Chapter One: "Poo-tee-weet?"

Vonnegut states that after a massacre, everything should be eerily quiet, but the birds break the necessary silence with incessant chirping. He says "And what do the birds say? All there is to say about a massacre, things like 'Poo-tee-weet?'" With this statement, Vonnegut suggests an idea: nothing remotely intelligent or justifiable can be said about a massacre or a war in general. No one can say anything to bring the victims back, nor can anyone fathom the atrocity that unfolded. Lives were unjustly taken and loved ones' lives were utterly destroyed as a result of a massacre. So what can be said to rationalize the horrid action that has taken place? Absolutely nothing can be said. Vonnegut uses the birds as a mechanic for showing a very important point: silence is the sole thing required after a massacre or a similar horrific act has taken place; words are not.

Chapter One: Irony

In chapter one, Vonnegut was talking to an old war buddy named Bernard V. O'Hare. Vonnegut discusses a particular scene which he wants to be the climax. Vonnegut enthusiastically states "I think the climax of the story will be the execution of poor old Edgar Derby. The irony is so great. A whole city gets burned down, and thousands and thousands of people are killed. And then this one American foot soldier is arrested in the ruins for taking a teapot. And he's given a regular trial, and then he's shot by a firing squad." This scene not only demonstrates the extreme irony in Edgar Derby's trial and subsequent execution, but it also shows the irony of the war. Derby's theft of the teapot was a trivial offense and should have been treated as such. However, Derby was forced to pay the ultimate price for an inconsequential act. The war in which this took place, World War II, also pertains to the irony of paying the ultimate price for a small thing. When Hitler began to set the "Final Solution" into motion, Jewish denizens were forced to pay the ultimate price for a trivial matter: their religion. Vonnegut's description of Derby's unfortunate end could symbolize a much larger tragedy; moreover, the irony certainly describes the course of World War II.