The Construction of Identity in Mother Night: Character Analysis Anonymous College

In today's society, almost anything is possible to achieve, a fact that makes it so that nothing is ever as it appears. Things change constantly, whether we agree with such changes or not. This idea is especially notable in the people of the modern world, who undergo phases in life when they change who they have become to then truly discover who they were meant to be. In Kurt Vonnegut's Mother Night, there are several characters that create various identities for themselves for various reasons. It is imperative to understand why characters pretend to be something they are not in order to understand how it can affect someone internally, and how becoming fixated with remaining loyal to your country or leaving behind an old life can lead to a character's demise.

Howard Campbell was the prime character that had duel identities. His intentions can be immediately questioned because he grew up in Germany, and serving as an American spy never made sense because he was no longer familiar with the American culture. This is supported when Campbell's “Blue Fairy Godmother” Frank Wirtanen confuses him for being an Englishman due to the way he spoke. Campbell's change in identities challenged his way of living. Prior to becoming an American...