The Clearly Confused

A lot of the confusion I was experiencing was cleared when an "I" was used in the last sentence of the last paragraph on page 67. After Billy engages in conversation with a colonel that was so exhausted that mental unstableness and hallucinations were stepping in, the next sentence caught me, somewhat off guard. "I was there. So was my old war buddy, Bernard V. O'Hare." In a previous blog I questioned the relationship between Billy Pilgrim and Bernard, but now I realize that the first chapter was not by Billy himself but by, my guess is, Kurt Vonnegut. This explains the incoherence between the first and second chapters, for they weren't exactly written from the same point of view, nor were they about the same person. From this point on, as a reader, I realize the reason of why the book is narrated in third person. Kurt Vonnegut is merely a witness to Billy's life in and out of war. This also explains why the very first sentence of the book would be "All this happened, more or less." As if trying to convince us that the book really is based on a true story, this sentence in a way gives the author away. By stating it, he exposes his worry of readers not believing what he writes. It's clearly an attempt at persuading us to understand the book as something true, when it may not be the case at all. 


I thought I was understanding if not all, at least something, but this revelation makes me see that I was no where near the truth. I only now understand that the only thing that was clear, was my own confusion.