One thing in this book is certain, and that's that the book Slaughterhouse Five talks about free will.
One example is the novel's catchphrase "So it goes", always said by the narrator as we are told about death in any circumstance. We are told that the phrase "So it goes" is a Tralfamadorian motto, which expresses a general sense of resignation to the way things are. As in, Billy realizes the person or people who have died would've die that way anyway, because that's their destiny. You could also say Vonnegut uses to explain all the needless death and violence Billy Pilgrim has witnessed.
You could also say that Billy hides behind the Tralfamadorian's views of predestination in that he feels a kind of surviver's guilt. His mind could've created these aliens and the prospect of a written fate to hide the fact that he was on the side that willingly dropped a bomb on Dresden and that he survived. To hide behind this destined fate would mean he isn't guilty of this, although he isn't, since the book says that he couldn't have harmed anyone. "He was powerless to harm the enemy or to help his friends" (30).
Although you could see this book hinting at the prospect of how fate might already be determined. "The dog, who had sounded so ferocious in the winter distances, was a female German shepherd. She was shivering. Her tail was between her legs. She had been borrowed that morning from a farmer. She had never been to war before. She had no idea what game was being played" (52). Much like Billy, the German soldier's dog was drafted into war and was pretty unhappy about it. The cold and impersonal way both Billy Pilgrim and the German Shepherd get put into situations that make them uncomfortable highlights the fact that war is about the opposite of free will. The same is seen when the Tralfamadorians abduct Billy, thus taking away his power of choice, and probably was what changed his views on fate as he embraces the Tralfamadorian way.
But when we dwell on the controversy of free will, that also leaves us with a few questions of the book. So in the novel, is anyone able to exercise free will or are all things predetermined?
Billy has seen all the moments in his life because of the Tralfamadorians but doesn't change any moments, he just lives through them. For example, when Billy got on the plane that would eventually go down on Sugarbush Mountain, "He knew it was going to crash, but he didn't want to make a fool of himself by saying so" (154). The moments that Billy lived through were all predetermined but he might of had the capability to change the moments every time he relived them. While there are many "mights" or "ifs" I truly believe that all things were predetermined because when on the plane Billy said, "The moment was structured that way" (154). That quote leads me to believe that Billy is unable to change any of the moments.
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