The Bird Who Chirps "Poo-tee-weet?"



Kurt Vonnegut, satirical genius



I was extremely disappointed that Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five, one of my favorite books, is not even mentioned in our humanities text throughout the WWII section!  Slaughterhouse Five is a satirical anti-war novel whose protagonist, Billy Pilgrim, is drafted in WWII, taken as a POW and placed in a slaughterhouse “safe house” in Dresden, and barely survives the horrendous fire bombings in Dresden.  Not to mention, Billy is an awful and clumsy soldier, which makes the story even more satirical because he is not even in the slightest a war hero.  Throughout the novel, Billy experiences time warps and is able to observe his whole life unfold before him, even his death.  At one point, Billy is abducted by aliens and taken to a planet called Tralfamadore.  From the Tralfamadorians, Billy learns that free will is impossible because destiny is already preset and cannot be changed.  This theme of free will is mentioned throughout the novel.



Fire Bombings in Dresden



Bodies after firebombings by US and British Air Force



I believe Vonnegut’s main theme of the novel is the destructiveness of war.  As the humanities book explains, artists and writers during this time period often wrote about the pointless atrocities of war, and Vonnegut does just the same but in a humorous, clever way.  He uses science fiction and flashbacks/forwards throughout Slaughterhouse Five, which keeps the reader entranced, while simultaneously including examples of the worthless violence seen during WWII.  One of my favorite examples of this in the story is portrayed after the fire bombings in Dresden occur and a bird is heard chirping “Poo-tee-weet?”.  The bird song even has a question mark after it as if to ask why?  Why did the firebombing have to occur?  What benefit did they have?  None.  The singing bird reminds us that the brutality of war is futile and useless just like the song, “Poo-tee-weet?”.  So, why do we still partake in wars?  You think after learning about the hundreds of years of detrimental wars in the past, we would all learn that war is juvenile.  Why can’t we live in a world where all nations work together for the betterment of everyone?  Will that world ever exist?  Hey, I guess if it weren’t for WWII then Vonnegut wouldn’t have made bank.

A quote from slaughterhouse five that stresses the point of the futility of war:

 "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. And what do the birds say? All there is to say about a massacre, things like “Poo-tee-weet?”"

Freud... Really?

Although I do believe that Sigmund Freud made substantial contributions toward modern psychology during the twentieth century, I also consider him bias and overrated.  In his time period, women were considered inferior to men, and according to his works, Freud agreed with this idea of inferiority.  In various works, he describes women as having the dominant purpose of fertility and reproduction.   If Freud was such a genius, then why didn’t he accept that fact that women have more to offer than merely fertility? 

I do respect Freud’s work and outlook on mental illness and psychoanalysis because his view on mental illness led to better treatment of the mentally ill.  Prior to Freud, the mentally ill were locked up and treated terribly, but Freud used psychoanalysis to bring unconscious desires into consciousness of the emotionally disturbed and to confront these desires.  Overall, I think Freud caused people to change their view of the mentally ill by looking at the disorders scientifically. 

While I admire Freud in this aspect, I despise his ideas on the Oedipus complex.  He thought that some disorders were caused by a child’s unconscious sexual desire for his/her parent of the opposite sex, while he/she is envious of the parent of the same sex.  I think this view is disgusting and ignorant! Really, Freud?  Where did you even come up with this idea?  To me, this idea seems completely random and does not make any sense.  I detest how Freud has to make mental and emotional issues into unconscious sexual wants.  I disagree with his idea of infant sexuality and all the sexual phases people endure throughout their life.  It’s gross.  In my opinion, Freud is sexist and obsessed with human sexuality of which he has no foundation for his ideas on sexual life phases.  

Alienation from Society

Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis” is a story of Gregor Samsa’s transformation into a beetle.  His family is disgusted by him and treats him as an outcast.  For most of the story Gregor is confined to his room to listen to his family go on with their daily activities through a key hole.



I read “The Metamorphosis” in high school, and even though this story was disturbing, I enjoyed the vivid detail and did not even question how he becamstrange storyline.  I was entranced in the idea that Gregor Samsa e an insect!  After discovering his transformation, his main concern was getting to work, for which he was already late.  The lack of questioning by Gregor makes me wonder if his transformation to an insect is purely symbolic.

In my opinion, this story represents alienation between Gregor Samsa and his family (or possibly even society).  Day after day, Gregor goes through his usual routine of working as a salesman, and he doesn’t make time for a social life.  He causes himself to be alienated by humanity and even his family.  Kafka may be using Gregor’s metamorphosis as a symbol for the alienation of society in the twentieth century.  Kafka also emphasizes Gregor’s monotonous job as essential for his family, and his family is forced to work after he turns into a beetle.  His relationship with his family deteriorates into nothing after Gregor is unable to work and provide for his family.  His family views him as worthless.  I personally think this represents the importance of a career and business life in the twentieth century.  People were so concerned with earning money and their jobs that they became alienated from one another. 

I think many people have this same feeling today.  Like someone mentioned in class, a person can be walking down the busiest street in a major city and still feel completely alone.  Maybe this is what Gregor Samsa was experiencing? 




Although the street is filled with people, everyone is a blur.