dresden or the planet Tralfamadore and then he may be found once again in his childhood years. It begins to be questionable as to whether or not Billy is sane or if his experiences are reality. Are we humans really the bugs in amber that the book refers to? The phrase first appears when Billy is kidnapped by the Tralfamadorian flying saucer:Welcome aboard, Mr. Pilgrim, said the loudspeaker. Any questions?Billy licked his lips, thought a while, inquired at last: Why me?That is a very Earthling question to ask, Mr. Pilgrim. Why you? Why us for that matter? Why anything? Because this moment simply is. Have you ever seen bugs trapped in amber? Yes. Billy, in fact, had a paperweight in his office, which was a blob of polished amber with three ladybugs embedded in it. Well, here we are, Mr. Pilgrim, trapped in the amber of this moment. There is no why? (Vonnegut 76-77)This extraterrestrial opinion can be interpreted as our being physically stuck in this world, that we dont have any choice over what we, mankind as a whole, do and how we progress. We may be able to think about everything, but there is nothing that we can do to change. This idea comes out when Billy is proposing to Valencia and wondering why in the world he is doing it. He doesnt want to marry the ugly Valencia, but he ...
