Kurt Vonnegut's Breakfast of Champions - Book Report/Review Example

Nam Randomness as Theme: Kurt Vonnegut’s Breakfast of Champions Kurt Vonnegut’s 1973 novel works as a satirical and useful example of the ridiculous and illogical aspects of American society. While the novel appears to be scattered and filled with random observations, this is just the way Vonnegut intended: a humorous yet truthful examination of the randomness in American society and the very short attention span of its citizens. The randomness itself works as a well-thought-out, intentional theme. Besides the main points of the story, I will examine the more random observations, specifically through the use of simple drawings, sprinkled throughout the book. These supposed sporadic images will work to illuminate and share bits of social commentary as seen by the author. The main story running through the novel involves writer Kilgore Trout and Dwayne Hoover, a car dealer who increasingly becomes unhinged and who more and more believes that Trout’s fictional writing to in fact be true. The story--together with the more random aspects I will examine hidden within--evolves into a scathing satire tackling the subjects of war, pollution, racism, sex, success, politics and the general trials and crimes of the human condition. Just as American society seems to function on impulse and without clear logic, so too will the characters within the structure of the author’s work. Vonnegut’s characters are linked together by the ultimate results of Hoover’s increasingly dangerous level of insanity: Dwayne’s son, George “Bunny” Hoover; waitress Patty Keene; Rabo Karabekian, a fraudulent artist; and Cyprian Ukwende, a young doctor. Every character and every plot point will mesh together to make some type of order from the seemingly chaotic environment that exists within the novel. The visual randomness in Breakfast of Champions is almost childlike in its presentation, though some of the drawings are detailed and display quality beyond just scribbles and doodles. Pushing the boundaries of what is expected, these drawings work as a new and innovative approach to storytelling in novels. The apparent naivety and randomness of these drawings allow the author to discuss important points of the story, but in a breezy, matter-of-fact way that contributes to the basis foundation of the novel. The drawings give Vonnegut a vehicle to share the main themes of his story and to use the points of randomness to showcase his view of American society. The narrator works as an important aspect of the story, seeming to control and manipulate the characters in a variety of ways, whether moving them to unsuspected locales or getting inside their heads and sharing their innermost thoughts. The narrator is the artist of the drawings scattered throughout and gives the social commentary that initially appears to be random and unconnected to the main story. At the beginning, the narrator touches on the story of Kilgore Trout and Dwayne Hoover, while also examining the history and various crimes of the country in which they live. Through various pen drawings of the U.S. flag and images from its money and landmarks, we learn about the absurdity of the founding of America. As the narrator states: “In nonsense is strength” (Vonnegut 10). Here, Vonnegut shows the backward nature of our misplaced national sense of pride and the loose foundation on which it stands. These bits of historical observations function as an important sidebar to the main story of Trout and Hoover; in effect, Vonnegut is saying that these historical influences and the criminal past of America will help explain the motives and actions of the characters within the parallel story. According to Vonnegut, Hoover’s insanity seems to correlate to the country in which he was born, working as a natural evolution from the crimes and deceptive present from its founding. Some of the drawings help to reveal what is often hidden in American society, either because of our repressive tendencies--particularly regarding sexual subjects--or the parts of our national psyche we try to hide. When Trout shares that now “. . .we can build an unselfish society by devoting to unselfishness the frenzy we once devoted to gold and to underpants” (25), we see on the corresponding page a drawing of girls’ underpants. Is Vonnegut saying that we should reveal what is hidden (sexual curiosities) or that our pursuits involve the attainment of unimportant things (gold)? This seemingly random topic is brought to our attention as a way to show the absurdity of some of our activities and how what should be more important goals are instead dismissed. America is certainly an image-driven society. Humans are visual creatures who seem to prefer and take in information through visual means. Is Vonnegut using these drawings as a way to showcase America’s tendency to accept the simplistic nature of images as opposed to the more intellectual demands of words? When he discusses historical aspects regarding American culture and society, he chooses words as if talking to a child. For example: “A pyramid was a sort of huge stone tomb which Egyptians had built thousands and thousands of years before” (109). We then see the very simplistic drawings of three pyramids. Vonnegut is exploring the juxtaposition of actual historical monuments and the current choice to use the word as the name of a business. This fact also illustrates the lack of historical knowledge and ignorance regarding the past. The drawings, while appearing at first to be random visual snippets, actually work to explore subjects such as education and the growing importance of shallow commercial concerns. Sometimes the drawings are of objects that seem to be too simplistic to warrant a place in the novel, which perhaps may be the point. Images such as an on and off switch (68), the sanitary wrap around a clean toilet (79) and an apple (123) represent everyday facets of the material world and are symbols of our daily lives. Instead of just simply showing the mundane, is Vonnegut trying to immortalize the various subject matters for the day when society is all but destroyed? Vonnegut appears to be talking to a future reader who will not know what these objects look like, making these drawings an important way to make certain points clear to the reader. He may be saying that these objects symbolize what the American condition is all about; his ultimate purpose is to force us to see the absurdity in our mostly materialistic society. Other images take on a more vital illustration by showing the transformation of objects and living things, whether the change is literal or figurative. A picture of a cow is then transformed into a hamburger (124); a chicken becomes the contents of a bucket of Colonel Sanders Fried Chicken (158); and a picture of a real beetle is drawn next to the image of the Beetle (134), a car produced by the Germans. Vonnegut uses these images to show how the truth of the original object is far removed from the resulting change. Human beings, he seems to be saying, are so far removed from the reality of their world that we forget the original source. These images also show the importance of words and how we manipulate and change language to suit our current needs. Interestingly, Vonnegut can best display this through the use of simple pen drawings. The author shares with the reader his disdain for most human scientific advancements, viewing them to be destructive and counterproductive. This suspicion can effectively be seen in the symbolic presence of crudely drawn human footprints (226). Trout proclaims that footprints served as “man’s first printing press. You are reading a bold and universal headline which says ’I am here, I am here, I am here.’” But when Trout steps across a carpet his feet leave no marks, due to a plastic sheet that covers the floor. On the following page is the chemical structure of plastic molecules. The juxtaposition of these two images is powerful and effective. Vonnegut is displaying the fact that humans have created a world in which they are separated from their natural environment and, as a result, the truths that exist in the world. Our advancements have brought isolation and danger, where through the invention of guns and electric chairs we are perpetuating the means of our own destruction. Material and scientific advancements are viewed by the author as sure sources of misery and death. On one page, Einstein’s famous formula regarding the relationship between matter and energy is scrawled in bold letters across the page (241). The narrator laments that something is missing: “There should have been an ‘A’ in there somewhere for Awareness.” Clearly, Vonnegut believes that these scientific advancements and our tendency to never leave well enough alone will remain the root of our troubles. Progress and advancements can not be truly successful unless a greater sense of responsibility and enlightenment work as the foundation for such goals. Kurt Vonnegut’s Breakfast of Champions is a satirical and dark look at the ridiculous and shallow aspects of American society. While an initial read of the novel makes it seem as if the work is scattered and filled with random observations, this is precisely the author’s intent. The book works well as social commentary--a humorous yet truthful examination of the randomness in American society and the very short attention span of its citizens. The randomness of the drawings themselves works as an illuminating, well-presented theme. These supposed chaotic images work to bring an aspect of order and to share the author’s social commentary. Work Cited Vonnegut, Kurt. Breakfast of Champions. New York: Dell Publishing, 1973. Print. Read More