Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut, is a tricky story that involves both science and religion. The narrator in the book goes by John or Jonah and the main idea is that he wants to write a book about the atomic bomb, “The book was to be an account of what important Americans had done on the day when the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan.” Page 1. John goes on a journey to San Lorenzo meeting the children of Felix Hoenikker, who was a father that was involved in the making of the atomic bomb and created ice-nine. On his trip, religion plays a big role. John started off as a Christian and ended up becoming a Bokononist. Bokononism is based on the concept of foma, which are defined as harmless untruths.The religion is formed entirely of lies, but one who believes will have peace of mind and perhaps live a …show more content…
The science involves the making of the atomic bomb and the day it was dropped. That is what John is writing his book about and it connects with almost all of the characters mentioned in Cat’s Cradle. On page 57, Dr. Hoenikker states, “Photographing how cannonballs are stacked on courthouse lawns.” The photograph shows how dangerous science can be and it gave him the idea to create ice-nine, which can freeze any water at any temperature. With ice-nine being invented, it killed many characters in the book starting off with “Papa” Monzaro who commited suicide by eating the ice-nine. Quickly after, an aircraft hit the Monzaro Castle, where his dead body was, killing the Mintons and it led “Papa’s” body into the ocean letting ice nine to freeze the water across the entire world. Mona also dies by touching ice-nine to her lips. Angela dies by putting her clarinet in her mouth which contained ice-nine on it, then Julian And Philip died by helping out in the hospital. Due to the science in this book, it mostly led to a lot of
Throughout the history of writing, cats have symbolized craftiness, misfortune, deceit and death. Richard Wright creates no exception to this reputation in his novel Native Son. Bigger Thomas, a young, depressed black man, is placed in an awkward position when he is interviewed for a job with the Daltons, a wealthy white family. The Dalton's unnamed white cat, gazes at Bigger, symbolizing initially white society. This gazing causes Bigger to feel angry and awkward so that is comes to assume a far more critical symbolic level on the night of Mary Dalton's murder. His feelings lead him to express himself overtly in violence, specifically Bigger's killing of Mary. In effect, the Dalton's cat kills Mary.
Edgar Allan Poe was born January 19, 1809. Many consider him to be the master of mystery and horror. He only lived until he was forty, and during that time he endured a lot of hardships. For one, every woman he ever cared for ended up dead, usually by the dreaded tuberculosis. That included his wife Virginia. The men in his life who were supposed to be there to guide him, well, they were not there. I think that helped him write a lot of his dark and macabre stories. His most famous work is The Raven, a narrative poem that was first published in January 1845. He also wrote other highly regarded short stories such as, The Murders in the Rue Morgue, The Tell- Tale Heart, and The Black Cat. I will be doing my review on the latter of the three.
The following response will discuss how the elements of drama: mood and atmosphere, symbol and tension are utilized to create meaning in the clip titled “Charlotte’s Web: Saving the runt” (http://www.wingclips.com/movie-clips/charlottes-web/saving-the-runt.).
My book is called The Cradle by Arthur C. Clarke. The setting of this book takes place in sunny West Keys in Florida. The main characters in this book are Carol Dawson who is a Miami photojournalist. She takes pictures and writes stories about the pictures and sells them to the local news and newspaper. Nick Williams is a woman-hating Ivy League drop out who captains a boat for his own scuba diving company. Troy Jefferson is Nick’s trusty crewman who aids Nick in the epic story. This also is Non-Fiction.
I believe that Vonnegut uses Cat's Cradle as an allegorical tale about what will happen to the world if we are not careful with technology that has the ability to end life on this planet. He points out one of the qualities of humanity; that people make mistakes, thus poisoning our minds and encouraging a better world.
The Cathars were a very peaceful group that adopted a life of extreme devotion. Both men and women could become "parfaits". "Parfaits" referred to people who were seen by the Catholic Church as "perfect heretics". They renounced the world and abstained from eating meat and having any sexual contact. The Cathars lived in poverty. The men would travel and preach, and they earned money by cloth making, and shepherding. Followers were not expected to abide by the same ascetic standards as the parfaits, and they were permitted to eat meat and engage in sex. Catharism, or Albigensianism, was a religion which originated in the Balkans long before it made its appearance in the southwestern region of France , around the 12th century. It was a religion like any other, based on good versus evil. Albigensianism was a heretic religion and the catholics were not very fond of this new and upcoming religion. Its creed stated that god never created Earth, Jesus never existed nor did he suffer on the cross. The only ceremony practiced by the Cathars was the consolamentum or baptism of the Holy Spirit. For the Cathars, this was the only means of salvation. The Cathar clergy were those who had already received the consolamentum as part of the ritualistic ordination and had already been saved. The lay Cathars, or Believers, were obliged to receive the same sacrament before death in order to be saved as well. By the early thirteenth century Catharism was a very quickly growing religion in the area of Languedoc. It was supported by the nobility as well as the common people. This was yet another annoyance to the Roman Church. Even in open debates, Ca...
...niverse, he his painting a clear picture of the pitfalls of life. It is very clear that in Cat's Cradle, Vonnegut views religion and science as an excuse to not be responsible for individual actions. The Episcopalian woman in Newport believed that by knowing God, she knew everything, and yet lacked the ability to read a blueprint (13). Dr. Hoenikker hid behind that façade of science so that an institution could carry the burden of his inventions, and Jonah blamed Bokonon for the mass suicide, never once mentioning that each individual had a choice of whether or not to kill themselves (182).
Trace the development of the bullying. How convincing are the situation and Elaine's feelings are portrayed.
The differences of science from when Shelley wrote the novel until today, including the foreshadowing of what would happen if we used science for the worse.
The day the atomic bomb dropped, August 6, 1945, was the day in which Newt Hoenikker's father tried to play a game with him. Felix, one of the scientists who had helped create the weapon, wanted to play cat's cradle. It is a game played with string looped over the fingers. After a series of movements, one is supposed to be able to see what appears to be a cradle shape. To most, it simply looks like a tangled string. Newt’s constant reference to the game of Cat’s Cradle is Vonnegut's way of symbolizing the search for meaning that people get caught up in all the time. In the scientific community, they have made a career out of this game.
Science is a broad field that covers many aspects of everyday life and existence. Some areas of science include the study of the universe, the environment, dinosaurs, animals, and insects. Another popular science is the study of people and how they function. In Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Dr. Victor Frankenstein is an inspiring scientist who studies the dead. He wants to be the first person to give life to a dead human being. He spends all of his time concentrating on this goal, and gives up his family and friends. When he finally accomplishes this, everything falls apart. So, Victor Frankenstein is to blame for the tragedy, not the monster he has created, because he is the mastermind behind the whole operation, and he is supposed to have everything under control, working properly as a good scientist should do.
Aristotle once claimed that, “The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.” Artists, such as Louise-Elizabeth Vigée Le Brun and Mary Cassatt, captured not only the way things physically appeared on the outside, but also the emotions that were transpiring on the inside. A part no always visible to the viewer. While both artists, Le Brun and Cassatt, worked within the perimeters of their artistic cultures --the 18th century in which female artists were excluded and the 19th century, in which women were artistically limited-- they were able to capture the loving relationship between mother and child, but in works such as Marie Antoinette and Her Children and Mother Nursing her Child 1898,
“The idea that philosophy and science can be combined to give us the best possible knowledge about the world and how to act within it is an old one, encapsulated by the classic concept of scientia, a Latin word that means knowledge” (Pigliucci 6). In the book Cat’s Cradle the main topic of debate is clearly science versus religion. In many ways, these two topics are very different, but in others, they are quite similar. Both science and religion have a common goal, to find truth in the world. The main character of Cat’s Cradle is a man named John. At the beginning of the book, John is a Christian who is doing research on Felix Hoenikker, the maker of the atomic bomb. His attempt to learn about the science behind the bomb leads him to a religion called Bokononism. In this book, Bokononism is not like other religions. It is more of a mindset that attempts to explain the world and why unexplainable things happen. John’s gradual transition from Christianity, a religion that focuses on getting into heaven, to Bokononism, a mindset that strives to explain the world and gain knowledge about it, is a perfect example of how religion or science by itself does not supply knowledge. Scientists and religions experts try to explain the world through different ways. Scientists try to explain life with true facts, and religious people believe that a supernatural force who assigns purpose to everyones lives. Even though they are different, both groups try to explain the world and give purpose to their lives.
Many humans own a cat. Cats are considered peaceful and content animals. Even though many people own a cat, millions enter animal shelters each year. How a cat is handled within a shelter depends on the cats’ heath, handling, and housing. Disposition depends on how socialized the cats are, although many shelters are required to determine how socialized and comfortable the cats are with humans before adoption. Shelters are very stressful for cats, and can result in cats behaving in uncharacteristic ways. Cats that are highly socialized and adoptable often display aggressive or fearful behaviour when under stress. High stress levels peak when the cats are confined to a small cage in a shelter or household. Cats in households are usually free-roaming cats; they experience hazardous encounters outdoors, which cause stress levels to peak. It is also hypothesised that cats within a multi-cat household are more stressed, because they have nowhere to hide or run when spatial dispersion is unavailable. When a cat is overly stressed out, the cat can exhibit behaviours which include, vomiting, diarrhea, anorexia, and fever. Cats can also recognise the voices of their owners, which relates back to the 10,000-year history humans have with cats.
Point of view is a very important aspect of The Black Cat. The main character tells the story to the reader from his first person point of view. You have a good feel for the story because you have the first person narration. As you read into the story it comes apparent however that the narrator telling the story is not a reliable interpretation of the details around him. You have a good feel for his emotions and the events of the story, but the narrators opinions are so far out that you are forced to wonder just what of the story is the askew interpretation of a madman and what is the reality of the situation. The first person narration of the story plays an integral part in the reader's level of understanding of the main character's madness, as well as the unfolding of plot of the story.