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Cat's Cradle Essay
Cat's Cradle Essay
Cat's Cradle Essay
AP English, 1B
March 18, 2009
In Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut, the cynical diction, austere imagery, and the
brusque syntax help to convey the theme that religion is a foolish necessity and the
author’s sardonic attitude towards the subject of religion. Cat’s Cradle follows the
journey of Jonah, a journalist attempting to write a book about the day the first atomic
(Vonnegut 86), Jonah slogs his way through the mystery of religion before reaching his
First, the sarcastic diction shows the author’s antipathy for religion and his
expresses his disgust of Christianity and its claim of truth. During a conversation Jonah
has with a scientist, the scientist says, “New knowledge is the most valuable commodity
on earth. The more truth we have to work with, the richer we become” (Vonnegut 41).
Jonah writes, “Had I been a Bokononist then, that statement would have made me howl”
(Vonnegut 41). This is because, as a Bokononist, Jonah believes that no one can know the
absolute truth. Jonah has this to say about a devout Episcopalian: “She was a fool, and so
am I, and so is anyone who thinks he sees what God is Doing” (Vonnegut 5). Bokonon,
founder of Bokononism, says this: “All of the true things I am about to tell you are
shameless lies” (Vonnegut 5). Jonah explains, saying, “Anyone unable to understand how
a useful religion can be founded on lies will not understand this book either” (Vonnegut
6). However, San Lorenzan citizen, Julian Castle offers the following testimony in favor
of religion:
Despite the author’s disgust with organized religion, he gives evidence of its usefulness
in the case of San Lorenzo. Without the “bittersweet lies of Bokonon” (Vonnegut 2) the
Next, the imagery in Cat’s Cradle is very somber and grave. The author uses the
grotesque penalty given to Bokononists combined with the peoples’ blind trust in their
faith to voice his opinion that religion is foolish. Inhabitants of San Lorenzo caught
And then they take a great big kind of iron fishhook and
they hang it down from the cross beam. Then they take
somebody who’s dumb enough to break the law, and they
put the point of the hook in through on side of his belly and
out the other and they let him go—and there he hangs, by
God, one damn sorry law-breaker. (Vonnegut 94)
In this statement, the imagery is made even grimmer by its understatement. In spite of
this horrid sentence the entire population of San Lorenzo practices Bokononism. In the
author’s opinion following the religion is idiocy because the consequence of faith is
death. Why would people follow a religion based on lies when the punishment was
painful death? When Bokonon arrived on San Lorenzo he saw how hopeless the natives
Bokononism is complete lunacy, it served a purpose for the natives of San Lorenzo. The
forbidden religion added an element of danger to their lives that renewed their will to
live.
Finally, the terse syntax in the novel shows the author’s frustration with religion
and his lukewarm endorsement of it. Through the use of short, simple sentences,
book. I was a Christian then. I am a Bokononist now” (Vonnegut 1). The curt sentences
have a sneering undertone: Jonah was a Christian, but he is better now. Now he is a
Bokononist, one of the enlightened. The idea that Bokononism is superior is seen
throughout the novel because Jonah interjects the story with the ideas of Bokonon, such
as “Ah, God, what an ugly city every city is!” (Vonnegut 27) or “Miss Faust was ripe for
Bokononism” (Vonnegut 54). These inserts usually come at the end of the chapter as a
one-sentence paragraph. They are the final thoughts, the summary of all that has
Jonah is the ignorant one who uses simple language because he does not understand. He
is speaking to a Bokononist who uses simple language because he does understand, and is
explaining as if speaking to a child. The same examples can be used to demonstrate the
theme that religion, under some circumstances, is acceptable, even if it only serves to fool
people into hoping. Bokononism is an acceptable religion because it does not pretend to
be the truth. About his own religion Bokonon says, “Foma! Lies! A pack of foma!”
(Vonnegut 191). Foma are lies. However, if it were not for the inhabitants of San
In conclusion, Kurt Vonnegut uses the narrator of Cat’s Cradle to identify his
aversion to religion through his diction, imagery, and syntax. The overall theme of the
novel is that although religion is for idiots, it serves the purpose of filling the void in
peoples’ lives. Men and women who are not religious try to fill the void with money,
relationships, sports, and many other things. Vonnegut suggests that religion may be the
only way to fill the void permanently, if only because the believers have total blind faith
that what they believe is true. It is up to the people to separate the truth from the lies.