I am currently reading the novel Breakfast of Champions
by Kurt Vonnegut. One topic that I
discussed in my previous post on this book was Vonnegut’s choice of
narrator. He uses an omniscient to
describe the world we live in and it provides its own opinions about certain
issues in the world. I think that
these opinions are Vonnegut’s own opinions about the world we live in. One issue that has been addressed in
the story so far was advertising and commercializing.
In chapter four of the novel, Dwayne Hoover is listening to
the radio in his car when he hears an advertisement saying, “ten different
kinds of flowering shrubs and five fruit trees for six dollars…” This
advertisement appealed to Dwayne because of the charms of advertising. The narrator states, “Almost all the
messages which were sent and received in his country, even the telepathic ones,
had to do with buying or selling some damn thing. They were like lullabies to
Dwayne.” I think Vonnegut’s choice
of the word lullabies implies that the people that are brainwashed by all of
the advertisements around us are at a childish intellectual level.
I think that Vonnegut talks through the narrator because the
narrator uses rude language, for one thing, which is unusual for the
narrator. Also, the main purpose
of the narrator is to just progress the story and not give their own thoughts,
which is why the narrator is often (at least not by me) regarded as a
character. Vonnegut would not have
included the thoughts of the narrator if he did not share the same ideas.
We live in a world full of advertising and commercials and
Vonnegut addresses this issue in the book. Commercials convince us to spend money on things that we
have absolutely no use for. One
example is the Snuggie. Despite
being extremely comfortable, it is just a backwards bathrobe which would be
needed in no situation at all, but I digress. This issue relates to money. Advertisements are used to try to get people to spend money
on something that will provide a service for the owner in exchange of
money. Vonnegut is trying to show
that material goods and money are not everything in the world and that the
people who are draw in by these material goods are not always the brightest in
his opinion.
Nice post! The whole bit about the narrator and advertisement as a whole was very true (I loved his use of the word lullabies...it reminded me a lot of that lullaby that's all like "Mamma's gonna buy you a mockingbird....Mamma's gonna buy you a diamond ring..." etc. it links directly to commercialism). However, I do disagree on your opinion on the snuggie. They are VERY VERY comfortable, they have those sleeves that they're way too psyched up over in commercials, but it turns out they're sooo useful, and I find myself having that same stupid grin on my face whenever I pick up anything with it on, and they're just absolutely awesome. If you're just too tall for your snuggie, I HIGHLY suggest shrinking, wearing warm socks with it, never standing up in it to feel the nakedness of a taken-away-snuggie, and other such measures, regardless of how drastic they seem.
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