Derby's Big Moment

Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut

One scene which may not be as meaningful to most, yet I found much insight and humor in was Derby's little gung-ho speech in the name of democracy. When the traitorous Howard W. Campbell comes to the POW camp to recruit for his American-Nazi company, most of the men do not act. I find that this is less to do with their undying loyalty to the United States and more to the fact that they are all tired and broken and characterless. This point of being a non-character is mentioned a few times during this bit. Vonnegut finally blatantly admits that few of the characters within the story are real, thoughtful, dynamic, characters but "listless playthings of enormous forces" (Vonnegut 164). Yet in this one little scene, Derby does the perfect job of embodying the stereotypical, punch-drunk patriot who tells the evil Nazi commander to shove it. In the movies such an act is usually the big climax, and according to Vonnegut, in Derby's case, it was the climax of his life. However, to the rest of the beaten and used-up men of the American army, they could not care less. I find it intriguing if Vonnegut's portrayal of the men of the US army is truly accurate. So much of us are used to the typical stars and stripes loving American boy who goes off to war, kicks the crap out of Charlie, and comes home to tell the tale. Vonnegut's view is that of apathetic young men just trying to get by and get home to their families.