Slaughterhouse-Five

by Kurt Vonnegut

Slaughterhouse-Five: Foil 1 key example

Chapter 8
Explanation and Analysis—Campbell as a Tick:

Edgar Derby compares Howard Campbell Jr. to a series of lowly animals through metaphor, serving as a foil for Pilgrim as he does so:

His stance was that of a punch-drunk fighter. His head was down. His fists were out front, waiting for information and battle plan. Derby raised his head, called Campbell a snake. He corrected that. He said that snakes couldn’t help being snakes, and that Campbell, who could help being what he was, was something much lower than a snake or a rat—or even a blood-filled tick.