Chapter 8- Antihero

     Introduced in chapter eight, Howard W. Campbell Jr., "an American who had become a Nazi", can be described an an antihero (162). The very idea that an American could morph into a person who practices Nazi values practically screams "antihero"; moreover, Campbell proves to be an antihero through his words and actions. His dress included a motley of American elements coupled with Nazi symbols which is a disgrace to America. Since America's foundation is the principle that all men are created equal, American ideals and Nazi principles are on different wave lengths entirely. By disgracing the American name through his clothing, Campbell is an antihero who is hated by the American soldiers at Dresden. One of the especially vocal soldiers was Edgar Derby who could not allow Campbell to behave so despicably. Derby confronted Campbell by referring to him as "something much lower than a snake or a rat- or even a blood-filled tick" (164). Additionally, Edgar Derby reiterates the fact that Nazis are loathed by Americans by "speaking of the brotherhood between the Americans and the Russian people, and how those two nations were going to crush the disease of Nazism, which wanted to infect the whole world" (164). In response to Derby's name calling, "Campbell smiled". His nearly sinister reaction further illustrates the fact that Howard W. Campbell Jr. lacks morality which seals his status as an antihero.