1492.

"1492. As children we were taught to memorize this year with pride and joy as the year people began living full and imaginative lives on the continent of North America. Actually, people had been living full and imaginative lives on the continent of North America for hundreds of years before that. 1492 was simply the year sea pirates began to rob, cheat, and kill them."

How Vonnegut-esque is this quote! This quote clearly demonstrates the dark and dry humor of his passages. He raises a point regarding the importance of of the year 1492, saying that it should be remembered as the day North America was used productively to further the dreams and aspirations of generations, when in fact, it had been serving that purpose for generations before 1492. It is very much like Vonnegut to express the contrary view against the popular opinion. He does this by going against the popular, well founded opinion that his ancestors were the ones who had made America into a land of freedom and dreams, when in fact, they were basically pirates and bandits who had robbed the natives of their full and imaginative lives. A brief glance at this quote will lead the reader to be filled with shock, but further reading validates the meaning of Vonnegut's words.