Chapter 1: The Teapot

Vonnegut begins his novel by talking about how an American was arrested for stealing a teapot in Dresden. This was all after Dresden had been firebombed by the Allies. The city had been decimated and thousands of people died. Yet in all the horror, chaos, and death, an American soldier was arrested for stealing a teapot. One of Vonnegut's war buddies also says that the guy was given a "fair" trial, and then killed by a firing squad. Oh the irony...

Chapter 1: Internal Conflict

Vonnegut is trying hard to write a book about what happened to Dresden. The only problem is that he is having trouble remembering. He says that "... not many words about Dresden came from my mind then... ... And not many words come now, either, when I have become an old fart... (Vonnegut 2)" He thought it would be easy to think about what had happened, but after he returned home, his mind refused to remember. He wanted to remember because he was going to write his "world famous" book about Dresden.