She Was a Heavenly Azure

In chapter 9, Billy Pilgrim's dull, plain, unattractive, obese wife whom who loves dearly yet is very distant from, Valencia Merble, dies of carbon monoxide poisoning. Billy's reaction is typical to his reaction to all the tragedies in his life; "So it goes". Slaughterhouse-Five includes fatalism as a constant theme. Fatalism is a philosophical belief that the past, present, and future are all set in stone, and thus attempting to change things is futile. Fatalists will normally choose to just "go with the flow" when it comes to life. After all, if it's impossible to change something, why bother? This perfectly describes Billy Pilgrim. Even after the firebombing of Dresden, the execution of poor Edgar Derby and the accidental death of his wife, he's still pretty much alright with everything.