Breakfast of Champions Character Analysis

Kilgore Trout

One of the main characters in Breakfast of Champions, Kilgore is a prolific but little-known science fiction writer. Of course, no one other than Eliot Rosewater, an “eccentric millionaire” and Kilgore’s only fan… read analysis of Kilgore Trout

Dwayne Hoover

One of the main characters in Breakfast of Champions and the owner/operator of Dwayne Hoover’s Exit Eleven Pontiac Village. Dwayne is Celia’s husband, Bunny’s father, and stepbrother to the twins, Lyle and Kyle… read analysis of Dwayne Hoover

Kurt Vonnegut

The author of Breakfast of Champions and “the Creator” of all the characters. Breakfast of Champions is Vonnegut’s fiftieth birthday present to himself, and he uses it as means to “cleanse” his mind and rid… read analysis of Kurt Vonnegut

Rabo Karabekian

A minimal painter and one of the “distinguished” artists invited to the Arts Festival in Midland City. Fred T. Barry purchases Rabo’s painting, The Temptation of Saint Anthony, to display at the Mildred… read analysis of Rabo Karabekian

George / Bunny Hoover

Dwayne and Celia Hoover’s son, and a “notorious homosexual.” Originally named George, Dwayne’s son is known as Bunny in Midland City. Dwayne’s mental anguish is due in large part to his disillusionment with Bunny’s… read analysis of George / Bunny Hoover

Young Black Man / Wayne Hoobler

A recent parolee from the Adult Correctional Institution at Shepherdstown and a direct descendant of Josephus Hoobler. Wayne represents the stereotypical black criminal who becomes institutionalized because his racist society assumes that since he… read analysis of Young Black Man / Wayne Hoobler

Francine Pefko

Dwayne Hoover’s secretary and mistress. Francine’s husband is killed in the Vietnam War, and after Dwayne’s wife, Celia, commits suicide, Dwayne and Francine begin an affair. Francine reflects a stereotypical woman who lives… read analysis of Francine Pefko

Harry LeSabre

Grace’s husband and Dwayne Hoover’s “white sales manager.” Harry, despite being named after a Buick, has worked in Dwayne’s Pontiac dealership in Midland City for over twenty years. He is also “fabulously well-to-do,”… read analysis of Harry LeSabre

Celia Hoover

Dwayne Hoover’s wife and Bunny’s mother. Like Vonnegut’s own mother, Celia commits suicide when she drinks a bottle of Drāno, a type of commercial drain cleaner. Celia struggles with her mental health… read analysis of Celia Hoover

Kago

The main character in Kilgore Trout’s novel, Plague on Wheels. The novel takes place on a “dying planet” named Lingo-Three that is inhabited by reproducing American-made automobiles. The pollution caused by the cars… read analysis of Kago

Eliot Rosewater

An “eccentric millionaire” and Kilgore Trout’s one and only fan. Eliot Rosewater talks Fred T. Barry into inviting Kilgore to the Arts Festival in Midland City by offering Barry use of a valuable El… read analysis of Eliot Rosewater

Leo Trout

Kilgore Trout’s only son. Leo is a grown man and has not seen or spoken to his father in years. He left home as a teenager and joined the military; at which time he… read analysis of Leo Trout

Fred T. Barry

The Chairman of the Arts Festival in celebration of the opening of the Mildred Barry Memorial Center for the Arts in Midland City. Fred T. Barry invites Kilgore Trout to be a “distinguished” guest and… read analysis of Fred T. Barry

Cyprian Ukwende

An emergency room physician at the hospital in Midland City. Dr. Ukwende is a black man from Nigeria, but since America doesn’t “produce nearly enough doctors for all the sick people it has,” they must… read analysis of Cyprian Ukwende

The Truck Driver

Kilgore Trout hitches a ride out of New York City with the truck driver, who is “hauling seventy-eight thousand pounds of Spanish olives.” The truck driver used to be an avid hunter and fisherman, but… read analysis of The Truck Driver

Kyle Hoover

Lyle Hoover’s twin brother and Dwayne Hoover’s stepbrother. Kyle and Lyle are the biological children of Dwayne’s adoptive parents, who hadn’t been able to conceive until after they adopted Dwayne, a “common phenomenon”… read analysis of Kyle Hoover

Lyle Hoover

Kyle Hoover’s twin brother and Dwayne Hoover’s stepbrother. Lyle is a carbon copy of Kyle, and even Dwayne was not able to tell them apart until 1954 when Lyle’s nose was broken in… read analysis of Lyle Hoover

Josephus Hoobler

The original owner of Bluebird Farm, the property currently owned by Dwayne Hoover and his family. Josephus was a freed slave who purchased the farm after moving North to work in the factories. His descendants… read analysis of Josephus Hoobler

Patty Keene

A white waitress in one of Dwayne Hoover’s Burger Chef franchises. Patty is a seventeen-year-old “brand-new adult,” and she is working as a waitress to pay her dying father’s hospital bills. She has already… read analysis of Patty Keene

Don Breedlove

Perhaps the most despicable character in Breakfast of Champions, and the only character to get “what is coming to [him] in the end.” Don Breedlove, a white man, is a married father of three… read analysis of Don Breedlove

George Hickman Bannister

A local Midland City high school student who is killed playing football on Thanksgiving Day. George’s tombstone, a towering sixty-two-foot obelisk with a football on top, is the largest in Midland City’s cemetery. For… read analysis of George Hickman Bannister

Gloria Browning

The cashier in the Service Department of Dwayne Hoover’s Pontiac dealership. Gloria has a hysterectomy at the young age of twenty-five after a “botched abortion.” She is terribly embittered and unhappy, and since she… read analysis of Gloria Browning

The Man

The main character in Kilgore Trout’s novel, Now It Can Be Told. The Man, a test subject of the Creator of the Universe, is the only creature in a universe of “fully programmable… read analysis of The Man

Bonnie MacMahon

The “white waitress” at the cocktail lounge in the Holiday Inn of Midland City. Bonnie lost all her money in a failed attempt to open a car wash in nearby Shepherdstown and now works at… read analysis of Bonnie MacMahon

Beatrice Keedsler

A “distinguished” Gothic novelist and native of Midland City. Beatrice is a guest at the Arts Festival in Midland City, although Vonnegut has little respect for her artistically. Vonnegut accuses Beatrice of “joining hands with… read analysis of Beatrice Keedsler

Harold Newcomb Wilbur

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… read analysis of Harold Newcomb Wilbur

Ned Lingamon

Midland City’s most decorated war veteran. Ned Lingamon is arrested for killing his own baby and uses his one phone call to call Harold Newcomb Wilbur, Midland City’s second most decorated war veteran. Of… read analysis of Ned Lingamon

Mary Alice Miller

The Queen of the Arts Festival and a local celebrity in Midland City. Mary Alice is an Olympic Gold Medalist and the Women’s Two Hundred Meter Breast Stroke Champion of the World. Her father taught… read analysis of Mary Alice Miller

Milo Maritimo

The “beautiful young desk clerk” at the Holiday Inn in Midland City. Milo is the first to welcome Kilgore Trout to the Arts Festival in Midland City, and he has read all Kilgore’s stories and… read analysis of Milo Maritimo

Eddie Key

The driver of the special ambulance known as Martha that responds to Dwayne Hoover’s “rampage.” Eddie is a direct descendant of Francis Scott Key, the man who wrote the Star-Spangled Banner, and he… read analysis of Eddie Key

Dwayne’s Stepfather

The adoptive father of Dwayne Hoover, and the birth father of Lyle and Kyle Hoover. Dwayne’s stepfather and stepmother were initially unable to have children of their own when their adoption of Dwayne… read analysis of Dwayne’s Stepfather

Gooz

The main character in Kilgore Trout’s novel, This Year’s Masterpiece. The novel takes place on a planet named Bagnialto, where a government official spins a wheel of chance once a year to determine… read analysis of Gooz

Lottie Davis

Dwayne Hoover’s “black servant.” Dwayne admits that he likes Lottie well enough, although he prefers to talk to his dog instead. Lottie is one of several black characters in Breakfast of Champions who works… read analysis of Lottie Davis

Minor Characters

Khashdrahr Miasma

An emergency physician in Midland City from Bangladesh. Dr. Miasma is aboard the disaster response vehicle, Martha, that arrives after Dwayne Hoover “runs amok” in Midland City.

Vernon Garr

A mechanic at Dwayne Hoover’s Pontiac dealership. Vern is married to Mary, who suffers from schizophrenia and believes that Vern wants to “turn her brains to plutonium.”

Mary Garr

Vernon Garr’s wife. Mary is a schizophrenic who believes her husband is “trying to turn her brains to plutonium.” Mary Garr is evidence of how common mental illness in American society.

Grace LeSabre

Harry LeSabre’s wife. Grace and Harry are “fabulously well-to-do,” and while Harry works at Dwayne Hoover’s Pontiac dealership, the LeSabres enjoyed a financial windfall after investing in Xerox stock. Grace convinces her husband to quit Dwayne’s dealership and buy a condominium on Maui.

Breakfast of Champions Characters