Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Chapter Ten: Poo-tee-weet?
In chapter one, Kurt Vonnegut tells the biblical story about Lot's wife. In a nutshell, Lot's wife was told not to look back at the city being destroyed. Of course, human instinct kicked in; therefore, she looked back. Lot's wife became a pillar of salt. Ending chapter one on this note is useful for the story's purpose. The gist of the biblical story is not to look back. I believe Billy Pilgrim is crazy to say that he is time-traveling. Personally, I think that he is merely looking back at his life. He is pondering on what could have been and what actually happened. Humans have tendency of being stuck in the past and not looking forward to the future. Once upon a time, "One bird said to Billy Pilgrim, 'Poo-tee-weet?'" (215). "Poo-tee-weet" is bird language for "So it goes." This phrase is meant to say: "Keep moving on. Yes, this event happened. Move on! Do not ponder in the past, but look forward to the future!"
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I liked how you explained that 'Poo-tee-weet' is equivalent to 'So it goes.' That is an excellent comparison. I think you're right that the phrase means to keep moving on, but I also think that Vonnegut is attempting to connect the birds to the Tralfamadorians in this way. Neither the birds or Tralfies seem to let one occurrence play too large of a role in their lives and just keep moving on with life.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Steph! :)