Afterlife Is To Tralfamadorians

According to the atheist group in America, The Great Realization, 82% of Americans believe in afterlife. In last year's english course we were asked why bad things happened to good people. For some, this question is tied with believing in life after death.

You're probably wondering what afterlife has to do with Slaughterhouse-Five. I'm not focusing on the theory itself but on why people believe it.

Believing in heaven or hell makes death easier to handle. It's the same reason why there's God. Both things bring comfort and hope. Believing in afterlife is trusting there will be a judge trial at the end.

Accepting the fact that bad and unfair things happen is normal. There are people that believe being good will pay off and being bad will have consequences.

Focusing on some things we've seen in class so far, what if there was a utopia? Would the need of a God and an afterlife be necessary? I believe it wouldn't. God fills the space the system hasn't been able to fill. If people were satisfied with the justice system while they're alive, one after dying wouldn't be necessary.

Going back to Slaughterhouse-Five, the Tralfamadorians Billy creates in his head, are similar to our beliefs in life after death. These martian like creatures are his way to cope with the many deaths and difficult times he has experienced. Every time the story has to do with death, that sentence is followed by a: "so it goes". Billy learned this line from the Tralfamadorians: "I simply shrug and say what the Tralfamadorians say about dead people, which is "so it goes." (PDF file) Sometimes, things are so hard to handle, that we have to create a fantasy that makes reality worth living. In Billy's case, death practically hunted him down. This is no surprise, considering the fact he was a preacher in the war. Many of the people he knew died, including his father. The Tralfamadorians provided support in death. " The most important thing I learned on Tralfamadore was that when a person dies he only appears to die. He is still very much alive in the past, so it is very silly for people to cry at his funeral". (PDF file)

With this new way of looking at death, Billy wasn't vulnerable to it anymore. It's like believing in heaven and hell. Believing we go somewhere better after we die is a comforting statement. Billy learned the past, present and future can be combined. And that the three of them are everlasting. "It is just an illusion we have here on Earth that one

moment follows another one, like beads on a string, and that once a moment is gone it

is gone forever." (PDF file)

Everyone has a different way of coping with things. Billy coped with death by following the Tralfamadorians' way of thinking. He created a reality different from everyone else's, and it's totally understandable. I believe in making your own reality, but it's a very coward thing to do. If we all create our own way of getting over difficult situations, then we no longer have to strive for a better life. We just have to create a new one. But, why give up? Why wait for justice after life if we can create it now?