Book Debate!

Book: Cat’s Cradle Author: Kurt Vonnegut 1. Symbolism Ice-9: A fictional form of water (like steam or ice) that is able to replicate its chemical structure when it comes in contact with liquid water. It therefore has the potential to turn all water into unusable solid, Ice-9. This represents the double sided nature of science and human curiosity. Ice-9 is an incredible feat of technology, just as the atom bomb was, but at the same time exists only as a threat to life on earth. Ice 9 has no uses other than the destruction of earth. Additionally, Ice-9 is constantly used by main characters as a means to satisfying their own petty and selfish goals. Bokonon, Mona, Monzano – These are three characters that represent different ways that society seeks to ameliorate the everyday suffering of individuals. Bokonon represents religious leaders; he recognizes that the suffering will never end and so seeks to come up with comforting lies that will make people feel better. In many ways Bokonon’s religion is successful in this respect. Mona is a national sex symbol, she represents the celebrity, the way that people take great interest in the lives of prominent actors, musicians, and politicians as a way to live vicariously or to forget their own lives. Monzano represents governmental control of society as a means of improving conditions. There are other examples along these lines, and all are successful to some degree but also evoke immediate moral revulsion. Cat’s Cradle- This is a real children’s game in which string is interwined between fingers to make the shape of a “Cat’s Cradle.” The joke is that nothing about the shape of the string suggests a cat or a cradle. This underscored by the question “See the cat? See the cradle?” to which the answer is “no” because there is no cat or cradle. The game is a pointless illusion and represents a summation of all the activities and motives of the individuals in the book. From the scientist that only values “pure research” to the cab driver that thinks all criminals should be executed, all the characters have their own value systems and goals that are ultimately creations of the imagination with no real existence. But still, Cat’s Cradle is a fun game and the fact that there is no cat and no cradle hasn’t stopped kids from playing it for the past 50 years. 2. Humor and Joy in the Midst of Futility Kurt Vonnegut is renowned for his sense of humor even in the darkest of material. Cat’s Cradle is in almost every respect a profoundly depressing book. The characters are base and immoral, terrible things happen to the characters, and all the easy answers to the character’s problems are torn apart. And yet Vonnegut is able to use humor and irony to make these characters relatable and sympathetic. With all the awfulness going on, Vonnegut makes the positive aspects of humanity shine through in a very personal and authentic way. Sure it is sort of terrible that after an apocalypse the main character’s main concern is having sex with a woman he “fell in love with” after seeing her picture in a magazine. But at the same time it is pretty funny and pretty relatable- who hasn’t crushed on a celebrity and who wouldn’t be a little horny after several months in a bomb shelter? Vonnegut brilliantly juxtaposes the existentially devastating with everyday beauty in way that makes you feel paradoxically hopeful, miserable, joyful, and repulsed.