42: Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
Kurt Vonnegut photographed by Oliver Morris, Getty Images.
“She was a fool, and so am I, and so is anyone who thinks he sees what God is Doing.”(5)
Oh, how I love Vonnegut. I’ve now read three of his books alongside Cat’s Cradle, including Welcome to the Monkey House and Slaughterhouse-five. He rolls out such specific dark comedy in a relatable, satiric voice that remains unmatched.
If you have any suggestions for an author that may hold a candle to Vonnegut in this regard, please be my guest and comment their name below so we can share a laugh.
1963, First Edition Hardback Cover.
Cat’s Cradle is a classic case of absurdism, exploring the comedic darkness of the progress of science, technology--their increasing influence on the arms race--and how religion can be wielded as a coping mechanism in uncertainty.
Vonnegut makes up a religion called Bokononism on a tiny, insignificant island called San Lorenzo, in which the very few people that survive in poverty are granted solidarity, hope, and a common narrative. Practicing Bokononism is forbidden by their pseudo-president under the threat of being impaled on a large hook for all the island to witness, though none of the islanders have ever seen it happen.
This is how I pictured the fictional island of San Lorenzo. This is a real private island in Fiji, though.
Vonnegut cleverly places both the fear of the threat of the outside world as well as the threat of the inner world on opposing ends of a morally ambiguous society, rendering its people bound to the island and under questionable authority.
This plays well into the wider scope of the novel, in which our main character, Jonah, is on a mission to write a book about the atom bomb called The Day the World Ended. He finds that the son of the creator of the atom bomb, Frank Hoenikker, is living on the fictional Caribbean island of San Lorenzo, and heads there to interview him.
““A scientist turned to Father and said, ‘Science has now known sin.’ And do you know what Father said? He said, ‘What is sin?’””(17)
Vonnegut deliberately places religion and science at odds with one another, advocating in neither direction, while making it all into a joke about humanity’s made up ideas. The most absurd notion is maybe that nobody knows any better than another.
“If I were a younger man, I would write a history of human stupidity; and I would climb to the top of Mount McCabe and lie down on my back with my history for a pillow; and I would take from the ground some of the blue-white poison that makes statues of men; and I would make a statue of myself, lying on my back, grinning horribly, and thumbing my nose at You Know Who.”(287)
You will enjoy Cat’s Cradle if you liked similar works like Catch-22 by Joseph Heller or Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson.
As always, thanks for reading. - Gabby
