Death: The Moral of the Story

"It's alright. It doesn't mean anything now. Nothing means anything. Go ahead and shoot the dog." - Young Resi North, 00:33:30

We meet Resi North here, played by Kirsten Dunst, as the Russian Army comes to overtake her childhood home. Resi is sitting on the couch with her dog and seems to be completely content with the upcoming murder of her pet, which will be shot by Howard Campbell. Before they part, Resi confesses her love for Howard and her envy of his relationship with her sister Helga. This scene is particularly chilling because of Resi's absolute dismissal of her dog, yet the maturity of her developing feelings for Howard. Her feelings toward death as the only thing she believes in foreshadows her own death later after she pretends to be Helga. Though young in appearance, Resi's mature demeanor is not to be dismissed. This solidifies Vonnegut's primary theme: "the moral of the story." It's easy to not take Resi seriously because of her age, but it's important to not fully dismiss pretenses because they often turn out to be true.

Resi seems to dismiss the things that will hurt her, attempting to put up a wall against letting the permanence of death give her reason to mourn. Her maturity at such a young age helps her cope and grow into a strong minded female. Though Resi seems to be strong, is it really that important that she creates these notions at such an early age? Would her life be more successful if she had a "normal" childhood?