Slaughterhouse

How do the Americans get vitamins and minerals?

The Americans in Dresden were assigned to "[wash] windows and [sweep] floors and [clean] lavatories and put jars into boxes and [seal] cardboard boxes in a factory that made malt syrup."(203)

What work was assigned to the Americans in Dresden?

The Americans in Dresden were assigned to "[wash] windows and [sweep] floors and [clean] lavatories and put jars into boxes and [seal] cardboard boxes in a factory that made malt syrup."(203)

7. What processes do the Americans go through when they arrive at the camp?

The Americans were cooed out of the cars, given coats, forced to take off their clothes, and showered, and their clothes "were meanwhile passing through poison gas. Body lice and bacteria and fleas were dying by the billions."(107)

9. Describe the Americans' "home away from home."

The Americans' "home away from home" was "a one-story cement-block cube with sliding doors in front and back. It had been built as a shelter for pigs about to be butchered. Now it was going to serve as a home away from home for one hundred American prisoners of war. There were bunks in there, and two potbellied stoves and a water tap. Behind it was a latrine, which was a one-tail fence with buckets under it."(194) The building was a fifth building of the slaughterhouse, which was called "Slaughterhouse-Five."

5. Why do the British POWs send Billy to the hospital shed?

The British POWs send Billy to the hospital shed because Billy laughed so hard and shrieked when he heard the couplet in the play Cinderella. He found the couplet so comical, and "he went on shrieking until he was carried out of the shed and into another, where the hospital was."(125)

3. Describe the English POWs that Billy and the Americans encounter.

The English prisoners of war that Billy and the Americans encounter were officers who "were clean and enthusiastic and decent and strong".(119) Since they exercised for years, "their bellies were like washboards. The muscles of their calves and upper arms were like cannonballs."(119) They were also "among the wealthiest people in Europe, in terms of food."(119)

5. What positive attributes of Dresden does the Englishman share with the American POWs?

The Englishman shares that Dresden is "a beautiful city"(186) with the American POWs. He also says to the Americans, "You needn't worry about bombs, by the way. Dresden is an open city. It is undefended, and contains no war industries or troop concentrations of any importance."(186) He describes Dresden as a peaceful and beautiful city which wouldn't be bombed.

5. What are the two causes of the destruction that Billy drives through on his way to the Lions Club meeting?

The first cause of the destruction that Billy drives through on his way to the Lions Club meeting was that black ghetto was burnt down a lot by "the people who lived [there] hated it so much."(75) Second cause was that "the house where Billy had grown up used to be somewhere in what was so empty now. This was urban renewal. A new Ilium Government Center and a Pavilion of the Arts and a Peace Lagoon and high-rise apartment buildings were going up here soon."(75-76)

2. Is there a similarity between the format of Vonnegut's novel and the description of Tralfamadorian novels? Explain.

The format of Vonnegut's novel is non-chronological, which has nonlinear narrative structure. First, it is not easy to understand the plot since it doesn't follow chronological structure. Tralfamadorian novels, according to "the speaker on the wall", would be hard to understand as well. "There is no beginning, no middle, no end, no suspense, no moral, no causes, no effects. What we love in our books are the depths of many marvelous moments seen all at one time."(112) This format is similar to Vonnegut's novel as they both don't follow clear chronological plot.

Why is the epigraph of the book "Away in a Manger"?

The epigraph of this book is Away In Manger because Billy "cried very little, though he often saw things worth crying about"(252) in his life. Whenever he saw things worth crying about, he thought of this carol Away In Manger: "The cattle are lowing, The Baby awakes. But the little Lord Jesus; No crying he makes."(252)

What does the war widow in the kitchen think of Billy, Gluck, and Derby?

The war widow in the kitchen thinks Gluck is "awfully young to be in the army", Derby is "awfully old to be in the army".(203) And she asks Billy "what he was supposed to be, Billy said he didn't know."(203) The war widow thinks that "all the real soldiers are dead".(203)

How does Derby respond to Campbell?

Although most of the Americans didn't respond to Campbell, Derby "raised his head, called Campbell a snake".(209) He called him a snaked because "Campbell, who could help being what he was, was something much lower than a snake or a rat."(209) Derby also "spoke movingly of the American form of government, with freedom and justice and opportunities and fair play for all. He said there wasn't a man there who wouldn't gladly die for those ideals."(209)

6. What does Weary tell the other men in his car before he dies?

Before Weary dies, he tells the other men in his car that "he wanted to be avenged, so he said again and again the name of the person who had killed him"(101), which he said it was Billy Pilgrim.

1. Identify each of the following characters: Billy Pilgrim, Barbara, Robert, Roland Weary, Valencia

Billy Pilgrim (solider in dresden) , Babara(his daughter), Robert(his son), Ronald Weary (one of the three musketeers), Valencia (his wife)

What two "lies" does Trout tell Maggie White?

Trout's first lie that he tells Maggie White is that he wrote a famous story "about a funeral for a great French chef."(218) Second lie is told when Maggie asks him if that really did happen, he says "Of course it happened.[...] If I wrote something that hadn't really happened, and I tried to sell it, I could go to jail. That's fraud."(218)

2. How did the author find O'Hare?

Few years after the war, the author wanted to meet his "old war buddy"(1) Bernard V. O'Hare. One day he got drunk, and he "[asked] the telephone operators to connect [him] with this friend or that one, from whom [he has] not heard in years. [He] got O'Hare on the line in this way."(5)

11. Why does Weary try to beat Billy?

Weary and Billy because the scouts thought "Weary and Billy had better find somebody to surrender to."(62) Billy didn't care about his life and the war, but Weary had been saving his life. However, "the scouts weren't going to wait for them anymore."(62) Weary "was filled with a tragic wrath. He had been ditched again."(64) He got angry at Billy, and started to beat him up violently.

13. What does Campbell write about American POWs in Germany?

Howard W. Campbell, Jr. wrote about American POWs in Germany, and he said that the American Army "sends its enlisted men out to fight and die in a modified business uit quite evidently made for another man, a sterilized but unpressed gift from a nose-holding charity which passes out clothing to drunks in the slums."(166) He also said "a prison administrator dealing with captured American enlisted men for the first time should be warned: Expect no brotherly love, even between brothers. There will be no cohesion between the individuals. Each will be a sulky child who often wishes he were dead."(166) He wrote that American POWs are "the most self-pitying, least fraternal, and dirtiest of all prisoners of war."(166)

14. Why does the widowed mother think Billy is "going crazy"?

Howard W. Campbell, Jr. wrote about American POWs in Germany, and he said that the American Army "sends its enlisted men out to fight and die in a modified business uit quite evidently made for another man, a sterilized but unpressed gift from a nose-holding charity which passes out clothing to drunks in the slums."(166) He also said "a prison administrator dealing with captured American enlisted men for the first time should be warned: Expect no brotherly love, even between brothers. There will be no cohesion between the individuals. Each will be a sulky child who often wishes he were dead."(166) He wrote that American POWs are "the most self-pitying, least fraternal, and dirtiest of all prisoners of war."(166)

4. How do the Tralfamadorians answer when Billy asks "why me?"

When Billy asks "why me?", the Tralfamadorians say "Why you? Why us for that matter? Why anything? Because this moment simply is."(97) They emphasize that "there is no why."(97)

7. Why does the doctor tell Billy to take a nap everyday? What do you think caused Billy's malady?

to take a nap because he "hoped that this would relieve a complaint the Billy had: Every so often, for no apparent reason, Billy Pilgrim would find himself weeping."(78) I think his depression of life and lack of enthusiasm in his life caused this malady. Also, I think he also had some miserable and horrible--but unforgettable--experience before, and this bothers him every time. I think this caused him to often weep alone.

What new technique for disposing of the corpses is devised?

A new technique for disposing of the corpses was to cremate the bodies "with flamethrowers right where they were."(274) Since it was difficult and tiring for the soldiers to bring up the bodies, they "simply sent the fire in."(274)

Why do the Germans leave?

A new technique for disposing of the corpses was to cremate the bodies "with flamethrowers right where they were."(274) Since it was difficult and tiring for the soldiers to bring up the bodies, they "simply sent the fire in."(274)

4. What is Tralfamadore? What happens to Billy there?

According to Billy, Tralfamadore is a planet where the Tralfamadorians, aliens, live in. "He had been kidnapped by a flying saucer in 1967. The saucer was from the planet Tralfamadore, he said. He was taken to Tralfamadore, where he was displayed naked in a zoo, he said. He was mated there with a former Earthling movie star named Montana Wildhack."(32) Also, the Tralfamadorians took him through a time warp, "so that he could be on Tralfamadore for years, and still be away from Earth for only a microsecond."(33) He learned many things from the Tralfamadorians; he learned that ""all moments, past, present, and future, always have existed, always will exist"(34).

What do the American fighter planes do after the fire-bombing?

After the bombing, the American fighter planes "came in under the smoke to see if anything was moving",(230) and if there were people moving down, the planes "sprayed them with machine-gun bullets".(230)

How does Billy describe Dresden after the fire-bombing?

After the firebombing, Billy describes Dresden as the moon, because the city had many curves after bombing. "'It was like the moon,' said Billy Pilgrim."(229) He said that if the survivors "were going to continue to survive, [they] were going to have to climb over curve after curve after on the face of the moon".(229)

6. What jobs did the author have after the war?

After the war, he was "working as a police reporter for the famous Chicago City News Bureau for twenty-eight dollars a week."(10)

6. What does Billy's encounter with the Marine major tell us about Billy's approach to life?

Billy encountered with the Marine major, and Billy told him that "Billy was a veteran, and that Billy had a son who was a sergeant in the Green Berets--in Vietnam."(77) As the major says that Billy should be proud of his son and what he did in the Green Berets, Billy answers as "I am. I certainly am"(77) unenthusiastically. This tells that Billy is not enthusiastic about what he did, what he is doing, and anything about his life. This emphasizes this characteristic feature of Billy.

10. When and how did Billy first come unstuck in time? Describe the experience.

Billy first came unstuck in time while World War Two was in progress. He was training as a chaplain's assistant, but he "never even got to meet the chaplain he was supposed to assist, was never even issued a steel helmet and combat boots."(40) He was not interested in the war or fighting. Since he started to get unstuck in time, he travels to the future and to the past without him controlling.

8. Why is Billy upset by his mother?

Billy is upset by his mother simply because she was being Billy's mother. "She made him embarrassed and ungrateful and weak because she had gone to so much trouble to give him life, and to keep that life going, and Billy didn't really like life at all."(130)

What might Billy choose as his happiest moment? Why?

Billy might choose "his sundrenched snooze in the back of the wagon"(249) as his happiest moment in his life. The war was over, and the Americans took the war souvenirs from the slaughterhouse. Billy "stayed in the wagon when it reached the slaughterhouse, sunning himself." Billy was happy because the war was finally over, and he was relieved.

4. How does Billy die?

Billy says that he "will die, [has] died, and always will die on February thirteenth, 1976."(180) He knows that he gets shot by Paul Lazzaro, who promised to take revenge of Weary by killing Lazzaro. Since he knows when and how he is going to die, he prepares for his death and gives speech to the crowd. "Many years ago, a certain man promised to have me killed. He is an old man now, living not far from here. He has read all the publicity associated with my appearance in your fair city. He is insane. Tonight he will keep his promise."(181) After his speech, "Billy's high forehead is in the cross hairs of a high-powered laser gun. It is aimed at him from the darkened press box. In the next moment, Billy Pilgrim is dead. So it goes."(182)

12. What epitaph does Billy think of on his wedding night?

Billy thinks of epitaph of "everything was beautiful, and nothing hurt."(156) on his wedding night.

What happens to Billy on the New York radio show?

Billy wanted to "tell the world about the lessons of Tralfamadore"(254), so he went on the New York radio talk show. In the studio, there "were literary critics, and they thought Billy was one, too."(263) The show started, and the critics started to "discuss whether the novel was dead or not."(263) When it was Billy's turn to speak, he started "telling about the flying saucers and Montana Wildhack and so on. He was gently expelled from the studio during a commercial."(264)

10. Describe Billy's habitat in the Tralfamadorian zoo.

Billy was displayed in the Tralfamadorian zoo "in a simulated Earthling habitat."(143) The zoo where Billy was displayed had Earthling furnishings which were "stolen from the Sears Roebuck warehouse in Iowa City, Iowa."(143) "There was a color television set and a couch that could be converted into a bed. There were end tables with lamps and ashtrays on them by the couch. There was a home bar and two stools. There was a little pool table. There was wall-to-wall carpeting in federal gold, except in the kitchen and bathroom areas and over the iron manhole cover in the center of the floor. There were magazines arranged in a fan on the coffee table in front of the couch."(143) This place was designed similar to ordinary Earthling houses.

How does Valencia die?

Billy's wife Valencia "was driving from Ilium to the hospital in the family Cadillac El Dorado Coupe de Ville."(233) She was "crying and yelping so hard"(233) while driving since Billy was unconscious after the airplane crash. She "missed the correct turnoff from the throughway. She applied her power brakes, and a Mercedes slammed into her from behind."(233) She was not hurt and started driving again, but she left "her exhaust system behind."(234) When she got to the hospital, "Valencia turned off the engine, but then she slumped against the steering wheel, and the horn brayed steadily."(234) The carbon monoxide from the engine couldn't be removed because the exhaust system wasn't there. "Poor Valencia was unconscious, overcome by carbon monoxide. She was a heavenly azure. One hour later she was dead. So it goes."(234)

What do Billy, Gluck, and Derby discover in the first building they enter while looking for the slaughterhouse kitchen?

Billy, Gluck, and Derby discover about thirty German refugee teenage girls with no clothes on in the first building they enter while looking for the slaughterhouse kitchen. "There was a dressing room adjacent to a communal shower, and there was a lot of steam. In the steam were about thirty teen-age girls with no clothes on. They were German refugees from Breslau, which had been tremendously bombed."(202)

Why does Campbell visit the American POWs?

Campbell visits the American POWs to "recruit men for a German military unit called 'The Free American Corps'."(206) He was the commander of this military unit, and the unit was supposed to fight only on the Russian front.

6. How is Edgar Derby elected head American?

Edgar Derby is elected head American when "the Englishman called for nominations from the floor, and there weren't any. So he nominated Derby, praising him for his maturity and long experience in dealing with people. There were no further nominations, so the nominations were closed."(187)

Identify the following characters: Edgar Derby, Paul Lazzaro, the Tralfamadorians

Edgar Derby: school teacher who is shot Paul Lazzaro: Paul Lazzaro is the fake name of a real guy the narrator mentions in the first chapter, who "really did threaten to have his personal enemies killed by hired gunmen after the war" (1.1.1). Lazzaro is a fellow American POW with a grudge against Billy because he believes it's his fault that Roland Weary dies of gangrene.

11. What happened during the real Children's Crusade?

During the real Children's Crusade, "thirty thousand children volunteered, thinking they were going to Palestine."(20) However, they were sold as slaves in North Africa. "Most of the children were shipped out of Marseilles, and about half of them drowned in shipwrecks. The other half got to North Africa where they were sold."(21)

Identify the following characters:Eliot Rosewater, Kilgore Trout, Valencia Merble, Howard W. Campbell Jr.

Eliot Rosewater: A war veteran who occupies the bed near Billy in the mental ward of a veterans' hospital. Like Billy, Rosewater is suffering from the aftereffects of war, and he finds escape—and helps Billy find escape—in the science-fiction novels of Kilgore Trout. Kilgore Trout: A bitter, unappreciated author of several cleverly ironic science-fiction novels that have a great influence on Billy. Trout, who appears in many of Vonnegut's works, functions as Vonnegut's alter ego. Howard W. Campbell Jr.: An American who has become a Nazi. Campbell speaks to the prisoners in the slaughterhouse and tries to recruit them for "The Free American Corps," a German army unit that he is forming to fight the Russians. Campbell represents all that is wrong with war; he desires to use people for perverse ideological ends.

7. What fatal accident did he cover?

He covered fatal accident of "a young veteran" who was running an old-fashioned elevator in an office, "this veteran decided to take his car into the basement, and he closed the door and started down, but his wedding ring was caught in all the ornaments. So he was hoisted into the air and the floor of the car went down, dropped out from under him, and the top of the care squashed him."(11)

1. What aspects of the book does the author insist really happened?

He insists that the war parts are true, that a guy was shot for stealing a teapot, and that another guy did threaten to have his enemies shot after the war

9. In his novel, The Gospel from Outer Space, what does Kilgore Trout say is the message of the gospels? How do the aliens change that message?

In Kilgore's novel, The Gospel from Outer Space, he says the message of the gospels is that "before you kill somebody, make absolutely sure he isn't well connected."(138) The aliens change that message by making Jesus "nobody". "The visitor from outer space made a gift to Earth of a new Gospel. In it, Jesus really was a nobody, and a pain in the neck to a lot of people with better connections than he had."(139)

8. Describe Billy's war experience up to his capture?

In World War Two, "Billy was a chaplain's assistant"(38), but he was powerless and useless in fights. After the regimental chaplain's assistant was killed, Billy joined the regiment. He "never even got to meet the chaplain he was supposed to assist, was never even issued a steel helmet and combat boots."(40) He was not scared to die, and he was even ready for death. When he was wandering, he met Roland Weary, who "had been saving Billy's life for days, cursing him, kicking him, slapping him, making him move"(43), and the scouts. Billy, who didn't care about the war and his life much, kept being bullied by Weary. The scouts "ditched Weary and Billy in the creekbed"(62) because they believed Billy and Weary were on their own. Weary starts to beat Billy up really cruelly since he's ditched, but he noticed that German soldiers were looking at them; they were captured.

What two acquaintances does Billy indirectly encounter in the "tawdry bookstore"? How?

In the "tawdry bookstore", Billy indirectly encounter two acquaintances. First acquaintance he encounters is Kilgore Trout. He found "four paperback novels by Billy's friend, Kilgore Trout."(256) Second, he went to a corner and found a magazine, and its cover said "What really became of Montana Wildhack?".(261) He met Montana on the Tralfamadore planet before. Also, he looked in the movie machine, and "there was Montana Wildhack alone on a bed, peeling a banana"(262) in the movie.

What do the Americans find in the suburb of Dresden?

In the suburb of Dresden, the Americans "came at nightfall to an inn which was open for business."(230) The Americans and the guards stayed the night in the inn.

6. What is Billy introduced to in the veterans' hospital?

In the veteran's hospital, Billy is introduced to science fiction by Eliot Rosewater. "It was Rosewater who introduced Billy to science fiction, and in particular to the writings of Kilgore Trout."(128)

3. What are the major events of Billy's life depicted in this chapter?

In this chapter, many major events of Billy's life are depicted. "He became engaged to the daughter of the founder and owner of the school"(30), but he was "treated in a veteran's hospital near Lake Placid, and was given shock treatments and released. He married his fianceeé"(30) and they had two children. In 1968, the plane carrying Billy and a group of optometrists "crashed on top of Sugarbush Mountain, in Vermont. Everybody was killed but Billy."(31) Also, "his wife died accidentally of carbon monoxide poisoning."(31) One day, "he was taken to Tralfamadore, where he was displayed naked in a zoo"(32), and later Billy experiences time traveling for his first time after meeting the aliens. He "first came unstuck while World War Two was in progress."(38)

3. What advice does Lazzaro give Billy?

Lazzaro advises Billy "whenever the doorbell rings, have somebody else answer the door."(180) This is because Lazzaro is going to take revenge of his dead friend Roland Weary, and he believes Weary "died on account of this silly ********er[Billy] here. So I promised him I'd have this silly ********er shot after the war."(179) Lazzaro is warning Billy that he will kill Billy at sometime.

2. What does Lazzaro say is the sweetest thing in life? What story does he tell to prove his point?

Lazzaro says taking revenge is the sweetest thing in life. "'It's the sweetest thing there is,' said Lazzaro."(176) He tells Billy and Derby a story about what he did to the dog that bit him to prove his point. "'Son of a bitch bit me. So I got me some steak, and I got me the spring out of a clock. I cut that spring up in little pieces. [...] I threw him the steak. He swallowed it down in one big gulp. I waited around for ten minutes. [...] Blood started coming out of his mouth. He started crying, and he rolled on the ground, as though the knives were on the outside of him instead of on the inside of him. [...] Anybody ever asks you what the sweetest thing in life is---' said Lazzaro, 'it's revenge'."(176-177)

What justifications and critiques of the fire-bombing of Dresden does Rumfoord read?

One of justifications and critiques of the firebombing of Dresden that Rumfoord reads says, "I deeply regret that British and U.S. bombers killed 135,000 people in the attack on Dresden, but I remember who started the last war and I regret even more the loss of more than 5,000,000 Allied lives in the necessary effort to completely defeat and utterly destroy nazism."(239) Also, it says that the bombing of Dresden "was really a military necessity few, after reading this book, will believe. It was one of those terrible things that sometimes happen in wartime, brought about by an unfortunate combination of circumstances."(240) They are saying that even though it is a tragedy where many people died, it would happen in wartime necessarily, and not only Dresden had been bombed by Americans. They are saying that Germany started the last war and killed 5,000,000 Allied lives.

What is Professor Rumfoord's opinion of Billy?

Professor Rumfoord thinks that Billy is "an inconvenient person, one whose death he wished for very much, for practical reasons, was suffering from a repulsive disease."(246) He believed that Billy is weak and about to die and "not a human being anymore."(243) It is why he believed that Billy had echolalia when Billy said he was there in Dresden. "Rumfoord simply insisted, for his own comfort, that Billy had it."(246)

What is Professor Rumfoord's opinion of the raid on Dresden?

Professor Rumfoord thinks that the raid on Dresden "had to be done"(253), although he understands the feeling that Billy might have felt in Dresden. He says "that's war"(253), which means it would happen in wartime.

7. Why does science fiction appeal to Billy and Rosewater?

Science fiction appeals to Billy and Rosewater because they "had both found life meaningless"(128) after seeing the violence of war, "so they were trying to re-invent themselves and their universe. Science fiction was a big help."(128)

1. Describe the German force that captured Billy. What does that force tell us about Germany at the end of the war? What happens to the scouts?

The German force that captured Billy had two "boys in their early teens"(67), two "ramshackle old men"(67), and a commander who "had been wounded four times--and patched up, and sent back to war."(67) That force tells us that many young, strong, and healthy soldiers who could fit in war more were all gone at the end of the war. Even the dog they had was a dog that "had never been to war before."(66) This also tells Germany was running out of their soldiers, as well as military dogs." The two scouts who had ditched Billy and Weary had just been shot."(68) They ditched Weary and Billy earlier, and they got shot on their own way. "They had been lying in ambush for Germans. They had been discovered and shot from behind. Now they were dying in the snow, feeling nothing, turning the snow to the color of raspberry sherbet. So it goes."(68) As if it was a consequence of ditching the protagonist Billy, they died miserably.

3. Why does the German photographer take a picture of Billy's and Weary's feet?

The German photographer took a picture of Billy's and Weary's feet to show "how miserably equipped the American Army often was, despite its reputation for being rich."(74) The German photographer also might have tried to encourage Germans by showing how bad the American soldiers' condition was.

8. Describe the German reserves whom the captured Americans passed. How do they compare to the group that captured Billy?

The German reserves whom the capture Americans passed were "violent, windburned, bristly men. They had teeth like piano keys."(82) They are foil to the group that captured Billy as they are the exact opposite of them. The group that captured Billy was less violent, humane, and weak compared to the German reserves. The reserves "were festooned with machine-gun belts, smoked cigars and guzzled booze."(82) They seem more violent, armed, ready to fight, and strong.

How does the Maori POW die?

The Maori POW dies "of the dry heaves, after having been ordered to go down in that stink and work."(274) The places stank "like roses and mustard gas."(274)

11. What do the Tralfamadorians suggest Earthlings should learn to do?

The Tralfamadorians suggest Earthlings should learn to "ignore the awful times, and concentrate on the good ones,"(150) because there isn't anything they can do to change their times.

6. What ability do the Tralfamadorians have that Earthlings do not?

The ability that the Tralfamadorians have but Earthlings do not is to "see in four dimensions. They pitied Earthlings for being able to see only three."(33) Also, they "can look at all the different moments just the way we can look at a stretch of the Rocky Mountains, for instance. They can see how permanent all the moments are, and they can look at any moment that interests them."(34)

How had the army improved Robert?

The army had made Robert much more mature and "straightened"(242). He used to be a troublesome boy who "had flunked out of high school, who had been an alcoholic at sixteen, who had run with a rotten bunch of kids, who had been arrested for tipping over hundreds of tombstones in a Catholic cemetery one time."(242) However, after he went to the Green Berets, he "was all straightened out now. His posture was wonderful and his shoes were shined and his trousers were pressed, and he was a leader of men."(242)

7. To what does the author compare his first view of Dresden?

The author compares his first view of Dresden to "Oz"(189), which likely refers to the land of Oz in the book "Wizard of Oz". He meant the city was beautiful and peaceful as the land of Oz.

What does the author describe as one of his nicest moments?

The author describes his "trip back to Dresden with [his] old war buddy, O'Hare"(269) as one of his nicest moments. They took a plane from East Berlin, and they were served "rye bread and salami and butter and cheese and white wine."(270)

10. Why is Mary "polite but chilly"?

The author said Mary O'Hare "was polite but chilly"(16). She is polite because she was polite and nice in manners as she says "I've fixed up a place where you can talk and not be bothered"(16). However, she is chilly because she "didn't like something about" the author and acted angry. She believed that "wars were partly encouraged by books and movies"(19), and she was upset and worried that the author was writing a book about a war.

13. Why does the author say that the book "was written by a pillar of salt"

The author says that the book "is a failure, and had to be, since it was written by a pillar of salt"(28) A pillar of salt is an allusion of an event in the Bible; Lot's wife was told not to look back, but she looked back and turned to a pillar of salt. The author compares him to Lot's wife by saying that the book is written by a pillar of salt, which is himself. I think the author wasn't supposed to, or was not encouraged to look back miserable memories and events of the war and massacre, but he did look back and wrote a book about the war. I think that is why he described him as "a pillar of salt" and said this book "was written by a pillar of salt."

12. Why is the book "so short and jumbled and jangled"?

The author says that the book is so short and jumbled and jangled 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."(24)

8. What difference does the author see in the veterans who "really fought" and the veterans who had office jobs? Why do you think this difference exists?

The author sees that the veterans who "really fought" are the ones "who hated war the most" while the veterans who had office jobs didn't hate as much. I think this difference exists because the ones who "really fought" experienced the violence, misery, loss, and dangers of the war when the officers didn't experience these much as they didn't physically fight in the war.

5. What did the author learn in college after the war?

The author was studying Anthropology to be an anthropologist in college after the war. He learned that "there was absolutely no difference between anybody" and "nobody was ridiculous or bad or disgusting"(10).

What does the bird say to Billy Pilgrim? Why?

The bird says to Billy Pilgrim, "Poo-tee-weet?"(275). After all the violent incidents, especially the tragedy in Dresden, were over, and "there was nothing going on out there"(275) on the street. The author says that after the 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."(24) The bird doesn't know what terrible things happened in the war, and all it can say about a massacre is "Poo-tee-weet?". It shows that "there is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre"(24). The bird is left to talk after many people are dead in the war, and all it says "Poo-tee-weet?" because it is the only thing it can say, since it doesn't know, and doesn't have anything to say about the massacre.

4. What was the main ingredient of the candles and soap used at the welcoming dinner for the American POWs?

The main ingredient of the candles and soap used at the welcoming dinner for the American POWs were "the fat of rendered Jews and Gypsies and fairies and communists, and other enemies of the State".(122)

What did the old man in Billy's past think about old age?

The old man in Billy's past thinks that old age is bad. He says he "knew it was going to be bad getting old"(242) but "didn't know it was going to be this bad."(242)

What is the only thing Billy cries about in the war?

The only thing Billy cries about in the war is the conditions of the horses that were transportations for the Americans. The "horses' mouths were bleeding, gashed by the bits, that the horses' hooves were broken, so that every step meant agony, that the horses were insane with thirst. The Americans had treated their form of transportation as though it were no more sensitive than a six-cylinder Chevrolet.(251) He realized that they had been treating the horses in bad condition, "he burst into tears. He hadn't cried about anything else in the war."(252)

5. Why do the other POWs refuse to let Billy sleep near them?

The other POWs refuse to let Billy sleep near them because Billy yells, kicks, and whimpers while sleeping. The other POWs told Billy "You yell. You kick. You're ******** right you do. And whimper."(99)

4. Why does the photographer stage a picture of Billy's capture?

The photographer staged a picture of Billy's capture because he "wanted something more lively, though, a picture of an actual capture."(74) He wanted to show more lively moment where an American soldier is being captured, so "they threw Billy into shrubbery. When Billy came out of the shrubbery, his face wreathed in goofy good will, they menaced him with their machine pistols, as though they were capturing him then."(74)

7. What is the origin of the phrase, "so it goes"?

The phrase "so it goes" is said by the Tralfamadorians for dead people. "Now, when I myself hear that somebody is dead, I simply shrug and say what the Tralfamadorians say about dead people, which is 'so it goes.'"(34) This is because that the Tralfamadorians believe that the dead person is "just fine in plenty of other moments" even if he or she is dead in a certain moment.

Describe the plane crash in which Billy is injured.

The plane crash in which Billy is injured happened in Vermont when "the plane smacked into the top of Sugarbush Mountain in Vermont."(199) The plane "was supposed to carry Billy and twenty-eight other optometrists to a convention in Montreal."(196) The plane took off safely and was flying normally. When the barbershop quartet was singing a song, the plane crashed. "Everybody was killed but Billy and the copilot. So it goes."(199) Young Austrian ski instructors first got to the crash scene.

3. How is Billy lifted into the flying saucer?

The purple light came down from the flying saucer to "hover over Billy, and to enclose him in a cylinder of pulsing purple light."(96) The bottom of the saucer was opened, and a ladder came down to Billy. He took hold of "the bottom rung of the sinuous ladder."(96) Then, "he was hauled into the airlock, and machinery closed the bottom door. Only then did the ladder, wound onto a reel in the airlock, let him go."(96)

1. What is the source of the animal magnetism Billy feels in the prison hospital shed?

The source of the animal magnetism Billy feels in the prison hospital shed was "Billy's impresario's coat with the fur collar. It was hanging from a nail."(174) "He found two small sources, two lumps an inch apart and hidden in the lining. One was shaped like a pea. The other was shaped like a tiny horseshoe."(174)

3. What souvenirs does he recall the American POWs bringing out of Germany?

The souvenirs that he recalls the American POWs bringing out of Germany are "a ceremonial Luftwaffe saber"(7), Paul Lazzaro's "a quart of diamonds and emeralds and rubies" which he had taken "from dead people in the cellars of Dresden."(8), and "an idiotic Englishman"'s "plaster model of the Eiffel Tower"(8).

What does the other mean by the term "corpse mine"?

The term corpse mine means the spots where the POWs could dig the corpses, or dead bodies out. POWs from many lands were gathered to dig for bodies. There were holes "that there were dozens of bodies down there.[...] There were hundreds of corpse mines operating by and by."(273) These corpse mines started to smell bad as "the bodies rotted and liquefied."(274)

1. What does the way Tralfamadorians view the universe and Earthlings tell us about their concept of time?

The way Tralfamadorians view the universe is different from what "Earthlings" see. They "see where each star has been and where it is going, so that the heavens are filled with rarefied, luminous spaghetti."(110) Also, they see Earthlings "as a great millepedes--- "with babies' legs at one end and old people's legs at the other.""(110)

4. What does the author do to entertain himself late at night? Why can't he sleep?

To entertain himself late at night, he tries "to call up old girl friends on the telephone"(9), talk to his dog Sandy, and sometimes "[turns] on the radio and [listens] to a talk program".(9)

1. What does Billy do to occupy his time before the aliens come?

To occupy time before the aliens come, Billy brought "a half bottle of champagne on the kitchen table"(93) and "went into the living room, swinging the bottle like a dinner bell, turned on the television."(93) He starts to watch a movie about American bombers in the Second World War.

What does Trout's story about robots say about the bombing of Dresden?

Trout's story 'The Gutless Wonder' was remarkable because it "predicted the widespread use of burning jellied gasoline on human beings. It was dropped on them from airplanes. Robots did the dropping. They had no conscience, and no circuits which would allow them to imagine what was happening to the people on the ground."(213-214) The story says the bombing of Dresden was like it was done by robots', which means it seemed like the people who were dropping the bombs didn't care about what was happening to the people on the ground. This shows the cruelty, carelessness, indifference of the bombing of Dresden. They didn't care about the innocent people; they had no conscience like the robots.

How does billy react to the barbershop quartet? Why?

When Billy hears the song by the barbershop quartet, he "found himself upset by the song and the occasion.[...] His mouth filled with the taste of lemonade, and his face became grotesque, as though he really were being stretched on the torture engine called the rack."(220) When the barbershop quartet sang again, "Billy was emotionally racked again. The experience was definitely associated with those four men and not what they sang."(224) I think this is because there were four German guards who were keeping the Americans in Dresden. When Dresden was bombed, the guards "experimented with one expression and then another, said nothing, though their mouths were often open. They looked like a silent film of a barbershop quartet."(227) Billy has the trauma of the bombing of Dresden, and the barbershop quartet reminded him of the four German guards in Dresden.

How does Billy meet Trout?

When Billy was driving his car down a back alley in Ilium, he saw some newspaper boys being "harangued by a man in a full beard"(211), who was Kilgore Trout. "He was telling the kids to get off their dead butts and get their daily customers to subscribe to the ****ing Sunday edition, too."(212) Billy thought his face was familiar to him, but he "couldn't guess why the face was familiar."(212) Later, Billy found out that the man is his favorite write Kilgore Trout, and approached him.

9. How is he captured? With whom?

When Weary was beating up Billy, "Weary saw that he had an audience. Five German soldiers and a police dog on a leash were looking down into the bed of the creek."(65) Billy was captured with Weary who was beating him up.

8. Describe the Americans' arrival in Dresden.

When the Americans arrived in Dresden, they found Dresden really peaceful and lovely. "The Americans arrived in Dresden at five in the afternoon. The boxcar doors were opened, and the doorways framed the loveliest city that most of the Americans had ever seen. The skyline was intricate and voluptuous and enchanted and absurd. It looked like a Sunday school picture of Heaven to Billy Pilgrim."(189)

2. What does the author mean when he says that Billy "has come unstuck in time"?

When the author says that Billy "has come unstuck in time"(29), he means that Billy has traveled through time although he "has no control over where he is going next, and the trips aren't necessarily fun."(29) He learns that "all moments, past, present, and future, always have existed, always will exist"(34) after meeting Tralfamadorians.

9. What response does the author get when he tries to get information about the Dresden raid from the Air Force?

When the author tries to get information about the Dresden raid from the Air Force, he got a response that "the information was top secret still"(14).

2. How does the message of the war movie change when it is viewed backwards?

When the war movie is viewed backwards, the message of the war movie changes to peace from destruction and violence. Since everything is reversed when it was viewed backwards, fighter planes "flew at them backwards, sucked bullets and shell fragments from some of the planes and crewmen."(93) The destruction in the war was "undone" and went back to peaceful situations. "Over France, though, German fighters came up again, made everything and everybody as good as new."(94)

5. How does Billy describe the Tralfamadorians?

illy describes the Tralfamadorians as friendly creatures who were "two feet high, and green, and shaped like plumber's friends. Their suction cups were on the ground, and their shafts, which were extremely flexible, usually pointed to the sky. At the top of each shaft was a little hand with a green eye in its palm."(33)