I felt that the best example of Wild Bob's dialect was on page 67 when he says, "'God be with you, boys!' he said, and that echoed and echoed. And then he said, 'If you're ever in Cody, Wyoming, just ask for Wild Bob!'"
Now, I may be alone when I say this, but I don't think, if I am ever on my deathbed, that one of the things I would say would be, "God be with you." I would hope I would have the strength and courage to do so, but I'm not positive that this phrase will come to my head. To me, this shows a great deal about Wild Bob. Clearly, Wild Bob is extremely grounded in his faith because he had the presence of mind to ask God's blessing upon these troops while struggling for his life with pneumonia.
To be honest, I have to admit that before reading this chapter, I did not really think at all about the state of Wyoming. The only reason I really know anything about the state is from 5th grade geography, when I learned that it's a rectangular shape and its capital is Cheyenne. (Although, to be fair, Wyoming probably thinks the same about Indiana, so I guess we're even steven.)I did not even know if there was a stereotype existed about the citizens. Therefore I was really taken aback when I read Vonnegut's generalization of the Wyoming-ans (Wyominites? Wyominians? Wyomingers? Whatever it is...) as a bit of a typical "Wild Wild West" citizen. What do I mean when I say that?
Yes, I am aware of the stereotypes I just made about all Wyoming-ans. I know they aren't all like that, and would be offended if they were reading this. However, Wild Bob fits each of these stereotypes perfectly; for example, Wild Bob looks forward to barbecuing a whole steer when he returns home, even though he is dying.
So, I guess the question is: what is Vonnegut's purpose in the quote from page 67? I think Vonnegut included the character of Wild Bob as a way of generalizing all Wyoming-ans to continue the satire of SH-5, and also because he likes to attempt to reproduce the dialect from Wyoming and add some more humor to his book.
Wild Bob, "God be with you." Rest in peace.
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