Satire and Surrealism in Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle
In 1963, Kurt Vonnegut published his second novel Cat's Cradle. It is a distressing yet satirical critique of our society and the surrealistic end that is its destiny. Through his use of irony and sarcasm he attacks and exposes society's flaws while questioning its intelligence. Nothing is safe from his satiric pen. He attacks science and religion with equal intensity. He creates a novel that has left, "an indelible mark on an entire generation of readers" (back cover).
Society has constructed many pillars (religion, science) to protect us from the unknown. Kurt Vonnegut uses satire to tear them down. He attacks religion through his false religion of Bokononism. It is a religion of "shameless lies"(5). Newt summarizes religion up best when he compares it to the cat's cradle. "Religion! . . . See the cat? . . . See the cradle?" Yet, perhaps the greatest attack on religion comes in the last paragraph of the novel. Bokonon himself says, "If I were a younger man, I would write a history of human stupidity. . . and I would make a statue of myself, lying on my back, grinning horrible, and thumbing my nose at You Know Who"(287).
The antithesis of religion is science. It is the provider of horrifying truths. Kurt Vonnegut satirical looks at how science will lead to the destruction of mankind. It is the scientist who created the atom bomb and it is the scientist who created Ice-9, yet the scientist refuses to take responsibility for it. Vonnegut satirically looks at the irresponsibility of the scientist through Felix Hoenikker who says, "Why should I bother with made-up games when there are so many real ones going on?"(11). He never understands that the games he is playing will have a disastrous effect on the human race.
This disaster comes in the form of Ice-9. Kurt Vonnegut creates a surrealistic view of the apocalypse. It is a new and strange world that Jonah returns to after hiding for a week in the bomb shelter. It is a world that could have been found on the canvas of a Salvador Dali painting. The earth is a blue-white pearl, and the sky is filled with worm-like tornadoes while the sun has become a tiny cruel sickly yellow ball (261).
Festa, Conrad. “Vonnegut’s Satire.” Vonnegut in America: An Introduction to the Life and Work of Kurt Vonnegut. Vol. 5. 1977. 133-50. The GaleGroup. Web. 10 March. 2014.
Vonnegut satirically attacks religion by displaying it’s purpose as only providing comfort to it’s followers regardless of whether it’s based on truth or lies. Cat’s Cradle introduces Bokononism, a religion made up of ”bittersweet lies” (Vonnegut,12) with the sole aim of providing people with purpose and meaning to their otherwise boring life. Bokonon the creator of the religion admits that it is based on lies but he also realizes that in order for it to be useful it does not have to necessarily be true. The books of Bokonon, the biblical equivalent of Bokononism states : “Live by the foma (harmless untruths) that make you brave and kind and happy and healthy.” (Vonnegut, 6) The city of San Lorenzo is used by Vonnegut to display the usefulness of Bokononism over any truth. The truth would be that the lives of humans lack purpose and that does not in any way help San Lorenzo, the poorest country in the world. In addition, San Lorenzo has no ...
Like a dream filled with complex characters and situations which one is compelled to discuss and analyze the next day, Vonnegut uses dark humor to penetrate his reader's world. The Cornell medical student whom the narrator, Jonah, first interviews by mail turns out to be a midget. The brilliant nuclear physicist, the father of the atom bomb, is infantile. Writers and college professors are essential to human existence, and Boko-maru is a form of love that can happen anytime, anywhere, and with anyone.
Oscar Wilde, an acclaimed Irish Poet, novelist, dramatist and critic once aptly commented, “Men become old, but they never become good”. The philosophical aspect of this quote relies on the basis that human beings are inherently malevolent. Through his pessimistic perspective, Wilde clearly captures the ill-disposed mindset of mankind. Moreover, there are various deductive arguments that discredit the optimistic depiction of human nature. One of the prime examples can be found in Kurt Vonnegut’s literature. In Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat's Cradle, through the illustration of his characters, the author symbolizes the four elements of human fallibility.
Once in the water, one should slip their feet into the boots and adjust them for a proper fit by tightening them securely around one’s ankles for support. After the boots are secure, the driver will hook one end of the ski rope to the boat and toss the handle to you. When you have the rope in your hands, bend your knees a little bit with the board at a ninety degree angle in front of you. As the driver slowly accelerates, the rope will tighten, pulling you forward a bit. At this point, it is your responsibility to signal to the driver that you are
Kurt Vonnegut Served as a sensitive cell in the organism of American Society during the 1960's. His work alerted the public about the absurdity of modern warfare and an increasingly mechanized and impersonal society in which humans were essentially worthless and degenerated. The satirical tone and sardonic humor allowed people to read his works and laugh at their own misfortune.
The ethics behind using animals for experiments and tests has been questioned and debated for years. Many people believe that animal experimentations can be crucial towards medical breakthroughs such as the cure for cancer, HIV/AIDS or asthma. Meanwhile others argue that animals that are used to test cosmetics such as make-up and perfumes are inhuman because is not going to help improve the human race. Animals suffer through multiple types of torture such as being forced to ingest poisonous chemicals, blinded, burned, stapled, and infected with disease viruses. Even though animal experimentation may be considered inhumane to many, animal experimentation is crucial to advancements in medical research and can lead to a better quality of life; on the other hand, animal experimentation should not be used to develop cosmetics because such experimentation is cruel and unnecessary.
Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut is a satire on the state of world affairs in the 1960's. Vonnegut made a commentary in this book on the tendency of humans to be warlike, belligerent, and shortsighted. The main character of the book, the narrator, is certainly not a protagonist, although the modern reader craves a hero in every story and the narrator in this one is the most likely candidate. Through the narrator's eyes, Vonnegut created a story of black humor ending in the destruction of the earth.
Kurt Vonnegut’s fictional novel “Cat’s Cradle”, indirectly explores issues that parallels into topics such as religion, scientific/technological advancements, political power and much more. Vonnegut’s novel is narrated by a character named Jonah (John). He, Jonah, sets out to write an anthropological book based off of what key people were doing on the day that the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Throughout Vonnegut’s novel it can clearly represents how a writer can become a very destructive person to society. As for this novel, it shows through the uses of parallels that a writer can become a very destructive person to society, these parallels are reflects to real world issues throughout his novel to show this claim, that a writer too can be a destructive person to society.
Kurt Vonnegut said in The Vonnegut Statement (1973), in an interview with Robert Scholes, that one of his reasons for writing is "to poison minds with humanity…to encourage them to make a better world" (107). This idea works quite well in Vonnegut's book, Cat's Cradle. It is a satirical story of a man's quest to write a book about the day the world ended (refering to the day the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima), which he never finishes. What we get is a raw look at humans trying desperately to find a sense of purpose in their lives through different means such as religion, science, etc.
Do you know what it feels like to have your palms sweat, throat close up, and your fingers tremble? This is the everyday life of someone who lives with anxiety. As soon as I wake up in the morning, I hear my brain freaking out about the day ahead of me. What do I eat for breakfast? What do I do first when I get home from school? What happens if I get in a car crash on my way to school? A million thoughts at one time racing through my head. I never have the time to process all of them. Most mornings, I lay in my bed and have to take a few deep breaths to begin my hectic but not so hectic day. That’s just the beginning. It’s safe to say that I feel that I 'm an anxious person and that I have an anxiety disorder.
Everything suddenly becomes unfamiliar and I’m no longer comfortable in my own skin. I’m absolutely terrified and unable to collect thoughts properly. Tormenting-thoughts shoot left and right through my brain and after each hit I find my heart beating faster by the second. My chest becomes tight and it is hard to breathe. I’m paralyzed with fear; it is impossible to find the right words to say, and I have a sudden aura of loneliness. I am having a panic attack.
Skiing, as a sport has existed since the early 1800’s, although depictions of skis have been discovered throughout Europe dating back thousands of years. Skiing as a recreational activity became popularized in the mid 1800’s however it did not arrive in the United States until around 1841. Once the concept of skiing reached the states, it took off. The United States continued to power advances in skiing for decades, with the introduction of rope tows, then actual ski lifts. By the 1950’s several ski areas had begun snowmaking and trail grooming, two American born inovatio9ns which ensured better skiing conditions and launched the US far ahead of Europe in ski technology (Fry 38). Skiing continued to evolve throughout the 1900’s, constantly changing and adapting to improve athlete performance and recreational experiences. Skis and equipment changed quickly and frequently, ski bindings, which...
These elements must make the sport enjoyable to all involved at many levels, to provide basic leisure, to test one's abilities and to develop the individual's mental and physical boundaries. Skiing includes all of the right elements to produce a perfect sport; it provides challenge at multiple levels, involves differing levels of risk and provides variety in activities.
"Globalization is a process of world shrinkage, of distances getting shorter, things moving closer. It pertains to t...