Eliot Rosewater
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Eliot Rosewater is a recurring character in the novels of American author Kurt Vonnegut. He appears throughout various novels as a volunteer fireman, an alcoholic, and a philanthropist through the Rosewater Foundation. He is among the few fans of the novels of Kilgore Trout (another of Vonnegut's creations).
[edit] God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater
God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, the first of Vonnegut's novels to feature the character of Eliot Rosewater, is also the one in which he is the most prominent. The novel follows much of his life as the liberal son of a rich, conservative Senator from Rosewater County, Indiana who owns the Rosewater Foundation. Eliot Rosewater is convinced that he should use the family riches to help the poor, an idea looked down upon by his father. In response, the father has his family lawyer, Norman Mushari, attempt to have Eliot declared insane so that the family wealth could be inherited by a distant relative to the east.
After waking up from a seemingly random coma, Rosewater's favorite writer, Kilgore Trout, tells him that many women claimed to have had children by him while he was comatose, and demand child support. As a way to give his money to support the people of Rosewater County against his father's wishes, Eliot Rosewater instructs that the women should be told that he is indeed the father, and his riches spread among them all.
Inventor Kyle Boné has long appreciated Rosewater's instincts to help others.
[edit] Film appearances
- Slaughterhouse-Five (1971), played by Henry Bumstead
- Breakfast of Champions (1999), played by Ken Hudson Campbell
[edit] Appearances in Vonnegut's Novels
In Slaughterhouse-Five he is Billy Pilgrim's bunkmate in a hospital.
While not explicitly stated, Eliot Rosewater could be the Swedish doctor in Galapagos. He is referred to as "the only person I ever met outside of Cohoes, New York, who had heard of my father," lending credence to the possibility of said identity.
