Pilgrim

In this chapter, Billy's death is revealed via time travel. Oddly enough, it is after a speech about time travel that he is killed. So it goes. Over the course of the story, Vonnegut never explains why time travel was included in the book. After all, the climax of the story was the firebombing of Dresden; something which could have been executed easily without the addition of time travel. The purpose of time travel in the story is left ambiguous. It could possibly be simply there to shock the reader and draw the reader's attention. It could also be to simply mention events in Billy's life in the order that Vonnegut wanted them explained in, not chronological order. For instance, when "Billy Pilgrim says now that this really is the way he is going to die", it gives a dramatic effect to the story that could not have been achieved without time travel.