Vonnegut and His Novel

His letter home and Chapter One

Question One: The Letter

• What sort of voice does Vonnegut have in letter?

• Why does he create this type of voice in his letter?

Question Two

• What do we know about Vonnegut from Chapter One? Why would he begin this story from his own point of view?

Question Three

• According to Vonnegut, why is this book “so short and jumbled and jangled”?

• How does the structure of the novel connect to what the birds’ response to a massacre?

Question Three

• What does it mean that this book has “been written by a pillar of salt”?

Question Four

• Why does Vonnegut decide to write this book?

• Why do you think that he decided to use “Billy Pilgrim” as a vehicle for telling his story?