Cat's Cradle by Vonnegut Essay

Vonnegut's novel the Cat's Cradle is in general, all about a satiric postmodernism theme of total truth. The author significantly brings into view several postmodernism concepts in this novel. He writes "No damn cat and no damn cradle" on page 66, a quote that illustrates the presence of a satiric postmodern theme. He satirizes the idea of truth by using religion Bokononism and the idea of the existence of progress in the society and how it perceives progress as the one thing that improves humankind and brings good fortune. Another concept brought out by him is that of complete knowledge and the idea of coming to acquire knowledge using experimentation and science. This concept directly relates to the themes of progress especially when the author's use of distortion in the novel is considered. A careful literary analysis of the Cat's Cradle reveals the postmodern influence of the author's satire and black humour used throughout the novel.

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The postmodern theme appears in the novel because the Cat's Cradle contains text that highly parodies the description of truth and the modern ideas of evolution. Throughout the novel, Vonnegut satirizes the ideas held by the society concerning progress and the whole process of achieving it by pursuing the truth and knowledge. The society holds a belief in modernism that it can make itself better by gaining scientific and empirical data about this world we live in. The belief says that the more the society knows of how things operate and the more understanding it gets the superior it becomes. The principles of postmodernism together with Vonnegut's view however highly criticize this belief. It questions this modern forgery that the society has come up with the creation of the bomb. In the Cat's Cradle, he uses an example that characterizes the novel's theme of postmodernism. He says that what if the progress society makes towards the spheres of discovery science and understanding causes the world to assume a utopia status. And suppose the only major benefit of the scientific discovery society has which is the atomic bomb has the capability of ending millions of lives, (Vonnegut, 63). He questions the concept of the society believing that by pursuing truth, science, and knowledge it betters itself and mankind.

In chapter 66, the author uses the plot to make distortion of how science does not cause the state of utopia. When Papa suffers from a strange illness, he informs Frank that he will preside, president San Lorenzo, because he has science, which is the best thing that has ever existed. He is convinced that he is almost dying and so he elects someone that he believes possesses the greatest and the most recent scientific discoveries of humankind ever witnessed I the novel, Ice-Nine. The satire in this section is that Papa believes science is the tool that will better the society, therefore mirroring the contemporary idea of the concept, (Vonnegut, 78). This scientific discovery, nevertheless, reveals the end of the world; the satire is reflected this way. The more society ventures into science, the more it loses its value and aspect of humanity.

Religion created by the author called Bokononism is used to pass across the way the society is misinformed about the essence of truth. This kind of religion rejoices in acknowledging the falseness of its ideals. Its believers and followers carry a belief that religion can be useful no matter how useless it is. As long as an individual views its ideals as beneficial, it does not matter if they hold no truth to it. The book of Bokonon states that living by harmless lies makes someone healthy, happy, and kind and brave, (Jr.'s 56 ). The island of San Lorenzo s used by the author to show how humankind can ironically benefit from lies rather than truths. This island is impoverished, and the people residing there have no way of making it better by utilizing its natural resources or improving its economy to make it conducive to life. They instead concentrate their attention on their religion that brings them hope, happiness, and good health.

On page 172 Vonnegut claims that there is no economic reform or government was going to make people lesser miserable. He also argues that religion was the instrument of hope. It is a postmodern view for the reason that it indicates how being exposed to absolute truth does not make the society better. When viewed from a modern perspective, it would seem that knowing will result in good things, that when humankind sees what is beyond falseness; they will be near to achieving a utopia. From a postmodern outlook however about how Vonnegut viewed Bokonism, the truth leads to deviation rather than helping the society, (Baring et al 46 .). Bokonism is used to parallel with the idea of postmodernism of the nonexistence of a single omniscience religious being.

This theme is significantly exemplified in the author's choice of the novel's symbol, which is a Cat's Cradle. It is a design made when one threads a string between their hands. He uses this to show how all truths and ideas of humankind are based on lies and narratives, (Maurice et al. 258). Almost all concepts that humankind accepts as truths are either mythologies legitimized by the need for their creation or are science; something that cannot even legitimize itself. The main character Converses with another character called Newt. According to Newt, he thinks that children grow in a weird and crazy way because of their association with playing the Cat's Cradle. He thinks that the design does not offer any room for creativity and all the children do is stare at all the Xs. He says, "No damn cat, and no damn cradle". This dialogue embodies everything that the Cat's Cradle symbol stands for. It articulates all the lies accepted by mankind as truths. The author is trying to say that no one holds the authority of determining what the truth is or even know the true definition of truth. Additionally, he is trying to say that no one can for sure know which kind of truth holds more significance than the rest. It all depends on an individual's judgment and understanding. This is a perfect example of the understanding of postmodernism Vonnegut holds.

The postmodern idea being expressed in this entire novel is that people are starting to realize that this world we live in is composed of human-made symbols and signs and we, therefore, have begun using them amusingly and ironically so that we get not confined to them. The author of Cat's Cradle can without a doubt be considered a postmodern one. He creates an eloquent tale that is full of parodies of modern perceptions and absolute truths. Through these parodies, the imperfections of the modern society together with the key principles of postmodernism get expressed. Vonnegut's exaltations of lies and expression of current shortcomings combined with his use of satire make the novel a literary piece of postmodern art.

Works Cited

A Study Guide for Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.'s Cat's Cradle. , 2009.

Baring, Maurice. Cat's Cradle. Looe, Cornwall: House of Stratus, 2014.

Vonnegut, Kurt. Cat's Cradle. New York: RosettaBooks, 2010.