Vonnegut mentioned Edgar Derby multiple times during the novel. It was implied that he would become more important later in the novel since the matter of his death was also constantly mentioned. The reader is left to ponder his later actions that lead to his eventual death. Edgar Derby can be classified as a dynamic character because he had undergone important changes that affected the result of the story's action. "Poor old Derby, the doomed high school teacher, lumbered to his feet for what was probably the finest moment in his life." He was standing up to speak out against Campbell, an American who had become a Nazi, trying to recruit soldiers for his military unit called "The Free American Corps." He told Campbell that he was "lower than a snake or a rat - or even a blood-filled tick." Vonnegut says there are almost no characters in his story because "most people in it are so sick and so much the listless playthings of enormous forces." Derby, however, was a character because he took on these enormous forces, standing up for his morals, values, and the United States. Vonnegut adds this dynamic character to give credit to the true heroes in war. He has been sure to make his anti-war stance clear throughout the novel, but also wants to point out the men who deserve to be praised because of their heroic actions.
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