Study Guide

Slaughterhouse-Five Chapter 5, Section 45

By Kurt Vonnegut

Chapter 5, Section 45

Billy asks if preventing war on Earth is equally pointless.
Yes, the Tralfamadorians answer. What the Tralfamadorians do is they concentrate on the pleasant moments. They have had terrible wars, but they ignore them.
Billy goes to sleep and travels in time to his wedding night with Valencia.
Billy and Valencia are going to conceive their son, Robert Pilgrim, this night.
While Billy is making love with Valencia, she is imagining that she is Queen Elizabeth I of England, while Billy is supposed to be Christopher Columbus (not historically possible, but who are we to stop the lady from her role-playing?).