Breakfast of Champions Study Questions & Topics for Discussion

Breakfast of Champions Topics for Discussion

Is the novel an essentially racist text? How is race used throughout the narrative to construct meaning?

The narrator observes that many menial jobs (refer to pp. 245-246) are considered to be properly done only by women or African Americans (for example, an earth-moving machine is referred to as "The Hundred-Nigger Machine", p. 146). In point of fact, nearly all of the female and African American characters in the novel are employed at performing these types of menial and physically-demanding jobs - is this simply a textual coincidence?

Discuss the relationship between the novel's author and the novel's narrator. Are they the same person? How is the narrator constructed as a character throughout the narrative?

The narrator states that Dwayne Hoover went crazy because of 'bad chemicals'; is this a plausible and satisfactory explanation?

Consider the actual plot of the novel - what really happens?

What is the narrative about?...
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