Kurt Vonnegut's Iconic Satire: Absurdity, Capitalism, and Human Life in 'Breakfast of Champions'
Breakfast of Champions (published in 1973) is the tale of two lonesome, old white men on a planet that was dying fast. Kilgore Trout, who appears in multiple of Vonnegut’s books, makes a living installing aluminium storm windows, but he has also written numerous science fiction novels and short stories. He is largely unrecognized, but one day he receives an invitation from one of the very few people who have read his books, one Rockefeller-type of man, to participate in an arts festival in a fictional place called Midland City, somewhere in the American Midwest. There, he meets Dwayne Hoover, a fabulously well-to-do but mentally unstable man who owns a lot of businesses and properties in the city.
From very early on in the book, we know that Dwayne Hoover is going to go on a crazy rampage because of the “bad chemicals” (Vonnegut’s way of describing mental health) in his head and after reading one of Kilgore Trout’s books which made him snap.
Dwayne Hoover, whose mental state has gotten worse, takes Trout's book at face value. It convinces him that he is the only sentient being in the universe with free will and that everyone else is a robot.
“And Dwayne read on about himself and the Creator of the Universe, to wit: ‘He also programmed robots to write books and magazines and newspapers for you, and television and radio shows, and stage shows and films. They wrote songs fort you. The Creator of the Universe had them invent hundreds of religions, so you would have plenty to choose among. He had them kill each other by the millions. For this purpose only: that you be amazed. They have committed every possible atrocity and every possible kindness unfeelingly, automatically, to get a reaction from Y-O-U.’”
Kurt Vonnegut is known for his absurd, simplistic, unconventional, and often satirical writing style. Within the pages of Breakfast of Champions, Vonnegut confronts the issues of race, poverty, and the distribution of wealth in America. He criticizes the capitalist system and consumerism, exposing the hypocrisy of a society that marginalizes and mistreats its own members. Another significant theme in the book is the environmental destruction caused by overpopulation and industrial pollution. Vonnegut paints a grim picture of a planet damaged by human activities, forcing readers to confront the consequences of our actions.
Vonnegut effectively uses satire and symbolic fiction to exemplify societal challenges in "Breakfast of Champions." Through his characters and their experiences, he sheds light on the flaws and hypocrisies of American society. One such example is the story of ‘Lingo-Three’, which intertwines with several themes explored in the novel.
It is set on a dying planet named Lingo-Three, where the inhabitants resemble American automobiles. These creatures have wheels, are powered by internal combustion engines, and consume fossil fuels. Interestingly, they are not manufactured but reproduce, laying eggs that contain baby automobiles. These babies mature in pools of oil drained from adult crankcases.
Lingo-Three was visited by space travellers, who learned that the creatures/engines were becoming extinct because they had destroyed the resources of their planet, including its atmosphere. These space travellers who were all homosexual roamed the Universe keeping the memory of the automobile creatures alive. They came at last to the planet and Kago, their spokesman, told the Earthlings about the automobile creatures. Within a century of Kago’s and other space travellers' arrival, Earthlings had made and worshipped automobiles. Little Kago died long before the planet did. He was killed by a drunk automobile worker in a bar in Detroit.
The Breakfast of Champions narrative may appear messy and disjointed, but Vonnegut's mesmerizing and thought-provoking writing style is captivating . In the preface, Vonnegut writes, "I think I am trying to clear my head of all the junk in there... to make my head as empty as it was when I was born onto this damaged planet fifty years ago." Breakfast of Champions serves as an extension of Vonnegut himself and reflects his desire to explore and critique American culture and the human condition.
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