Breakfast of Champions

by Kurt Vonnegut

Breakfast of Champions: Metaphors 2 key examples

Definition of Metaphor

A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two different things by saying that one thing is the other. The comparison in a metaphor can be stated explicitly, as... read full definition
A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two different things by saying that one thing is the other. The comparison in a metaphor... read full definition
A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two different things by saying that one thing is the other... read full definition
Chapter 1
Explanation and Analysis—Mind Poison:

In Chapter One, Vonnegut foreshadows one of the major plot points of the novel:

Trout did not expect to be believed. He put the bad ideas into a science-fiction novel, and that was where Dwayne found them. The book wasn't addressed to Dwayne alone. Trout had never heard of Dwayne when he wrote it. It was addressed to anybody who happened to open it up. It said to simply anybody, in effect, "Hey—guess what: You're the only creature with free will. How does that make you feel?" And so on. 

It was a tour de force. It was a jeu d'esprit

But it was mind poison to Dwayne.

Chapter 15
Explanation and Analysis—The Awful Truth:

In a passage describing the people of Midland City, Vonnegut writes:

That was the main reason the people in Midland City were so slow to detect insanity in their associates. Their imaginations insisted that nobody changed much from day to day. Their imaginations were flywheels on the ramshakle machinery of the awful truth. 

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