Jailbird: Analysis of Major Characters
"Jailbird" is a novel that delves into the lives of several interconnected characters, exploring themes of political turmoil, personal misfortune, and the impact of societal structures. The protagonist, Walter F. Starbuck, is a former corporate executive and convict whose life has been shaped by a series of unfortunate events. He starts as the son of poor immigrants and navigates a complex life involving a prestigious education, a problematic marriage, and wrongful accusations that lead to his imprisonment. Central to the narrative is Mary Kathleen O’Looney, a homeless woman with a hidden identity who was once Starbuck's lover and is the owner of RAMJAC Corporation, aiming to redistribute wealth to the public.
Leland Clewes, another key character, experiences a fall from grace after being labeled a Communist by Starbuck, yet he manages to find redemption and success as a vice president of RAMJAC. His wife, Sarah Wyatt, serves as a contrast to Starbuck's life, embodying stability and humor through her marriage. The narrative also features supporting characters like Ruth Starbuck, Walter's wife with a harrowing past, and Alexander Hamilton McCone, Walter's former mentor who becomes estranged due to political differences. Lastly, Dr. Robert Fender adds a unique layer as a veteran and science-fiction writer, whose experiences comment on broader societal issues. Overall, "Jailbird" intricately weaves together these characters' lives within the backdrop of American history and politics.
Jailbird: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Kurt Vonnegut
First published: 1979
Genre: Novel
Locale: Cleveland, Ohio; Massachusetts; New York City; and rural Georgia
Plot: Antistory
Time: 1977
Walter F. Starbuck, born Walter Stankiewicz, a RAMJAC corporation executive and convict. The life of this sixty-four-year-old, “jockey-sized” man has been marked by unwitting mishaps. The son of poor immigrants, he is educated at Harvard by tycoon Alexander Hamilton McCone. He becomes a minor government official, marries Ruth, whom he meets in World War II, and has a son who hates him. In hearings before a committee headed by Richard Nixon, he innocently names his friend Leland Clewes as a Communist, sending him to jail. He is reviled by friends, and Ruth dies. Nixon, now president, invites him to take a White House job, and he is later jailed as a Watergate conspirator. After he is released, he meets Mary Kathleen O'Looney and becomes an officer of the RAMJAC Corporation. He hides the news of her death and suppresses her will, for which he is again jailed. Throughout, he appears as a bumbling innocent who suffers while schemers prosper.
Mary Kathleen O'Looney, a sixty-four-year-old bag lady who is actually Mrs. Jack Graham and owner of the conglomerate RAMJAC Corporation. She is tiny and thin, and she wears layers of filthy clothes and enormous purple tennis shoes in which she stores her most vital belongings. She hides her identity to escape those who would cut off her hands for the fingerprints that confirm her orders. While Walter was at Harvard, she was his lover, and they shared leftist political views. She plans to return wealth to the people by leaving her RAMJAC conglomerate to the nation.
Leland Clewes, a salesman for advertising matchbooks and calendars and a former diplomat. Once a tall and handsome Yale man, in his sixties he has lost his hair and wears shabby clothes but remains patiently philosophical. Clewes married Sarah Wyatt, Starbuck's first love, and was a successful diplomat until named as a Communist by Starbuck and sent to jail. After that, he struggles until made a RAMJAC vice president by Starbuck. He harbors no grudges against Starbuck, and his suffering has cemented his marriage.
Sarah Wyatt, Starbuck's first love and Clewes' wife. Also sixty-four years old, she is tall, slender, and sophisticated, with an indefatigable sense of humor. She first dates Starbuck when they are eighteen, and their conversations consist mainly of jokes. She becomes a part-time nurse after Clewes is sent to jail. She and Starbuck briefly resume their joking when he comes out of jail. Her loving marriage to Clewes contrasts with Starbuck's lonely widowhood.
Ruth Starbuck, Walter's wife, an interior decorator and former concentration camp inmate and translator. An Austrian, she is six years younger than Walter and five feet tall. When they meet after the war, she is diminutive, but she grows to 165 pounds before her death in 1974.
Alexander Hamilton McCone, a steel company heir, art collector, and philanthropist. A Harvard graduate, he becomes a shy, stammering recluse. He adopts Walter as his protégé and sends him to Harvard. McCone abandons Walter after discovering his leftist politics.
Dr. Robert Fender, a veterinarian, convict, and science-fiction writer. Tall and big-boned, resembling Charles Lindbergh, he was a farm boy of Scandinavian descent. As a lieutenant in the Army, he becomes the only American in the Korean War convicted of treason. As a life-term convict, he writes science-fiction stories that provide commentary on the plot under the pen names Kilgore Trout and Francis X. Barlow.