Story and Characters

                                        “Cat's Cradle”


          Cat's Cradle was the story of a man named John who was writing a book about what people were doing the very day and hour that the first atomic bomb was dropped. The story is set shortly after World War II, and is influenced greatly by the Cold War arms race.
  The main character sets out to interview Dr. Felix Hoenikker, the primary inventor of the atomic bomb. He is trying to write a book about how the bomb has changed lives. In the process of writing the book John becomes familiar with Dr. Hoenikker's three children Newt, Frank, and Angela. In the process of research John learns that each child was gifted with part of a powerful world destroying weapon, before Dr. Hoenikker died. In his pursuit of information about this weapon John ends up on a strange island called "San Lorenzo". This island is ruled over by a cruel dictator called "Papa". There is no system of punishment on San Lorenzo aside from "the hook", a large steel hook upon which any transgressors are impaled.
  John meets Frank on this island, who is working for Papa as a city planner. John lives with Frank and the other two children on San Lorenzo, and familiarizes himself with the people. He quickly learns that there is an underground religion called "Bokonism" , which a majority of the citizens practice secretly. Papa and the Prophet "Bokon" are at odds for the allegiance of the people of San Lorenzo. The religion is a breed of Stoicism, yet every member including Bokon himself admits freely that the religion is nothing but lies.
  Events eventually play out so that John discovers the secret weapon to be "Ice Nine". It is a top secret version of ice, invented by Dr. Hoenikker, that only thaws at very high temperatures. When it comes in contact with other water or ice it infects it turns everyone and everything to Ice Nine. We learn that all of the three Hoenikker children have sold theirs for something they wanted. Angela gave hers to her husband so that he would love her, and he in turn sold it to the American government. Newt gave it to his Russian lover, who in turn dumped him and sold it to the USSR. Frank gave his to Papa in turn for a well paying job here on San Lorenzo.
  The story takes a strange turn when Papa dies and Frank is thrust into the position of the new ruler of San Lorenzo. Frank is afraid of this position and offers it instead to the main character John. He accepts. During his inauguration ceremony a jet fighter looses control and crashes into the castle by the ocean. As the castle falls into the ocean the Hoenikker children and John escape but Franks/Papas piece of Ice Nine falls into the ocean. It instantly freezes the ocean, in fact all the oceans in the world. The party is turned into the apocalypse.
  Living in the post-apocalyptic world proves tough but not impossible for the small group of survivors. They boil ice nine and find food from the town and thaw it. Life is extremely dangerous for these survivors because a single mistake could kill them. If they were to touch the frozen ground and then touch their mouth they would instantly freeze. 
  John finally comes to meet Bokon, who asks John to take him to the top of the islands tallest mountain and leave him there to die. He is a small skinny man who look similar to Ghandi. Since all the people are dead and Papa no longer needs him he has no reason to live. He died atop the mountain with his completed version of the “Books of Bokon” under his head, and so the book concludes. The other survivors and John are assumed to continue living meaningless lives until they give up or starve. The book ends with the strange idea of human greed and how so many people had an opportunity to destroy ice nine but they never did. Everyone used it for their own selfish gains and now everyone was dead. Neither Hoenikker or his children ever stopped to consider if they should do what they were doing, they simply knew they could.

Themes

                                                        "Themes"
  The main theme in this book i was science and religion, and how they play with or against each other. In the book both Papa and Bokon turn out to be essentially on the same side. They work together to make the people happy. The society makes the religion illegal and thus it is fun and exciting to participate in it. The religion would be nothing if it were legal , because there would be no excitement in it. If there was no religion however the people would begin to complain and riot about the poor living conditions of San Lorenzo. The book showed how unchecked science can be terribly dangerous, and it also revealed Vonnegut's view of religion as pack of lies that exist simply to give poor masses hope. In the end the story was a kind of cynical or satirical view of how stupid the US/USSR arms race was. With both countries rushing to discover better ways to kill people, they never stopped and asked what would happed if they actually used these weapons. I found numerous times in this book the idea of "just because we can doesn't mean we should."

Cat's Cradle

                                                "Author and Background"
  Kurt Vonnegut was raised in Indiana by his father and mother. He was educated as a chemist at Cornell and soon after joined the army. He fought in World War II and served time at a concentration camp. His time in Europe undoubtedly influenced his books, and their theme of "the futility of war". He was rescued from Dresden by the Red Army in may of 1945. He later wrote what is probably his most famous book, from his recollections about the concentration camp. "Slaughterhouse 5" When he returned to America he worked as both a journalist and Anthropologist. Cats Cradle was his first book of note and was published in 1963, followed by Slaughterhouse 5 in 1969.
  He was a man full of humor, wit, and contradictions. He was a lifelong smoker and often called his habit "a classy way to commit suicide." He died from brain damage inflicted by a fall down a flight of stairs in his home. He wrote a speech for his son to read before he died. In his classic and immortal humor he ended it with "thank you for your attention, and im outta here." He was a great man who excellent at conveying a serious message with ironic or even humorous mediums.

                                                 "Lingo and Theory of Bokonsim"

     When i was reading through the book i had to laugh when i came across some of the Bokonist religious terms. I just thought i wouls share some with you. Bokonism is a kind of Stoic accepting religion, and it exist only becasue it is illegal. Any members of the Bokonist faith are stuck upon "The Hook". It is an ever evolving religion because Bokon writes more of it each day. It relies on the concept of human tenacity and that during persecution religions often tend to grow stronger.

Pool-pah= the wrath or God, or as john describes it "shit storm.

Stuppa= a meathead, or nonbeliver in Bokonism

Vin dit= a divinely influenced happening meant to influence your belife in Bokonism.

Sin-wat= a selfish person, especially in terms of a lover.

Boko-maru= this is Bokonism's version of "spiritual sex". It happens when two people remove their shoes and socks and join the soles of their feet together.

Karass= a group of people who are intercnnected for a specific purpose, but often are not aware of it.

Foma= a large group of falsehoods designed to make somone feel better.

       Bokon was the perfect example of the hypocritical prophet. He preached lies to simply make the peoples lives better , but after the death of Papa he no longer had a purpose, so he died. He was a strange character but he illustrated very well the authors point of how interconnected religion/science/ society all are. Without one of these the others will eventually fall apart.

Cat's Cradle

                                  "Story Overview "

   Cat's Cradle was the story of a man named John who was writing a book about what people were doing the very day and hour that the firsrt atomic bomb was dropped. The story is set shortly after World War II, and is influenced greatly by the Cold War arms race.

       The main character sets out to interview Dr. Felix Hoenikker, the primary inventor of the atomic bomb. He is trying to write a book about how the bomb has changed lives. In the process of writing the book John becomes familiar with Dr. Hoenikker's three children Newt, Frank, and Angela. In the process of research John learns that each child was gifted with part of a powerful world destroying weapon, before Dr. Hoenikker died. In his pursuit of information about this weapon John ends up on a strange island called "San Lorenzo". This island is ruled over by a cruel dictator called "Papa". There is no system of punishment on San Lorenzo aside from "the hook", a large steel hook upon which any transgressors are impaled.

        John meets Frank on this island, who is working for Papa as a city planner. John lives with Frank and the other two children on San Lorenzo, and familiarizes himself with the people. He quickly learns that there is an underground religion called "Bokonism" , which a majority of the citizens practice secretly. Papa and the Prophet "Bokon" are at odds for the alliegiance of the people of San Lorenzo. The religion is a breed of Stoicism, yet every member including Bokon himself admits freely that the religion is nothing but lies.

       Events eventually play out so that John discovers the secret weapon to be "Ice Nine". It is a top secret version of ice, invented by Dr. Hoenikker, that only thaws at very high temperatures. When it comes in contact with other water or ice it infects it turns everyone to Ice Nine. We learn that all of the three Hoenikker children have sold theirs for somthing they wanted. Angela gave hers to her husban so that he would love her, and he in turn sold it to the American governent. Newt gave it to his russian lover, who in turn dumped him and sold it to the USSR. Frank gave his to Papa in turn for a well paying job.

       The story takes a strange turn when Papa dies and Frank is thrust into the position of the new ruler of San Lorenzo. Frank is afriad of this position and offers it instead to the main character John. He accepts. During his innaguration ceremony a jet fighter looses control and crashes into the castle by the ocean. As the castle falls into the ocean the Hoenikker children and John escape but Franks/Papas piece of Ice Nine falls into the ocean. It instantly freezes the ocean, in fact all the oceans in the world. The party is turned into the apocolypse.

       Living in the post-apocolyptic world proves tough but not impossible for the small group of survivors. They boil ice nine and find food from the town and thaw it. Life is extremely dangerous for these survivors becasue a single mistake could kill them. If they were to touch the frozen ground and then touch their mouth they would instantly freeze. 

      John finally comes to meet Bokon, who asks John to take him to the top of the islands tallest mountian and leave him there to die.

                                                                 "Themes"

          The main theme in this book i was science and religion, and how they play with or agianst each other. In the book both Papa and Bokon turn out to be essentially on the same side. They work together to make the people happy. The society makes the religion illegal and thus it is fun and excting to participate in it. The religion would be nothing if it were legal , becasue there would be no excitment in it. If there was no religion however the people would begin to complain and riot about the poor living conditions of San Lorenzo. The book showed how unchecked science can be terribly dangerous, and it also revealed Vonnegut's view of religion as pack of lies that exist simply to give poor masses hope. In the end the story was a kind of cynical or satirical view of how stupid the US/USSR arms race was. With both countires rushing  to discover better ways to kill people, they never stopped and asked what would happed if they acutally used these weapons. I found numerous times in this book the idea of "just becasue we can dosent mean we should."

                         

                                                "Author and Background"

           Kurt Vonnegut was raised in Indiana by his father and mother. He was educated as a chemist at Cornell and soon after joined the army. He fought in World War II and served time at a concentration camp. His time in Europe undoubtedly infuenced his books, and their theme of "the futility of war". He was rescued from Dresden by the Red Army in may of 1945. He later wrote what is probably his most famous book, from his recolections about the concentration camp. "Slaughterhouse 5" When he returned to America he worked as both a journalist and Anthropologist. Cats Cradle was his first book of note and was published in 1963, followed by Slaughterhouse 5 in 1969.

             He was a man full of humor, wit, and contradictions. He was a lifelong smoker and often called his habit "a classy way to commit suicide." He died from brain damage inflicted by a fall down a flight of stairs in his home. He wrote a speech for his son to read before he died. In his classic and immortal humor he ended it with "thank you for your attention, and im outta here." He was a great man who excellent at conveying a serious message with ironic or even humorous mediums.

Cats Cradle