Mary, Mary, quite contrary... (Analysis #1)

Is it just me, or did Mary O’Hare have a bigger impact on Slaughter-House Five than we realised? I mean, obviously she helped with the title, and her point of the soldiers being “babies” is quite clearly referenced in chapter 5, in the voice of an American soldier. But maybe Billy Pilgrim’s character would have been completely different if not for Mary O’Hare. Of course Billy Pilgrim’s character fits into the story perfectly, but perhaps that’s because the story was moulded around him, and not the other way around. What if Billy Pilgrim was intended to be more heroic? Kurt Vonnegut’s promise to Mary could have been much more than that; it could have inspired him to look at the war from another perspective. Remember, Vonnegut didn’t have any idea about how to write his ‘war book’ when he met Mary. She could have been part of the reason that Slaughter-House Five is how it is. Many things could have bee different without Mary O’Hare, and I think it’s so lovely that she decided to speak up about her opinions.