In Chapter Four, we see Billy watch a movie backwards, because he is going backwards in time. The movie is about American bombers in WWII. The narrator describes the bombs being absorbed into planes, then going back to the US, where they are dismantled and components are returned to the earth. This passage is amusing, but it also shows Vonnegut's attitude to war.
"When the bombers go back to their base, the steel cylinders were taken from their racks and shipped back to the United States of America....The minerals were then shipped to specialists in remote areas. It was their business to put them into the ground, to hide them cleverly, so they would never hurt anybody ever again" (p.74,75).
I think that this passage shows the author's stance on war. After witnessing the horrors in Dresden, Vonnegut was clearly appalled and forever changed, and this passage is one of the first times where we clearly see his ideas about war. The last sentence of the passage most clearly shows Vonnegut's hatred and pacifist attitude towards the use of weapons He clearly thinks that the use of bombs on anyone is shameful, as he wishes "they would never hurt anyone ever again" (p.75). While Vonnegut has demonstrated his feeling on the use of weapons, do you think that he is a full on pacifist? If so, why?
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