Deadeye Dick is a self-consciously literary work; its techniques and inventions are meant to call attention to themselves.

Vonnegut even goes so far as to point them out before the novel begins, probably in the hope that his audience will look for them in the narrative. A good discussion could begin by identifying the literary techniques that figure in the narrative—for example digressions and the absence of a plot. If the story is not the main aspect of the novel, then what is?

Are the characters the essential focus of the narrative? Is the narrative structure, or lack of it, the most important aspect of the novel? Are Vonnegut's inventions entertaining, enlightening, or annoying?

Another way to begin a discussion would be to look at the novel's ethos.

The universe in which the action takes place seems capricious; this may account for the many...