Sarcasm
The first sentence is complete sarcasm. The word blessing is enough to give you a huge hint. A writer like Vonnegut would never think that war is a blessing under any circumstances, but that is drawing from his other writings.
The yellow sentence is just a detail that backs up the first comment.
The comment beginning with the wine colored sentence is somewhat sarcastic as well, but the first one is much better. The first one records a state of mind. The wine colored sentence finishes off the idea of just how long short lived could be. As with everything in English don't be surprised if the wine colored sentence is correct.
The second paragraph is plot details. Those details are not sarcastic at all.
General Barker
A: Anyone who is compared to someone who runs around fussing to get a meal for 20 on the table does not think their efforts are wasted. A is wrong.
B: General Barker at this point doesn't know that this is true. But keep the answer in mind. It might be your choice.
C: Not particularly. He is a General. There's not much he does have to worry about.
D: I'm pretty sure that this is the answer. If you have notes for this story, you might want to check this out. He was in a hurry to find out what powers the professor had.
E: I don't think Barker doubted anything. What he wanted was confirmation.
D <<< Answer
