Literary Term - Chapter Eight: Stock Character

In Chapter Eight, Billy Pilgrim is having an eighteenth wedding anniversary party at his house. He invited his favorite author, Kilgore Trout, and he was talking to a pretty young woman named Maggie White. Billy Pilgrim described her as "a dull person, but a sensational invitation to make babies." Kilgore Trout was telling her stories and she was so gullible that she believed them and was scared of some of the fictional details. Maggie White is a stock character. A Stock Character (a.k.a. Stereotype) is a fixed idea of a character that does not allow for any individuality, often based on religious, social, or racial prejudices. Maggie White is the equivalent of our society's "dumb blonde." She is a pretty girl who is not as smart as most people.