The birds are asking a question rather than making a statement because they also do not understand the massacre. The phrase вЂњpoo-tee-weet?вЂќ clearly shows the confusion and shock that people feel after a massacre. Vonnegut says that the massacre is вЂњShort and jumbled and jangled,вЂќ similar to the novelвЂ™s sporadic time travel, wacky characters, and the Tralfamadorians. Something like the Dresden massacre cannot be put into words because it is so traumatizing.

And what do the birds say? All there is to say about a massacre, things like вЂpoo-tee-weet?вЂ™вЂќ. He writes about the Dresden massacre saying, вЂњIt is so short and jumbled and jangled, вЂ¦ because there is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre, and it always is, except for the birds. In the first chapter, Vonnegut tells the readers that he was unable to write about his experiences in Dresden clearly. The phrase вЂњpoo-tee-weet?вЂќ a few times throughout the book. Vonnegut uses the motif вЂњpoo-tee-weet?вЂќ to show how war is so traumatizing and horrific that it cannot be put into words. Vonnegut is trying not to distinguish between the living and the dead because it is all the same thing in war. War causes people to believe that life and death are equally the same. Vonnegut uses this phrase to describe the living and the dead because he is trying to make a point that in war there is no difference between the living and the dead.

When Billy gets up, he looks down at his feet, вЂњthey were ivory and blueвЂќ. On the wedding night of BillyвЂ™s daughter, Billy gets out of bed because he cannot sleep. But Vonnegut also uses the phrase when describing BillyвЂ™s feet, who is very much alive. Vonnegut uses this motif as imagery to give the reader dark images of death. When people think about a corpse the image is usually a person with pale bluish skin. The phrase вЂњblue and ivoryвЂќ is describing the feet of the hobo. The war desensitizes people to see needless killing as a normal occurrence. In war, death is so common that it becomes casual and predictable. This mentality is shown in Billy when he says вЂњIt was alright somehow, his being dead. Vonnegut incorporates this casual phrase to demonstrate to the readers that war gives people this mentality. вЂњSo it goesвЂќ is used as a phrase that means that something doesnвЂ™t matter, or that is just how it is and there is no changing the situation. Vonnegut uses the phrase in a sort of casual, nonchalant way.

The phrase вЂњso it goesвЂќ is used in this quotation exactly the same way it is used all the other times it appears in the novel. Vonnegut describes the hobo by saying, вЂњSomebody had taken his boots. One instance where the phrase вЂњso it goesвЂќ and вЂњblue and ivoryвЂќ can be found is when Billy comes across a dead hobo that he had met while he was stuck in a train car as a prisoner of war. The phrase вЂњblue and ivoryвЂќ is used many times when Vonnegut is writing about a corpse or BillyвЂ™s bare feet. The phrase appears every time there is mention of death. The phrase вЂњso it goesвЂќ is the most commonly used phrase in VonnegutвЂ™s novel. Two motifs that repeatedly appear throughout the book are the phrases вЂњso it goesвЂќ and вЂњblue and ivory.вЂќ Vonnegut uses motifs in order to show how the war alters peopleвЂ™s view of death. In the novel Slaughterhouse-Five, Vonnegut creatively portrays how war traumatizes and desensitizes people. Death can be a traumatic experience especially if someone has witnessed so much of it.

Slaughterhouse five poo tee weet