"Gee, that song went, but I'd give he world to see that old gang of mine. And so on. A little later it said, So long forever, old fellows and gals, so long forever old sweethearts and pals- God bless 'em- And so on. Unexpectedly, Billy Pilgrim found himself upset by the song and the occasion. He had never had an old gang, old sweethearts and pals, but he missed one anyway..." (Vonnegut 172).
This quote is illustrating Billy's feelings of loneliness after he realizes that he doesn't have a cherished group of friends or even multiple friends to speak of. This picture relates to a quote because it is of a person who is isolated and alone with nobody by their side.
I believe that with this quote Vonnegut is describing the extreme loneliness Billy feels, even as he is surrounded by people at his and Valencia's eighteenth wedding anniversary. All of the party guests are optometrists and merely work colleagues. Billy does not have many friends, and this is also shown in Dresden as he is an outcast among the prisoners in a situation where many soldiers create friendships. As he rushes upstairs after hearing the quartet and turns on his Magic Fingers in his bed, it is clear that Billy has been deprived of human contact and longs for close relationships.
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