CHAPTER NINE - INDIRECT CHARACTERIZATION

Bertram Copeland Rumfoord is introduced this chapter. He is a 70 year old professor at Harvard University who is married to a 23 year old go go dancer. After an unfortunate ski accident involving a broken leg, he finds himself in the hospital. The relevance to this and the story is that he is placed in the same room as Billy Pilgrim after his miraculous escape from death in the plane crash. The indirect characterization comes in through the words and actions of Rumfoord. He is constantly annoyed by Billy's consistent tossign around in bed and uttering things about WWII. Bertram is indirectly characterized when he says things about America based on his conclusions from Billy's personality and actions. Bertram Copeland Rumfoord has always been a huge supporter of America and had high hopes of it. However, when he sees Billy's cowardice groaning of WWII, he loses hope for Billy. "Professor Rumfoord said frightful things about Billy within Billy's hearing, confident that Billy no longer had any brain at all. 'Why don't they just let him die?' he asked Lily... 'That's not a human being anymore. Doctors are for human beings. They should turn him over to a veterinarian or a tree surgeon." (p 190)