What is the meaning of poo-tee-weet?
So, Vonnegut chooses to end the book with “Poo-tee-weet?” in order to allude to the uselessness of commenting on something as horrific as a war. “Poo-tee-weet” effectively means nothing; to end the book with a meaningless statement, an answerless question, echoes our inability to account for the devastation of war.
What is the last line in Slaughterhouse-Five?
Poo-tee-weet
One last word on the last word of the book: right in the first chapter, the narrator tells us that birds say “[a]ll there is to say about a massacre, things like Poo-tee-weet?” (1.15. 2). And the final phrase of Slaughterhouse-Five, following a depiction of the massacre at Dresden, is, of course, Poo-tee-weet?
How is irony used in Slaughterhouse-Five?
An overarching irony in Slaughterhouse-Five is that death does not discriminate. We already know that Billy will survive war and a plane crash, despite the fact that he is ill suited to a life of danger and hardship.
Is Slaughterhouse-Five true?
This fictional account almost perfectly mirrors Vonnegut’s real experience in the war. In WWII, Vonnegut was imprisoned in Dresden, was beaten, and made a prisoner in Schlachthof Fünf or Slaughterhouse Five, a real slaughterhouse in Dresden.
Why Slaughterhouse-Five is banned?
The book was banned in Levittown, New York in 1975, North Jackson, Ohio, in 1979, and Lakeland, Florida, in 1982 for its “explicit sexual scenes, violence, and obscene language.” Slaughterhouse-Five was challenged as recently as 2007 in a school district in Howell, Michigan because the book contained “strong sexual …
What is symbolic of the bird who says poo tee weet?
The Bird Who Says “Poo-tee-weet?” The jabbering bird symbolizes the lack of anything intelligent to say about war. Birdsong rings out alone in the silence after a massacre, and “Poo-tee-weet?” seems about as appropriate a thing to say as any, since no words can really describe the horror of the Dresden firebombing.
Is Edgar Derby a real person?
This individual is ultimately fictionalized in the character of Edgar Derby; however, many of his characteristics also prefigure the character of Billy Pilgrim. It is widely known that Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. 1 Miraculously, the meat locker that held Vonnegut and his fellow prisoners sheltered them from the destruction.
Why is the book so short and jumbled and jangled?
It is so short and jumbled and jangled, Sam, because there is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre. Everybody is supposed to be dead, to never say anything or want anything ever again. Everything is supposed to be very quiet after a massacre, and it always is, except for the birds.
Why was Edgar Derby execution so ironic?
He is tried and executed by a German firing squad, and Billy is among the group of POWs who have to dig his grave. The narrator comments on the dramatic irony of the situation: Edgar survives the misery of the firebombing of Dresden only to be executed for a trivial “crime” (1.3. 19).
Why is Billy’s surviving the bombing ironic?
Such situational irony is also evident in Derby’s plight. He survives the bombing of Dresden, but he does not survive what follows. They were all being killed with their families.” This tone of irony contrasts the human condition of life and family with the despair of death.
Why has Slaughterhouse-Five been banned?
Who is Billy Pilgrim based on?
Edward Crone
And, as Vonnegut points out, the novel doesn’t really come close to describing the horrors he experienced in the war. To give just one stark example, the character Billy Pilgrim was based on a real man called Edward Crone.
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