The book I read was Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut. A popular book about the fictional island of San Lorenzo and the destruction of life on earth; it explores deep religious and science ideas throughout the entire book. Although technically counted as a satire novel, some people consider a science fiction novel due to the “end of the world” aspect of it. I personally think that it is not a science fiction novel, since the end of the world is only used in the book to symbolize the destruction of humanity due to its stupidity. Vonnegut intends his books to be serious works exploring the human mind and making comments on its actions, not to be silly stories about aliens and the apocalypse. A major theme of Cat’s Cradle is religion. At the start of the book, Vonnegut expresses a viewpoint that a lot people disagree with; that religion is a lie. The book states that religion is a made up …show more content…
I don’t think that Vonnegut is trying to change people’s viewpoints on religion, just trying to make them consider the point that religion might be essential to the human race. He’s saying that people need it in their everyday lives to feel the urge to keep going and to give them motivation to do well in their lives. By creating a world in his book where religion is founded on lies, it makes people consider how religion really affects their lives everyday. The narrator, John, says, “Anyone unable to understand how a useful religion can be founded on lies will not understand this book either.” This quote sums up Vonnegut’s opinion of religion pretty well. Any religion that motivates people to do good and give back is a good religion, no matter how many lies it tells about the world. I don’t know if I quite agree with this idea because all these people are doing this good with the idea that they’re going to get something back from God after they die, and this religion is lying to them and giving them false hope. And maybe the things these
I think that the satire alone in Cat's Cradle is enough to encourage humanity to make a better world. Vonnegut makes things seem funny in the book that really are not funny in real life, such as an atom bomb, a father who ignores his child and everyone else, and an island where people are hung for practicing a certain religion. The book is amusing, but it made me think about what the world would be like if it really was that way. It would be horrible, and definitely nothing to laugh at.
Kurt Vonnegut writes pessimistic novels, or at least he did back in the sixties. Between Slaughterhouse Five, Mother Night, and Cat's Cradle, Vonnegut paints a cynical and satirical picture of the degradation of society using distortion as the primary means to express himself. In Cat's Cradle, the reader is confronted with the story of the narrator, John, as he attempts to gather material to write a book on the human aspect of the day Japan was bombed. As the story progresses, he finds that becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish reality from illusion. He meets up with a midget, a dictator, and a nation's object of lust as his journey progresses, and he eventually ends up the sole leader of a remote island and witnesses the end of the world. Using implausible stories and unbelievable characters and situations to convey his message, Vonnegut's utilization of literary distortion allows him to move the reader and prove his point in a far greater way than he could by just blatantly shouting his opinions. "Anyone unable to understand how useful a religion can be founded on lies will not understand this book either"(16), states the narrator, concerning Cat's Cradle. Throughout the text, Vonnegut uses the religion of Bokononism, which is a fictitious faith founded on the basis of deception, to establish that people can prosper and be happy under false beliefs. When two men founded the island nation of San Lorenzo, Cat's Cradle's model for society, it was...
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.
Kurt Vonnegut’s book, Cat’s Cradle is a satirical comedy of a person who tries to write a book about the day the world ended, however, he never completes the book because he dies. Vonnegut uses John’s book as a means of ridiculing the individuals that he meets along his journey to completing the book. Cat’s Cradle is set in the fictional city of San Lorenzo where hope is only found in religion. Through the use of humour Vonnegut challenges conventional notions of religion and science while satirizing those that identify themselves with either group. Firstly, Vonnegut satirizes religion using Bokononism, a religion based on lies that is accepted by the people of San Lorenzo. Secondly, through crude black humour Vonnegut displays science as a detrimental factor to safety and real progress.
Kurt Vonnegut's apocalyptic novel, Cat's Cradle, might well be called an intricate network of paradox and irony. It is with such irony and paradox that Vonnegut himself describes his work as "poisoning minds with humanity...to encourage them to make a better world" (The Vonnegut Statement 107). In Cat's Cradle, Vonnegut does not tie his co-mingled plots into easy to digest bites as the short chapter structure of his story implies. Rather, he implores his reader to resolve the paradoxes and ironies of Cat's Cradle by simply allowing them to exist. By drawing our attention to the paradoxical nature of life, Vonnegut releases the reader from the necessity of creating meaning into a realm of infinite possibility. It appears that Vonnegut sees the impulse toward making a better world as fundamental to the human spirit; that when the obstacle of meaning is removed the reader, he supposes, will naturally improve the world.
Kurt Vonnegut, critically acclaimed author of several best-selling novels, uses self-expression and psychological manipulation to stress to the reader his beliefs and ideas dispersed within the context of Cat's Cradle. From reading this novel, one might attribute perplexity pondering over the plot and general story line of the book. Cat's Cradle entangles itself in many interesting changes of events; strange outlandish ideas and psychological "black holes" can be found with just the flip of a page.
Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut was written in 1963. "It is a satirical commentary on modern man and his madness" (back cover). It is a book that counters almost every aspect of our society. As well as satire, Vonnegut also includes apocalyptic elements in this novel.
The narrator's lack of control on events brings up one of the main themes of the story which is embodied in a fictitious religion invented by Vonnegut, Bokononism. Bokononism is Vonnegut's way of describing the main theme of the book, which is that no matter what anyone does, no one can possibly change the incredible stupidity of mankind. Bokononism contends that all religions (including Bokononism) are nothing but a pack of hideous lies which should be completely disregarded. Even with this self-defeating underlying...
Dinaw Mengestu’s novel The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears is a story about an immigrant from Ethiopia named Sepha Stephanos that discovers the freedoms he travels to the United States for are not easily accessible and that sometimes you can lose yourself trying to figure out who you are. The passage that most clearly represents this notion comes as Stephanos is reflecting at the end of the novel, he says: “What was it my father used to say? A bird stuck between two branches gets bitten on both wings. I would like to add my own saying to the list now, Father: a man stuck between two worlds lives and dies alone. I have dangled and been suspended long enough” (Mengestu, 228). This paper will examine the metaphor of the two worlds Stephanos
Vonnegut reveals religion in the idea of morality and ethics in chapter 6, by using Lazzaro’s absurd notion of revenge. Lazzaro curses the Englishman who broke his arm, publicizing his concept of revenge, he says:
Vonnegut deals a lot with fantasy in his book, Cat's Cradle. From the beginning, he talks about the religion that he follows: Bokonism. This is not a real religion, however he has rules, songs, scriptures, and opinions of a person that practices this fantasy religion. Within his description of this religion however is black humor as well. I think that by him making up this whole religion and an entire island of people who follow it, is in a way mocking today's religion and the way that people are dedicated to their beliefs.
Religion is an important topic that is discussed frequently throughout Cat’s Cradle. The whole point of Vonnegut writing this book is to compare science with religion. In this book, there is a religion called Bokononism, which is a relig...
One of the most prevalent themes in Vonnegut’s works is religion. In the early pages of Cat’s Cradle, Vonnegut submits his contention that "a useful religion can be founded on lies (Vonnegut, Cats Cradle 16)," meaning that, fundamentally, religion is about people, not about faith or God. Reminiscent of Karl Marx’s description of religion as the "opiate of the masses," he describes all religions as mere collections of "harmless untruths" that help people cope with their lives. The Book of Bokonon in Cat's Cradle represents this portrait of religion at both its dreariest and its most uplifting, Bokononism is contradictory, paradoxical, and founded on lies; its followers are aware of this...
In short story “The Black Cat” by Edgar Allan Poe, symbolism serves as a powerful vehicle towards the grander theme. Poe uses the second black cats as a symbol for guilt to convey the theme that one cannot avoid guilt because shame and conviction will always follow a person until justice is reconciled. The black cat with the white mark represents what happens when conviction creeps into one’s life and becomes so unbearable that guilt will temporarily disappear only to return with a ravishing hunger for justice.
Science fiction is a genre of fiction that takes modern day reality and changes it to incorporate things like a futuristic setting and futuristic technology. It is often tied in with fantasy as fantasy does the same but instead of changing one thing, it changes almost everything. The novel 1984, written by George Orwell, is a science fiction book, but incorporates more elements of fantasy than normal science fiction stories. 1984 should be studied today because of the message it gives to readers about not following our leaders blindly. George Orwell is a pen name for Eric Blair. He named himself George Orwell during the publication of his book Down and Out in Paris because he didn’t want his family to be ashamed of him living as a vagrant in