Chapter 10

Chapter 10 is the last chapter of the book, and there is still no real sense of beginning or end to the story. The plot line of the story was never in chronological order, and this made it very hard to follow. Although Vonnegut seemed to show that he believed war was awful and destructive, he also gave insight to looking beyond the hard times and to accepting that awful things happen and thats life. I personally found the book very enjoyable and got a lot out of Vonnegut's humorous and unique style of writing.

Rhetorical Question

In chapter 10, Vonnegut ends the book with repetition of the same rhetorical question he asked previously. He states: "Birds were talking. One bird said to Billy Pilgrim, 'Poo-tee-weet?'" (275). This question is significant to the story because it explains Vonnegut's theme (stated in the first chapter) that there isn't anything intelligent to say about a massacre. The birds question is meaningless, but Vonnegut believes that anything else said would be just as meaningless.

Chapter 9

In chapter 9, the car crash that Valencia gets into reminds me of when me and my friend got in a car crash. The situations are similar because we both got hit from behind. Although Valencia's crash was way more severe, the after effects are similar because the crash leaves you feeling stunned and confused.
Also, an important point brought up in this chapter is that the conception of history is shaped by those who write about it. Vonnegut seems to dislike this. We are often sheltered from the truth and instead of hearing about the true and horrible accounts that took place we get a sugar coated version that is not what really happened.

Irony

In chapter 9, Vonnegut displays many examples of irony. When Billy is taking a nap and sunning himself in the "coffin-shaped green wagon," (248), the author states that "if this sort of selectivity had been possible for Billy, he might have chosen as his happiest moment his sun drenched snooze in the back of the wagon," (249). This statement is ironic because, first of all, because Billy's happiest moment is after the city of Dresden had suffered a terrible bombing, a ton of lives were lost, and he was in a "coffin-shaped" wagon. All of these things are negative and death related, yet Billy is perfectly content. Secondly, his happiest moment is ironic because shortly after he sheds his first tears throughout  the whole war when he notices the awful condition that the horses pulling the wagon are in. Billy's dramatic and severe change in emotions show that he is traumatized and unstable.

Chapter 8

The bombing in Dresden can be connected to a bad tornado. When people heard that the bombing was about to happen, they all went to the safest parts of their home that they knew of and hid just like we do if there is a tornado. When the Americans came out after the bombing, everything was destroyed and looked completely different than it had before. Although the bombings caused way more significant damage than most tornados, the concept is similar in that the appearance of the city people were used to had been changed drastically in a matter of hours.

Theme

In chapter 8, one of Vonnegut's themes through out the book is very prevalent. In this chapter, Billy is down in the meat locker while Dresden is being bombed. The author states: "When the Americans and their guards did come out, the sky was black with smoke. The sun was an angry little pinhead. Dresden was like the moon now, nothing but minerals. The stones were hot. Everybody else in the neighborhood was dead," (227). This quote emphasized the destruction of war. The theme is that war is  awful and insane and that all it does is destroy. The war destroyed many lives and towns and had an awful after effect.

Chapter 7

In chapter 7, the plane crash that Billy suffers through can be connected to the shooting in Colorado because both were tragic disasters. Like the shooting, many lives were lost and both situations were an awful surprise to the people involved. Everyone in the plane and at the shooting was caught off guard and the survivors off both have to suffer from the horrid memory from the events.