30 pages • 1 hour read
Kurt Vonnegut Jr.Welcome to the Monkey House
Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1968A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Character Analysis
Nancy McLuhan
Content Warning: The story discusses suicide and contains depictions of rape and group violence against a single person.
As the protagonist, 63-year-old Nancy is the character whose insights are most prevalent in the narration and action of the story. Nancy is described as a tall and strawberry blonde, and her looks are highly sexualized by the hostess uniform of “white lipstick, heavy eye makeup, purple body stockings with nothing underneath, and black-leather boots” (31). Hostesses, in general, are described as being “pretty, tough-minded, highly intelligent girls” (30), and Nancy’s initial skepticism of the police officer, anger toward Billy for what he might do to her, and boredom with her job and clients is indicative of this. Nancy reveals at the end of the story that she is secretly discontent with her virginity. Due to the nature of her job, Nancy does not likely have a significant other or any other relationships outside her coworkers. She seems to hold a high value for the sisterhood among the hostesses, which contributes to the betrayal that occurs when they have come to beat her and help Billy rape her. At the beginning of the story, she is scandalized that any of them would allow Billy to do such a thing, because she holds her job sacred, as it gives her value and purpose.
When Nancy is kidnapped by Billy, the circumstances force her to confront her identity and values. When she meets with Billy on the boat, she is subjected to horrors intended to force her to question her assumed values. Vonnegut proposes that Nancy has a new choice to make after Billy assaults her: She can change her mindset and find happiness through sexual freedom or attempt to return to a world that Vonnegut argues denies her basic humanity—however, neither of these choices account for the effects of the trauma she endures. Nancy’s primary motivation in the story is to survive, which would indicate that Billy is her primary antagonist. However, given the nature of the themes and the journey Nancy takes, her primary antagonists are also society and herself.
Billy the Poet/Foxy Grandpa
Other than being short and thin, Billy is only described as appearing 22 years old. At the beginning of the story, he is disguised as an old man called Foxy Grandpa. This and the enigmatic descriptions of him from his victims indicate that he is an archetypal trickster or shapeshifter. The poems and songs Billy sends to his targets are vulgar and immature, and yet as the story progresses, Billy’s nature becomes less childish and over-sexed and more purposeful. He seems to have little respect for Nancy, other than her looks, when he kidnaps her, and yet he refers to her as “Juno” (41), indicating his respect for, if not who she is, who she might become. Additionally, while his behavior toward her is sexual and he speaks to her in a derogatory manner, Billy does not touch Nancy as he guides her toward the museum. He says, “A woman’s not a woman until the pills wear off” (41), but he seems to view her only from her potential until she arrives, bare faced, to meet him.
In costume, Billy waits for Nancy as a husband might wait on the wedding night for his bride. When she arrives, she expects him a grandiose setting, but the room is plain and non-descript. He wants the ritual to be as close to what it might have been when his grandfather deflowered his grandmother. He tries to show kindness toward Nancy while simultaneously assaulting her. Paradoxically, he is attempting to give her bodily autonomy by simultaneously sexualizing her and taking her autonomy away. This dichotomy is never fully addressed. Billy’s apparent intent is emphasized by how he rapes her with “clinical skill” (47). Afterward, Billy seems defeated. He says he does not enjoy this part of the ritual, despite what his songs and poems might indicate to a prospective target. Nancy takes this wavering as weakness, yet he seems to be biding his time for Nancy to hear the truth. When he chooses to speak to her, Nancy realizes why he is chosen to lead. This mercurial flow from one persona into another, while he remains deeply rooted in his beliefs, reveals his nature, which is well-suited for the leader of a revolution. Overall, Billy’s actions are driven by a desire to improve social connections and eliminate morally driven mandates that contradict human nature. As an antagonist, his primary role in the story is to challenge Nancy’s beliefs, and by extension, societal assumptions.
Pete Cocker
Pete is a police officer who is not well-described in the story. He initially has a well-intentioned but sexist view of the emotional strength of the hostesses, though he recants when Nancy threatens to show him what a trained hostess is capable of. His diction and behavior are coarse and unprofessional, and his over-eagerness to catch Billy demonstrates this. As he leaves the parlor, he drops evidence, allowing Nancy access to it, and then leaves Nancy alone, despite knowing that Billy is elusive and has targeted Nancy for rape. Pete’s deviation from police procedure allows Nancy to be kidnapped, which makes him one of Nancy’s antagonists.
Mary Kraft
Mary is a tall brunette and a suicide hostess. She performs a minimal role in the story, other than to represent the mindset of a typical hostess. Her name might indicate the archetypal contradiction between how she looks (Mary Magdalene) and who she is (Virgin Mary). Her supporting role shows the dynamic between the suicide hostesses and the general law-abiding demeanor they collectively exude.
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By Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
