The end of Slaughterhouse Five ends with a rhetorical question, a question asked for an effect, and not actually requiring or expecting an answer. As World War Two came to an end, "Billy and the rest wandered out onto the shady street. The trees were leafing out. There was nothing going on out therem no traffic of any kind. There was only one vehicle, an abandoned wagon drawn by two horses. The wagon was green and coffin-shaped. Birds were talking. One bird said to Billy Pilgrim, 'Poo-tee-weet!?'"
The bird asked Billy a question which has no answer, a question where there is no reply. Vonnegut includes this rhetorical question to inform the readers that there is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre. A birds talk makes as much sense as anyone's talk about war.
By ending with a rhetorical question Vonnegut clearly wanted to make the point that there is nothing intelligent to say of war. This was another example of Vonnegut unorthodox yet powerful style as a writer.
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