Chapter 7: Simple Pleasures

By this time in the war, all of the pleasures of the prisoners of war's lives have been taken from them.  All of the things that they had taken for granted before the war are nowhere close to them now.  When working in the slaughterhouse, they are to work in boxing syrup full of vitamins and minerals for consumption by pregnant women.  The American prisoners are not very tentative when it came to sneaking spoonfuls of the syrup to eat.  The first taste of this syrup for Billy Pilgrim came on his second day working in the factory.  He tasted it in front of poor old Edgar Derby who also craved a taste of the syrup.  When Derby tasted the syrup, "A moment passed, and then Edgar Derby burst into tears."  He burst into tears because he now realized how much had been taken from him.  The only pleasure now in his life is a vitamin filled syrup intended for use by pregnant women.