CatS Cradle Essays - Kurt Vonnegut, Nonce Words, Cats Cradle

Cat'S Cradle In questioning the value of literary realism, Flannery OConnor has written, I am interested in making a good case for distortion because it is the only way to make people see. Kurt Vonnegut writes pessimistic novels, or at least he did back in the sixties. Between Slaughterhouse Five, Mother Night, and Cats Cradle, Vonnegut paints a cynical and satirical picture of the degradation of society using distortion as the primary means to express himself. In Cats 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 nations 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, Vonneguts 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 sho uting 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 Cats 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, Cats Cradles model for society, it was decided by them that the only way to keep starving natives from revolting was to create a religion focusing on the individual and then outlaw it. By doing this, the people could all employed full time as actors in a play they understood, that human being everywhere could enjoy and applaud (144). So became Bokononism, one of the men taking charge of the government, and the other, Bokonon, retreating into the forest to preach his faith. After exploring the theory of Bokononism, and machinations of the men behind it, the re ader is left wondering if Vonnegut is implying that democracy and our American ideals could be, perhaps, an elaborate hoax. Bokonons words: I wanted all things To seem to make more sense, So we all could be happy, yes Instead of tense. And I made up lies So that they would all fit nice And I made this sad world A par-a-dise (109) Upon his arrival at San Lorenzo, John is struck by the illusionary visage that the island projects. From his room in the luxurious Casa Mona, he is blessed with a view of the islands one paved street, the harbor, the airport, and a multiplicity of well manicured lawns and hedges. However, the squalor and misery of the city, being to the sides and back of the Casa Mona, were impossible to see (131). This clouded sense of beauty projected by the hotel may be interpreted as yet another metaphor blasting the concept of nationality. Perhaps the bells and whistles decorating our freedom and independence are merely distracting us from the corruption and destructio n being planned behind the scenes? Perhaps we really have no business calling ourselves one nation under god, as we are simply millions of people with millions of different interests? As John states: a seeming team that [is] meaningless in terms of the ways God gets things done, a textbook example of what Bokonon calls a granfallon. Other examples of granfallons are the Communist party, the Daughters of the American Revolution, the General Electric Company, the International order of Odd Fellows-and any nation, any time, anywhere. (82) Bokononism says that if there is a god, he is a practical joker, and the destruction of the world is thought of to be the Almightys final horrible joke. In one of his last statements, Bokonon states that this God is hardly the all-loving entity he is perceived to be. Someday, someday, this crazy world will come to an end, and our God will take things back that He to us did lend.