Mother Night: Analysis of Major Characters
"Mother Night: Analysis of Major Characters" delves into the complex and morally ambiguous figures within Kurt Vonnegut's novel, "Mother Night." The protagonist, Howard W. Campbell, Jr., is an American-born writer turned Nazi propagandist who grapples with his identity and the implications of his actions during World War II. His tragic arc culminates in despair over his perceived betrayal of self, leading to his ultimate demise. Other significant characters include Helga Noth, Campbell's wife, whose death he unknowingly broadcasts, and Resi Noth, Helga's sister, who, torn between loyalty and love, sacrifices herself for Campbell.
Major Frank Wirtanen serves as Campbell's handler, embodying the paradox of espionage and the blurred lines between heroism and treachery. Lieutenant Bernard B. O'Hare represents the relentless pursuit of justice, viewing Campbell as a personal enemy, while George Kraft, a seemingly loyal friend, is revealed to be a Russian spy, complicating notions of friendship and betrayal. Lastly, Lionel Jason David Jones, a neo-Nazi publisher, misinterprets Campbell's legacy, highlighting the dangers of ideological extremism. Overall, the character dynamics in "Mother Night" explore themes of identity, morality, and the consequences of one's choices in times of conflict.
Mother Night: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Kurt Vonnegut
First published: 1961
Genre: Novel
Locale: Nazi Germany, New York City, and Israel
Plot: Comic realism
Time: 1938–1961
Howard W. Campbell, Jr., the protagonist, a pitiful, abandoned, forty-eight-year-old “citizen of nowhere.” American-born, he moved with his family to Berlin at the age of eleven. By 1938, at the age of twenty-six, he is a successful writer and producer of medieval romance plays, all starring his beloved wife, Helga. At this time, he is recruited by Major Frank Wirtanen to be an American secret agent posing as a Nazi radio propagandist. Thought to be a vile Nazi hatemonger (only three people know of his services as an American secret agent), Campbell is twice captured as a Nazi war criminal and twice released through Wirtanen's secret machinations. Finally, Campbell, in despair over his Nazi-tainted past, turns himself in to Israeli authorities and is imprisoned in Jerusalem. When he is again ironically “saved” by Wirtanen and is faced with the nausea of being a free man, he hangs himself for “crimes against himself.”
Helga Noth, Campbell's wife, the daughter of the Berlin chief of police. She dies in the war. Campbell, without knowing it, had broadcast the news of Helga's death in one of his coded radio broadcasts, but because he was ignorant of his broadcast's secret contents, he was not privy to this information.
Resi Noth, Helga's younger sister, only ten years old when Campbell last sees her in Germany. Fifteen years later, Resi, now a Russian spy, poses as Helga and plots, with fellow spy George Kraft, to kidnap Campbell and transport him to Russia. Resi falls in love with Campbell, however, and tries to subvert the plans to take him to Moscow. When she is captured by American agents and faced with deportation and separation from Campbell, she takes a fatal dose of cyanide anddies“forlove”inhisarms.
Major Frank Wirtanen, an agent of the U.S. War Department who recruits Campbell as an American spy. Wirtanen, one of only three people who know of Campbell's role, twice saves him from death or capture but can never be found to corroborate Campbell's claim to be a spy. Finally, when Campbell is imprisoned in Jerusalem, Wirtanen, who really is Colonel Harold J. Sparrow of the U.S. Army, violates direct orders and reveals his role as Campbell's recruiter to free Campbell from prison.
Lieutenant Bernard B. O'Hare, a rabid patriot and member of the American Third Army. He considers himself Camp-bell's personal nemesis. He captures Campbell after World War II, only to have him released by Wirtanen. O'Hare waits fifteen years for his chance to capture Campbell again and tries to ensnare him in his New York apartment, but Campbell fights off the drunken, pitiful man by breaking his arm with a pair of fire tongs.
George Kraft, a lonely old painter, Campbell's neighbor and best friend in New York. Kraft, who really is Russian spy Iona Potapov, plots with Resi Noth to kidnap Campbell and deliver him to the Soviets, but in his own loneliness he finds himself drawn to Campbell, becoming his closest companion. Kraft devises a plan whereby he, Resi, and Campbell can escape to Mexico, but he is arrested by American agents and sent to prison, where he becomes an influential painter. Kraft's deep friendship with Campbell is ironic, considering that Kraft is an enemy spy.
Lionel Jason David Jones, D.D.S., D.D., a neo-Nazi and publisher of the White Christian Minuteman. He extols Campbell as the greatest hero of embattled white men in their continuing struggle against the oppressive forces of Judaism, Unitarianism, and black nationalism. Campbell, however, agrees with none of Jones's beliefs and thinks that Jones is insane.