One of the most recurrent themes in Slaughterhouse-Five was time. From the Tralfamadorian point of view, destiny ruled and our purpose in life was simply to walk the way that has been already set for us. The very first section of Epictetus´Handbook talks also about the liberties we have. They are essentially different, because Epictetus does believe that decision-making, likes and dislikes, so that we don´t have a set path. But it also states that many things we cannot change, such as our bodies or reputations. In this way, it is closely related to Tralfamadorians view, especially because he insists that worrying ourselves with trying to change such things is completely unnecessary and will bring us in the end nothing but harm. By conforming ourselves we avoid tons of problems, such as aversions or problems with others. The same idea appears in the second section, where it is said that if "you are adverse only to what us against nature among the things that are up to you, then you will never fall into anything that you are adverse to...". In other words, change what you can change and accept what you cannot. What is especially interesting is that these two extremely different texts, one being a science fiction novel and the second a handbook for life, they both advocate a layed-offf, no worries way of life. They both accept the fact that many things we cannot change, which is true, and believe that our attitudes toward things make all the difference. In other words, existentialists have the wrong idea. What if we did let go of the stress? Who would worry about progress, helping others, solving problems? Nobody, but maybe that´s exactly the solution to problems. Who knows?
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