Bugs Bunny

Bugs Bunny is the nickname the novel gives one of the United States Secret Service agents who escorts the blonde actress from President Kennedy’s suite. The caricatured name, tied to his conspicuous front teeth and springy walk, turns an agent enforcing the President’s private security into a sharply recognizable figure in a scene of humiliation and coercion.

Identity and Appearance

The blonde actress first sees Bugs Bunny in a corridor, where he leads the way after addressing her formally. The narration singles out his two enormous front teeth, likening them to those of the cartoon character, and his bouncing gait. The nickname is therefore a visual shorthand for the agent, not evidence that the cartoon character himself appears in the scene.

Escort from the Suite

When the actress is being taken out through a side exit, Bugs Bunny is positioned at her right, with Dick Tracy on her left. They hold her by the forearms. Hoping to return to the adjoining room and greet the President and the red-haired woman she has seen with him, she tries to address them; the two agents pull her away with enough force to make her fear that her arms have been dislocated.

Violence and Narrative Role

The escort becomes more openly violent in the corridor. One agent shakes the actress and the other slaps her; the narration identifies Dick Tracy as the one who strikes her, leaving Bugs Bunny as the agent who shakes her. When she protests and threatens to complain to the President, the agents continue to remove her from the suite. Bugs Bunny’s role is brief but consequential: he helps convert her attempted return and appeal into a forced removal, while the paired nicknames give the agents a cartoonish surface that contrasts with the physical force they use.