Slaughterhouse Five: Who is Mr Narrator?

Slaughterhouse Five
Kurt Vonnegut

In chapter one, the Narrator speaks directly to the reader in first person, but maintains (mostly) third person narration while telling the tale of Billy Pilgrim. In the last chapter of the book, the Narrator returns to first person, telling the reader about his adventures he went on with his buddy O'Hare. Why tell a story through Billy Pilgrim, if the Narrator's intention was to speak truthfully about Dresden? In fact, the narrator doesn't reveal any facts he himself learned from Dresden, he only explains the scene through Billy's eyes. Even when the Narrator flies to Dresden, he almost immediately says "Billy Pilgrim was meanwhile traveling back to Dresden, too, but...in 1945" (Vonnegut 212). My theory on the structure of this book lies within the memory of the Narrator. he himself says he has a very hazy memory, so he couldn't remember most of Dresden. His war buddy O'Hare also had a shaky grasp on the past. Because of a lack of solid proof, the Narrator created a fictional Billy Pilgrim to relive the events for the Narrator. Dresden was such a gruesome experience, that the Narrator wanted to convey an accurate message without having a sound memory to back him up. The time traveling allows Billy to relive the war over, and over again. The war has desensitized him, and he hates it. Being able to see his whole life, while having the war as a strong memory, makes Billy's life empty, and he feels nothing when his loved ones die around him.