On page 198, rumfoord states, it had to be done, referring to the dresden bombings. Slaughterhousefive is the semiautobiographical account of the fire bombing of dresden. Slaughterhouse five chapters 910 summary slaughterhouse five by kurt vonnegut chapters 910 summary and analysis. There seems to be no real model for professor bertram copeland rumfoord, but the family name is known to vonnegut scholars.
His most popular book was about sex and strenuous athletics for men over sixtyfive. While id thoroughly enjoyed slaughterhouse five previously, it was only on this reread, following on from vonneguts first 5 novels that ive come to really appreciate it as part of a body of work. Meanwhile, billy is in a hospital room in vermont with a harvard professor named bertram copeland rumfoord, who has broken a leg skiing. How is bertram rumfoord an example of a flat character in.
Unconscious himself, billy is unaware of valencias death. Bertram rumfoord is reintroduced the reader in chapter six, where he serves as a literary device, albeit a highly entertaining one, to enable vonnegut to reemphasize his central theme about the scale of destruction rendered upon the city of dresden. He is a survivor of the infamous world war 2 attack on dresden, as was vonnegut himself. Or rather, he doesnt have the heroic qualities usually associated with the main soldier in a story about wartime. Slaughterhousefive the art and popular culture encyclopedia. Yes, kurt vonnegut the author of slaughterhousefive, typed these words with his own two hands.
She is a former gogo dancer who is now married to a seventy year old coming into his fifth marriage. How is bertram rumfoord an example of a flat character in kurt. 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. Billys roommate in the hospital is bertram copeland rumfoord, a harvard history professor who is working on a history of the us air corps in wwii. Air force historian who is laid up by a skiing accident in the same vermont hospital as billy after his plane crash. Rumfoords fifth wife, lily, who is twentythree rumfoord is 70, brings him books to read. How does bertram copeland rumfoord respond to billys claim that he was in dresden at the time of the firebombing. Is kurt vonneguts slaughterhousefive an antiwar book. Rumfoord recuperates from a skiing injury in the bed next to. The narrator describes bertram rumfoord, a man sharing a hospital room with billy after a plane crash. Bertram, a selfimportant man, injured himself in a ski. Slaughterhousefive project gutenberg selfpublishing ebooks. Throughout the novel, nothing happens at the same time. Slaughterhousefive by kurt vonnegut teachers guide.
Bertram copeland rumfoord a harvard history professor and the official u. I have seen it published by itself and on the shelf at bookstores. If world war ii was the straightforward movie everyone could be in. Rumfoord was a retired brigadier general in the air force reserve, the official air force historian, a full professor, the author of twentysix books, a multimillionaire since birth, and one of the great competitive sailors of all time. Christina jarvis the vietnamization of world war ii war. Bertram copeland rumfoord is in the bed beside him. He is a wellrenowned history professor at harvard university with a twentythree year old wife named lily. Some date the end of the era as 5 december 1969, when the rolling stones concert at altamont, california, went awry and the hells angels murdered an audience member while the groups front man, mick jagger, sang sympathy for the devil 1968.
Billy shares a hospital room with bertram rumfoord, a harvard history professor. Get an answer for how is bertram rumfoord an example of a flat character in kurt vonneguts slaughterhousefive. Bertram copeland rumfoord in slaughterhousefive shmoop. Lily is scared of billy, who talks in his sleep, and rumfoord finds him boring. He shares a room with a retired brigadier general, bertram copeland rumfoord, the official u. Bertram copeland rumfoordwho originally appears in another of vonneguts books, the sirens of titan 1959is an incredibly energetic 70yearold with a. The slaughterhouse five quotes below are all either spoken by bertram c. The breakup coincided with the release of the bands aptly titled album let it be. A 70yearold harvard professor and the official air force historian, bertram c. Billy is the main character of slaughterhousefive, but hes not exactly the hero of the book. Postwar literature, 19451970 research guide to american. Winston niles rumfoord appeared in sirens of titan and bokonon, in his secular life, worked as a gardener on the rumfoord estate in cats cradle. Is there any significance in montana being on tralfamadore while billy is reading about her in a bookshelf.