Chapter 10, Part 2

At the end of chapter ten, a bird says to Billy, "Poo-tee-weet." This also occurred in the first chapter, as did the fact that there is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre. I believe that the "poo-tee-weet" symbolizes the fact that it is just as senseless as talking about war. Even though they are meaningless, they still exist and probably always will.

Chapter 10, Motif

Throughout chapter ten, there are many more deaths. After Vonnegut mentions a death, he always uses the phrase, "So it goes." For example, when he speaks of his fathers death, he says, "My father died many years ago now- of natural causes. So it goes" (210). There is a great deal of death throughout the novel, and therefore the phrase is repeated many times. I believe that the phrase is used to portray the fact that life goes on and that death is inevitable. In chapter ten, there is also an end to the war, and a point where Billy is thankful for the happy times in his life, even though he found most of it meaningless.

Chapter 9, Part 2

The incident in chapter nine with Valencia, made me think of how fast moving our society is today. We often do not stop to fully think about what is going on or about our own actions, instead we just try to hurry through them. Sometimes though, it is necessary to stop and think and fully process what is going on around us. I believe that this patience is lacked in our society today.

Chapter 9, Motivation

Valencia's motivation behind her frantic behanvior at the beginning of chapter nine, was her husband, Billy, being in the hospital after the plane crash. When Valencia finally reached the hospital, she passed out from carbon monoxide fumes that had leaked into the car, and, "one hour later she was dead. So it goes" (183). Meanwhile, Billy is in the hospital and his daughter has a live-in nurse stay with him when he is released. He sneaks out of his house one day and goes to Times Square to preach the philosophy of the Tralfamadorians. After this point on, more and more people begin to question his sanity.

Chapter 8, Part 2

When Billy leaves the party to be alone, it is very clear how upset he is. He is so upset, because the song that the barbershop quartet evoked the memory of the Dresden bombings in his mind. This reminded me of how hearing a song, seeing a certain person, or even a smell can bring back a memory and the emotions felt when that memory was made. Sometimes the emotions and memories that are brought back are so strong that they can deeply move us.

Chapter 8, Round Character

Throughout the book, I find Billy to be a round character, but I believe that it is very evident in chapter eight. Billy is very dynamic depending on which time in his life that he is reliving. For example, when the barbershop quartet, The Febs, play at Billy's eighteenth wedding anniversary, he becomes very upset. He goes upstairs, away from the party, to be alone and thinks about the night of the destruction of Dresden. Although he "did not travel in time to the experience," he only remembers it as a memory (177). He remebers the terror of the seeing Dresden left in pieces, and becomes even more upset. He then time travels to Tralfamadore where Montana Wildhack is six months pregnant and waiting on him. He tells her the story of the destruction of Dresden. Billy is a round character throughout this chapter, because his mood changes throughout the chapter as well as his emotions.

Chapter 7, Part 2

At the end of chapter 7, when Billy gave Derby a lollipop and he burst into tears, it reminded me of how we often take so many things for granted every single day. We really do not realize how much we take for granted every single day. Derby was so happy that he cried tears of joy over a single lollipop, because he had been deprived of such things for so long. This also made me think of how sometimes, it is the smallest things in life that make us happy.