Chapter 8-Metaphor

When Howard W. Campbell Jr. comes to recruit American prisoners of war for "The Free American Corps" the idea of going to fight as a Nazi against the Russians does not appeal to any of the Americans. Campbell even offers the Americans who do join "The Free American Corps" a steak dinner but this still does not change the minds of any of the starving and sick Americans. In response to this the high school teacher Edgar Derby stands up and Vonnegut describes his stance by saying "His stance was that of a punch-drunk fighter." Derby refutes the idea of "The Free American Corps" by saying that this is not what the American government preaches. The American governement says that everyone deserves freedom and fair play and that the Americans will crush Nazism. The metaphor that Vonnegut uses by describing Edgar Derby's stance as that of a punch drunk fighter reveals to us how sick the Americans really are. A punch-drunk fighter can hardly stand up and if they are able to stand up they would be very unstable. If this is how Derby stands the Americans must be so hungry and sick that the can hardly stand meaning that they are in pretty terrible condition.