Billy Pilgrim, Body on Earth, Mind in the Universe: A Character Analysis Slaughterhouse-Five Many people are intrigued by Kurt Vonnegut's borderline science fiction and anti-war book Slaughterhouse-Five Five, and how it has survived throughout the ages. Kurt Vonnegut is an innovative best-selling, award-winning author of many books such as; Cat's Cradle, Breakfast of Champions, Slaughterhouse-Five etc. The book Slaughterhouse-Five has no beginning, middle, or end after the first chapter, so it is very common for Billy Pilgrim to "time bounce" from his childhood, to the war, and to his old age and not all in that order. Billy Pilgrim is a man who didn't have the best of luck when it came to becoming a soldier. For example “He was a gaunt, inexperienced soldier in the scraps of a uniform: such a creature could go through war, unaware but unscathed, while so many others with more appropriate clothing and supplies perish” (Sparknotes Editor). Mr. Vonnegut experienced some of the events described in the book Slaughterhouse-Five, such as the American air raid on Dresden, Germany On February 13 and 14, 1945 nearly 135,000 Germans were killed by the tragic bombing of the city of Dresden, Germany. In the book Billy claims to having experienced this tragic event several times. Mr. Vonnegut was a soldier in the 423rd Infantry Regiment and 106th Infantry Division and earned a Purple Heart for his service after being wounded in the Battle of the Bulge (Vonnegut.com) Many modern-day soldiers who fought in and after World War II have suffered from PTSD, it is estimated that approximately 7.8% of Americans will experience PTSD at some point their lives, with women (10.4%) being twice as likely as men (5%) to develop this disorder. Approximately 3.6% of U.S. adults ages 18 to 54 (5.2 million......half of paper......reported their mental problems as "so it goes" (Vonnegut 441 ) One example was when he survived a plane crash with a plane full of optometrists and Billy is the only survivor, so he sees his father die just before leaving for the war "so it goes" (Vonnegut 441 ) a car accident while on his way to see Billy in the hospital "so it goes" (Vonnegut 441). followed by Paul Lazzaro as promised, "so it goes" (Vonnegut 441) All the countless deaths that Billy survived and endured throughout his life were a small stepping stone to make him completely lose his mind ). The pilgrim is no longer on earth, he has time warped keeping his body on earth but sending his mind to wander free.