Some novels and movies have a catchphrase or an unforgettable word that makes them more popular. Slaughterhouse-five is one of the best examples with the word ‘Poo Tee Weet.’
In the novel, ‘Poo Tee Weet’ is a simple yet eerie bird sound. It is a symbolism related to the insignificance of killings that the author wants to portray.
A bird will make this sound in the novel after a massacre. It triggers the readers’ curiosity first, making them think of why it happens in the story.
Table of Contents
What is the Meaning of Poo Tee Weet?
Poo Tee Weet is a bird sound that symbolizes something. The way to interpret it is even when humans have to resort to killing each other, nature will always stay the same.
It also interprets how human life is insignificant compared to nature itself. It is almost like nature is superior to what humans do.
The bird also makes it sound nonsense and tells the readers the tone, including the previous points mentioned.
What is the Significance of Poo Tee Weet?
The word Poo Tee Weet is significant for the whole story as it reflects the author’s view on the story’s problem. One of the highlighted problems in the story is war and killings.
The author’s clear message to the readers is that war is stupid. It means that the ones who fight in the war aren’t the only ones getting affected.
Humans are the smartest known creatures on the planet, and every time they make trouble like war, they also affect everything around them. It is portrayed as stupid or non-sense because no one truly wins in a war.
And only after the war does they realize this—all of the meaningless sacrifice of life for naught.
But despite knowing it all, humanity never learns its lesson, and war never stops.
What is the Main Idea of Slaughterhouse-Five?
The main idea of the whole Slaughterhouse-Five story is the destructiveness brought by war and its aftermath. The main characters suffer from traumatic experiences from the war, reflecting some of the real-life scenarios in the present day.
Slaughterhouse-Five author Kurt Vonnegut emphasized the theme of the story in many parts of his book. The physical and mental damage experienced in a war lasts long.
Most of the time, individuals who fall victim to war will carry the experience and scenario in their whole lifetime. The story also tells that it can drastically change a person’s way of life for the worse.
And some events happen where the victim’s recovery is hindered because they rarely move on from experience. Vonnegut was also a real-life prisoner of war somewhen in his lifetime.
In a way, Slaughterhouse-five is Vonnegut’s way to show or portray his emotions after his experiences.
What is the Last line in Slaughterhouse-Five?
The very last line in Slaughterhouse-Five is: One bird said to Billy Pilgrim, ‘Poo-tee-weet? ‘. And from there, many readers knew the famous ‘Poo-Tee-Weet’ word first.
The book has told the readers how it ends even in the beginning. Now, it becomes unusual that the last lines are what they are.
From the main character’s experience in the story, you can tell that he experienced a lot of misfortune in his life. He experienced war, the plane he rode crashed, went captive on another planet, and other things that made his life sound tragic.
Also, aside from the main character Billy, the other characters in the book have not had so much story to tell. They portray the effects of war and make them that way, lifeless.
What is the Significance of the Closing Scene in Slaughterhouse-Five?
The closing scene in Slaughterhouse-five represents all the main character’s struggles in the whole story and the anti-war message of the story.
Readers can interpret that because the main character suffered from Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), some of the events are inside his head all along. Or in other ways, he copes with it by thinking of unrealistic things.
What Bird Sounds like “Poo-Tee-Weet”?
Some people on the internet said that they know what birds make sounds like “Poo-Tee-Weet. “ The Red-winged Blackbird somehow fits the description and the sound of poo-tee-weet.
It could be any other bird with a three-part call, but there’s something special about the Red-winged blackbird. It’s not because it’s a unique species, but where people can find it.
The Red-winged blackbird is commonly found in Indiana, US. Also, Indiana is where the author of Slaughterhouse-five, Kurt Vonnegut has been raised.
From the small information, some people have hypothesized that it is the case. Perhaps it is the bird that Vonnegut has remembered to include as an inspiration to his book.
However, it is purely from speculation that it is the Red-winged Blackbird that Vonnegut is pertaining to. It can be some other bird, or maybe it’s non-existent at all.
