In the aftermath of the bombing, Billy took part in opening the "corpse mines", which were underground chambers filled with bodies of people that had taken shelter there before the blast. The horrors that Billy went through, which began in the horrific firebombing, would cause even the most mentally strong people to break down. It is reasonable, then for Billy to develop some coping devices, and new beliefs to help himself contend with the horrors that he faced. The first of these is Billy's "time-jumping". This is described as being "spastic in time" (23). Billy's consciousness is constantly jumping to different points in his life, creating a time-travel effect within his mind. Billy has no control over what part of his life he is going to experience next. This phenomenon can be looked at as a sort of glorified flashback; veterans often experience moments where they feel like they are re-living traumatic moments of their past, and this may be what is happening to Billy. His inability to remain "grounded" in time is representative of his inability to live a normal life after going through the dire experiences that he has. Time-jumping could be a coping device for Billy, in that it allows him to escape mentally into a more pleasant portion of his life, or just escape into a fantasy world. .
Billy tries to escape into a fantasy at various points throughout his life. During his time on the run behind enemy lines, the stress of the situation becomes too much for Billy, and he becomes unable to handle it. Billy imagines he is "turning to steam painlessly" (48), and floating up among the treetops. In the same episode, Billy imagines transporting himself to a ballroom floor, and wearing warm, white sweat-socks. He insists that this is not Billy's time-travel, rather "the craziness of a dying young man with his shoes full of snow" (49). Later in Billy's life, he believes he is abducted by aliens from the planet Tralfamadore, and they instruct him on the nature of time, and give meaning to Billy's time-travelling.
