Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut - Essay Example

Dwayne is a wealthy man, a well-known and respected man in his community, who happens to suffer from a chemical imbalance that causes him to become progressively insane. Trout however, is a very poor man who works in the aluminum industry and writes novels and essays in his spare time. Trout was never recognized as an author before coming to Midland City; his stories were only published in pornographic magazines. The narrator slowly involves himself in the story and reveals himself as the creator of Trout and all that Trout knows.

In the story, the narrator brings Trout and Dwayne together through an arts festival in Midland City. While the two men have never met, their first and only meeting changes their lives forever after. Dwayne progressing insanity come to a head when he meets Trout and demands the secret of life; Trout in a moment of panic gives Dwayne his book called Now It Can Be Told and says that his book holds the secrets. The book is a science fiction books that tells a story of the Creator of the Universe who decides to experiment by putting one human on earth and everyone else is a robot put there to stir the human up in any way possible.

Taking it as the true secret of life, Dwayne goes on a violent rampage, beating eleven people, including Trout for being, what he thinks, are robots. The narrator tells the readers that Trout turns his life around after the experience with Dwayne and becomes an expert in mental health and a champion for ridding the world of negative ideas. Trout becomes a respected and loved author and member of society. Dwayne ends up on Skid Row after his rampage; the tables were turned for these two characters.

The narrator believes he is born again through Trouts experiences. Vonnegut uses the fictional element of satire to depict the self-destruction of humans throughout Breakfast of Champions. The characters are miserable in their lives, regardless