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The Christian religious figure, Jesus Christ, is known for overcoming many obstacles in life through help from God. In the novel, Slaughterhouse Five, the main character, Billy Pilgrim, resembles Jesus Christ. Billy’s birth into a stable life, to then being the chosen one of the Tralfamadorians, and finally for accepting death for what it is, are parallels to what Jesus Christ had once endured. Billy is considered to be a prophet Jesus through his life.
Both were born into a life of weakness that was shrouded by forced teachings of an outside environment. Different omniscient beings inform both men on how to think outside their selfish human race. Both men also accept their deaths, knowing it is inevitable. The similarities between Billy Pilgrim and Jesus Christ are almost striking because they serve such different purposes in their lives and environment.
Billy Pilgrim is born into a life of modesty. He is “the only child of a barber” who serves society (Vonnegut 23).
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Jesus’s father was also a carpenter and worked directly to help his people. Billy and Jesus wanted to better themselves, but eventually grow up to serve society as well. Rebirth is experienced in both men’s lives. Jesus was baptized and “heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him” (Matthew 3:16). Billy also “knew there was a flying saucer from Tralfamadore up there” in the sky coming for him (Vonnegut 75). Billy’s early life compares to Jesus Christ’s because of the disadvantages they both endured, but then overcame them to serve a different path in life.
Both men are brought into a less fortunate environment and then experience a rebirth which shapes them.
Secondly, Jesus Christ and Billy Pilgrim are the commonality through the two worlds of the human and divine. Jesus Christ expands his knowledge and view of the world from his father, God, while Billy also learns from the Tralfamadorians, who abduct him on their flying saucer. These omniscient beings can see all four dimensions while their students are less knowledgeable and can only see three. Jesus was nailed to the cross and as he was dying, the “heavens opened up” in which God told the people Jesus was chosen by God himself (109). The heavens also opened up to Billy, but it was an alien “flying saucer” that chose him (75). Both men took a path that they were forcefully made to travel by destiny.
Jesus Christ and Billy Pilgrim’s beliefs were different from other people within their time period, this labeled them as insane by others. Their belief system caused their demise within people of their society. Barbara, Billy’s daughter, laughed at her father accusations of the Tralfamadorians while Jesus was “rejected by men” (Isaiah 53:3). Pilgrim knew he was going to die on February 13th, 1976. As he is talking, “protests from the crowd” break out (Vonnegut 143). “Farewell, hello” are the last words he speaks to the crowd before being killed by Paul Lazzaro (143). Both men preached to their followers to not be fearful of death. In the Gospel of Mark, a New Testament book, Jesus predicts he will be lifted to his death which alludes to him being lifted onto the cross. Both men were betrayed and killed by men they knew, for Judas betraying Jesus for money and Lazzaro putting the ”sweetest” vengeance on Billy for Weary’s death in the boxcar (139). The two knew their death was coming, but they were also killed for developing their own minds.
Jesus Christ and Billy Pilgrim share characteristics that create both men to be leaders within their own worlds. Their leadership might be hidden at first, but it is shown throughout the course of their lives. Both Billy and Jesus come from lower class, underprivileged families. However, they are chosen by celestial forces that teach them things other humans do not know. This new learned information creates obstacles for the men which leads to them being ostracized by others. They also share a common death of being betrayed by men they closely knew. In conclusion it is crystal clear, Jesus and Billy share many similarities throughout their lives.
Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five: Comparing Billy Pilgrim with Jesus Christ. (2024, Feb 03). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/kurt-vonnegut-s-slaughterhouse-five-comparing-billy-pilgrim-with-jesus-christ-essay
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