Small aliens with one hand and an eye in the palm, the Tralfamadorians, from the planet Tralfamadore, abduct Billy after the war and hold him captive many millions of miles from earth. They keep Billy in a zoo and observe his daily activities and interactions with Montana Wildhack, a movie star who is also abducted. The Tralfamadorians see the world in four dimensions, and to them all moments in time—past, present, and future—exist simultaneously. This informs the Tralfamadorian philosophy of life, death, war, and fate.
Tralfamadorians Quotes in Slaughterhouse-Five
The Slaughterhouse-Five quotes below are all either spoken by Tralfamadorians or refer to Tralfamadorians. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 4
Quotes
Well, here we are, Mr. Pilgrim, trapped in the amber of this moment. There is no why.
Related Characters:
Tralfamadorians (speaker), Billy Pilgrim
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 7
Quotes
Tralfamadorians, of course, saw that every creature and plant in the Universe is a machine. It amuses them that so many Earthlings are offended by the idea of being machines.
Related Characters:
Kurt Vonnegut (speaker), Tralfamadorians
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 10
Quotes
If what Billy Pilgrim learned from the Tralfamadorians is true, that we will all live forever, no matter how dead we may sometimes seem to be, I am not overjoyed. Still—if I am going to spend eternity visiting this moment and that, I’m grateful that so many of those moments are nice.
Related Characters:
Kurt Vonnegut (speaker), Billy Pilgrim, Tralfamadorians
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Slaughterhouse-Five LitChart as a printable PDF.
Tralfamadorians Character Timeline in Slaughterhouse-Five
The timeline below shows where the character Tralfamadorians appears in Slaughterhouse-Five. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 2
...goes on the radio in New York City, claiming he was abducted by aliens, the Tralfamadorians, in 1967, and displayed on Tralfamadore in a zoo. His daughter hears the broadcast and...
(full context)
...information in a letter to the local newspaper. In a second letter, he details the Tralfamadorian concept of death: a Tralfamadorian looks at “different moments just the way we can look...
(full context)
Chapter 3
...of the car and is transported to 1967, the time of his abduction by the Tralfamadorians.
(full context)
Chapter 4
The saucer is 100 feet in diameter. Pilgrim is sucked inside and greeted by a Tralfamadorian, who asks if he has any questions. Pilgrim asks why he was chosen and the...
(full context)
The Tralfamadorian present says humans are “the great explainers,” but Tralfamadorians see “all time as all time,”...
(full context)
Chapter 5
...reading material on the trip to Tralfamadore and is given Valley of the Dolls. The Tralfamadorians give him several of their own planet’s novels on his request, which Pilgrim cannot read....
(full context)
...mental ward in 1948. She offers him a Three Musketeers bar. Rosewater is reading about Tralfamadorian-like aliens who study Christianity on earth. The alien says the problem with Christianity is Jesus’...
(full context)
...habitat has been set up with furniture taken from a Sears store in Iowa. The Tralfamadorians find Billy beautiful, as he exercises and eats, because they have seen no other humans....
(full context)
While Billy is on display in the zoo, a Tralfamadorian guide uses metaphors to explain to fellow aliens how Billy understands time. In one, Billy...
(full context)
Chapter 9
...looking for a news program on which he can speak about his experiences with the Tralfamadorians. Billy goes into an adult bookstore because he sees four Trout novels in the front...
(full context)
