Got What He Wanted (Chapter 8)

In chapter nine of Slaughterhouse 5, there is a man called Kilgore Trout. He writes science-ficcion books, but he is not a very popular writer. Long-story short, Billy has the chance of reading a book of his, and becomes a real fan. He starts reading many and many of these Trout books, and one day sees that Trout lives in his hometown. Time passes, and destiny finally brings them together. Billy meets him while the guy needs to hand out newspapers, and as Billy recognizes him, and offers help doing so. Well they become friends, and Billy invites Trout to his 18th marriage anniversary. Trout is a writer, but no one really recognizes him, and in the party everyone finds out that they have a real writer between them. Vonnegut says: 'He was making a great hit. Everybody was ed to have a real author at the party, even though they had never

read his books.' (Chapter 8, SH5) As mentioned before, destiny is present in various scenes of Slaughterhouse 5, and here we see it again. It also relates to karma. He has never done evil (or the book just never specifies), and even though he never was really popular, he finally got what he deserved: to be recognized and 'admired' for what he does best in life.