Social Commentary in Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle Kurt Vonnegut’s science fiction novel, Cat’s Cradle, is chocked full of social commentary, satirical humor, and an overall pessimistic view on American Society. Through the fictional religion Bokononism Vonnegut introduces us to John, a young man who is writing a book about the day the atomic bomb was dropped. His research led him to the late Dr. Felix Hoenikker, a brilliant scientist who was deemed the “father of the atomic bomb.” Anxious to learn more about Hoenikker from his surviving children, John followed them to the impecunious island of San Lorenzo. In San Lorenzo John was introduced to Bokononism, the dominant (yet illegal) religion of the island; which among its many bizarre features, openly proclaimed that it was a total lie. While on the island, John also learned more about Ice Nine, the final project that Hoenikker created. Ice Nine ( a simple rearrangement of water molecules) had the ability to freeze instantly any body of water, due to a complex crystalline formation. Although the ice was to be Hoenikker’s great gift to the military to freeze swamps during battle, so they could move troops more efficiently; it ended up being a creation more fatal than the atomic bomb itself. Subsequently John's adventures came to a harsh, if strangely appropriate end caused by the selfishness of human nature. The moral of the story, laced with deception, ignorance, self-indulgence, and control is that life is entirely worthless and fails to serve a purpose. Yet, the comic relief and vivacity of the novel gives it power and charm, curiously contrasted with its depressing meaning. In the beginning of the novel, the reader is introduced to the deceased Felix Hoenikker, a man who was full of curiosity and had an uncanny regard for everything scientific. Not only was he the father of the atomic bomb, but shortly before his death he created the destructive Ice Nine. With the ability to freeze anything liquid it was essentially the end of the world, should it get into the wrong hands. Although the original intention of the water derived destructor was to help soldiers solidify swampy muck when fighting wars, so they could easily get through was... ... middle of paper ... ...uous activities he took part in at Jack’s Hobby Shop. Throughout the book, Frank is described as a quiet loner, someone who was out of the social realms of normal teenage life. Frank said “...but they didn’t know what really went on there. They would have been really surprised, especially the girls-- in they’d found out what really went on. The girls didn’t think I knew anything about girls.” (201, Vonnegut). When John asked him what he really was doing there, Frank simply said, “I was screwing Jack’s wife all day.” (Vonnegut, 201). This was Vonnegut’s way of using satire and irony to show that people make skewed judgments on others based on nothing more than what they want to believe. In conclusion, Cat’s Cradle is a fabulously constructed book, filled with sarcasm, wit, irony, and satire to express Vonnegut’s personal views on Human Society. Although it ends with the destruction of the world from the lethal Ice Nine, the book is somewhat redeemed by its humorous anecdotes, and clever allusions. Vonnegut successfully portrayed his pessimistic views of our society, and opened the reader up to a completely new way of thinking in terms of human nature.
The book begins with a writer named John researching for his book about the day the atomic bomb was dropped. He talks with Newt, son of Dr. Felix Hoenikker, the creator of the atomic bomb. He then goes to Illium, the town where the Hoenikkers grew up, and there he learns of ice-nine, one splinter of which could freeze all the oceans of the world. John soon discovers that Frank, the other son of Felix, is on a small island called San Lorenzo. He goes there to research more for his book. On the plane he meets Newt in person, who turns out to be a midget, and the Crosbys, a married couple. John reads a book the Crosbys give him on the plane all about the religion of Bokononism and it's customs. One custom is Bokomaru, touching the souls of feet together to grow closer. He also reads of how Bokonon, the creator of Bokononism, was outlawed.
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.
Relationships and Interdependence in the Works of Kurt Vonnegut While on the surface Kurt Vonnegut's works appear to singularly contain the pessimistic views of an aging, black humorist, his underlying meanings reveal a much more sympathetic and hopeful glimpse of humanity that lends itself to eventual societal improvement. As part of Vonnegut's strategy for enhanced communal welfare, the satirist details in the course of his works potential artificial family groups to connect the masses and alleviate the lonely.
The belief in fate or free will shapes the way a person lives their life. In Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle and Chloe Benjamin’s The Immortalists, many incidents cause the characters to question their destinies. Through the psychoanalytical lens, the characters in both novels challenge their fate and free will in response to negative events that impact their lives. The characters reevaluate their belief systems as they experience loss, death, and change.
Kurt Vonnegut has built a universe for Billy Pilgrim in Slaughterhouse-Five where Billy’s cruel, unforgiving reality is contrasted by a philosophical utopia where he has learned to operate without the pains of being human. Within this self-described ‘telegraphic’ and ‘schizophrenic’ novel, Vonnegut manages to swing the reader halfway across the galaxy to a planet inhabited by a plunger-like race called the Tralfamadorians, take them into the harrowing depths of a POW camp, and show you a man who is increasingly coming undone at the seams after having lived with the psychological terrors of the Dresden bombing. He accomplishes all of this while only leaving the reader with a slight case of jet lag and hopefully a new perspective on the American
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 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.
One can only imagine the intense emotional scarring that one would suffer after exiting an underground shelter with a dozen other men to find a city destroyed and its people dead, corpses laying all around. These feelings are what prompted Kurt Vonnegut to write Slaughterhouse-Five as he did. The main character of this novel mirrors the author in many ways, but the striking similarity is their inability to deal with the events of Dresden on the night of February 13, 1945. Section Two- Critical Commentaries Kurt Vonnegut's work is nothing new to critics, but Slaughterhouse-Five is considered to be his best work.
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.
Cat's Cradle is, "Vonnegut's most highly praised novel. Filled with humor and unforgettable characters, this apocalyptic story tells of Earth's ultimate end, and presents a vision of the future that is both darkly fantastic and funny, as Vonnegut weaves a satirical commentary on modern man and his madness" (Barnes and Noble n.pag). In Cat's Cradle, Kurt Vonnegut uses satire as a vehicle for threatened self-destruction when he designs the government of San Lorenzo. In addition, the Bokonists practice of Boko-maru, and if the world is going to end in total self destruction and ruin, then people will die, no matter how good people are and what religion people believe.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Throughout his career, Kurt Vonnegut has used writing as a tool to convey penetrating messages and ominous warnings about our society. He skillfully combines vivid imagery with a distinctly satirical and anecdotal style to explore complex issues such as religion and war. Two of his most well known, and most gripping, novels that embody this subtle talent are Cat's Cradle and Slaughterhouse-Five. Both books represent Vonnegut’s genius for manipulating fiction to reveal glaring, disturbing and occasionally redemptive truths about human nature. On the surface, Cat’s Cradle and Slaughterhouse-Five are dramatically different novels, each with its own characters, symbols, and plot. However, a close examination reveals that both contain common themes and ideas. Examining and comparing the two novels and their presentation of different themes provides a unique insight into both the novels and the author – allowing the reader to gain a fuller understanding of Vonnegut’s true meaning.