Breakfast of Champions

by

Kurt Vonnegut

Harold Newcomb Wilbur Character Analysis

Midland City’s second most decorated war veteran and the bartender at the cocktail lounge in the Holiday Inn. Vonnegut fears that Harold will kick him out of the bar for acting suspicious, so he has Ned Lingamon, Midland City’s most decorated war veteran, call Harold on the telephone from jail to create a diversion. Both Harold and Ned reflect Vonnegut’s control over his characters, and he explicitly outlines their purpose and existence.

Harold Newcomb Wilbur Quotes in Breakfast of Champions

The Breakfast of Champions quotes below are all either spoken by Harold Newcomb Wilbur or refer to Harold Newcomb Wilbur. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Art, Subjectivity, and Absurdity Theme Icon
).
Chapter 19 Quotes

And he went on staring at me, even though I wanted to stop him now. Here was the thing about my control over the characters I created: I could only guide their movements approximately, since they were such big animals. There was inertia to overcome. It wasn’t as though I was connected to them by steel wires. It was more as though I was connected to them by stale rubberbands.

Related Characters: Kurt Vonnegut (speaker), Harold Newcomb Wilbur
Page Number: 207
Explanation and Analysis:
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Harold Newcomb Wilbur Quotes in Breakfast of Champions

The Breakfast of Champions quotes below are all either spoken by Harold Newcomb Wilbur or refer to Harold Newcomb Wilbur. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Art, Subjectivity, and Absurdity Theme Icon
).
Chapter 19 Quotes

And he went on staring at me, even though I wanted to stop him now. Here was the thing about my control over the characters I created: I could only guide their movements approximately, since they were such big animals. There was inertia to overcome. It wasn’t as though I was connected to them by steel wires. It was more as though I was connected to them by stale rubberbands.

Related Characters: Kurt Vonnegut (speaker), Harold Newcomb Wilbur
Page Number: 207
Explanation and Analysis: