Chapter 1

"Everything is supposed to be very quiet after a massacre, and it always is, except for the birds. And what do the birds say? All there is to say about a massacre, things like 'Poo-tee-weet?'" (Vonnegut 19).

 In both the picture and the quote, a point is made about the habits of birds. Birds pay no notice to the actions of humans, and they continue on with their normal lives no matter what is happening among the lives of humans. Therefore, even during something horrible like a massacre, birds will continue to obliviously sing, and continue on as usual.

When I first read this passage, I thought that Vonnegut's comment made sense. It always seems as though every time there is a moment where everything feels like it should be quiet, there are birds tweeting. I found it interesting that Vonnegut says that the only thing birds can say about a massacre is "poo-tee-weet," which implies that the birds are as speechless as anyone else who witnessed such an atrocity, and are saying the only thing they can think of. This seems really similar to humans, who do the same thing (even thought the only thing that comes to mind is often something that does not help the situation). To me, this quote was easy to understand.