We're jumping ahead more than a decade — and in the process skipping over the novels The Sirens of Titans (1959) and Mother Night (1961), along with the short story collection Canary in a Cathouse (1961) — to focus on 1963's Cat's Cradle, the first novel to bring Kurt Vonnegut to the attention of wider
audiences (even though it would take several years to achieve that
popularity). Graham Greene would hail the book as "one of the three best novels
of the year by one of the most able living writers," and Vonnegut himself, in a 2000 interview with the Harvard Crimson, named the book as his "flagship." We've already discussed Vonnegut's disdain for his work being labeled as science fiction (note the prominently placed label on the book cover to the left), and as was the case with Player Piano, this is by no means a tired exercise in that genre, but rather a book that's firmly rooted in the realm of science, which it uses as a satirical weapon against contemporary society. Likewise, it was largely inspired by the author's time as a GE public relations agent in Schenectady, NY (which again returns as the fictional city of Ilium), where scientists were hired to do "pure research" — i.e. to work on whatever pet projects might interest them — and Vonnegut's job was to interview them in search of human interest stories. One scientist in particular, Nobel Prize-winner Irving Langmuir, who worked alongside Bernard Vonnegut on a groundbreaking cloud-seeding project and would serve as the foundation of Dr. Felix Hoenikker, who sets the novel's action in motion. In fact, ice-nine, the dangerous substance at the heart of the novel, was a fabulation of Langmuir's, devised to entertain visiting science fiction author H.G. Wells in the early 30s. Vonnegut heard the story while at GE, and once both Langmuir and Wells died without making use of the concept, he decided to write Cat's Cradle around it.
Again, much like Player Piano, we see faith as a driving force in Cat's Cradle, here taking the form of Bokononism, through which Vonnegut is able to trace the role of religion in society and the balance between church and state. However, while Vonnegut was an avowed atheist/humanist/freethinker, his views towards religion — as well as towards other folk social groups (cf. the various lodges [the Moose, the Parmesans, etc.] as well as the Meadows teams and the Ghosts Shirt Society in Player Piano) were quite sympathetic, honed by his (incomplete) graduate studies in Anthropology at the University of Chicago. While his first thesis (on the correlation between Cubist painting and Native American uprisings) was turned down Vonnegut eventually convinced (or publicly shamed) the University to accept Cat's Cradle in lieu of a formal thesis and granted him his degree. In particular, the interplay between faith and technology (especially the apocalyptic power of technology in the atomic era) — along with its influence on questions of predestination and free will — are worth keeping an eye on here.
Here's the reading schedule for the novel:
- Tuesday, April 10th: Ch. 1, "The Day the World Ended," to Ch. 74, "Cat's Cradle"
- Thursday, April 12th: Ch. 75, "Give My Regards to Albert Schweitzer," to Ch. 127, "The End"
And here are a few supplemental links for this week:
- Wikipedia page on Bokononism (includes a glossary): [link]
- The Books of Bokonon: [link]
- author and screenwriter Terry Southern reviews Cat's Cradle in The New York Times: [link]
- Benjamin Kunkel's 2008 appreciation of the novel in The Guardian: [link]
- Wampeters, Foma and Granfalloons (Opinions) (1974), Vonnegut's first volume of collected nonfiction pieces, takes its name from three Bokononist key terms: [link]
Question 1:
ReplyDeleteHypocrites are found everywhere and it seems that some of the most obvious are scientists studying, researching, and searching desperately for truth. Once the truth is found they feel their responsibility to that truth has ended and they move on, however when they hear about a sin that another has committed they are as quick to judge as any other man. This is shown by Dr. Asa Breed when he states "'Think of it!" said Dr. Breed. "Twenty-six people he had on his conscience!"' (Vonnegut 18). While Dr. Breed seems quite repulsed by this fact he neglects the fact that the atomic bomb that he helped to created killed thousands and affected thousands more from the radiation. Do you think that Dr. Breed's neglect of this fact is a way for him, in his own mind, to preserve his own humanity, or do you think he really is only interested in the truth and what happens afterwards are just casualties of finding the truth?
Question 2:
This trail of thought then leads me to Dr. Felix Hoenikker and the messy descriptions that we are given of his life. Of all the things that we learn about Dr. Hoenikker we know that “the main thing with Dr. Hoenikker was truth” (43). From the interactions we hear of between Dr. Hoenikker and his family his humanness seems to have been put in storage and his interactions are slightly mechanical. At some point he must have been “harmless and gentle and dreamy” (52) for Emily to have married him, but when and even was it his search for the truth of things that made him put away his human qualities and interest in his family and acquire mechanical tendencies?
-Nicole Ritter
Question 1: Do you think that Bokonism is a dig at all religions or one in particular? What are the criticisms he is making about organized religion and what supports does he suggest in regards to a common faith?
ReplyDeleteQuestion 2: Vonnegut builds this island of “utopia,” San Lorenzo where communism is claimed not to exist. The book being written by the narrator is about an atom bomb designer, which in turn allowed us to fight the cold war. Both of these seem to be statements that support the fight against communism, but on the other hand Vonnegut hints at an opposing opinion. Has he written in satirical commentary on those fighting against communism? On the island of San Lorenzo the majority of the population including the narrator are practicing Bokonism, which is an overtly socialist religion and Vonnegut has suggested anti authority ideologies in other stories (i.e. Harrison Bergeron). Do you think that Vonnegut favors communism, rational-legal authority, socialism, or something else really neat that we don’t even know about?
Margaret Mussman
Question 1:
ReplyDeleteThe elements of self deception and illusion take many forms in this story, most obviously in the case of the religion Bokononism. Bokokon admits his religion is nonsense, but it’s comforting to believe it. Newt, Angela and Frank were all used for ice nine, and while Newt and Frank admit their deception, Angela jealously holds on to the illusion of her marriage despite the obvious truth. Jonah himself engages in this behavior, he states “I flattered myself that I was going to be a firm, just, and kindly ruler, and that my people would prosper. Fata Morgana. Mirage!” (213). Is the idea of embracing comforting lies in order to blunt the sharp edges of reality condoned by Vonnegut? Or does he use the tragic ending of the characters to illustrate the inevitable pointlessness of assigning value to an existence otherwise devoid of meaning?
Question 2:
ReplyDeleteIn both Player Piano and Cat's Cradle (as well as many of his other stories) Vonnegut seems to explore the complex nature of technological advancements that bear the intent of betterment. While ice nine was intended to ease the trials of war, it ends up ushering in the end of the world. Is Vonnegut attempting to provoke a sense of neo-luddism, or is he simply advising caution? Does he believe that technology is inevitably a double-edged sword?
Question 1:
ReplyDeleteBeing male himself, it is not unusual that Vonnegut made most of the central characters in Cat's Cradle, as well as in Player Piano, men. However, whereas Anita and Paul's secretary Katharine are the only really notable female characters in Player Piano, Cat's Cradle contains several women who's actions impact the plot of the novel. However, the way that Vonnegut describes his female characters is not necessarily flattering in either novel. Toward the beginning, the reader is introduced to Miss Francine Pefko, a secretary at the Research Laboratory, who never stops going on about how much she doesn't know or understand, to the point where she even manages to upset Dr. Asa Breed (32-36), and later on, to characters such as Mona, who is described by Jonah as blurring the line between “the highest form of female spirituality” and “a cold fish...a dazed addict of the xylophone, the cult of beauty, and boko-maru” (233). Is Vonnegut's slightly belittling depiction of women a necessary part of his novels, helping make them into the powerful works of literature that they are, or is it merely a side effect of his writing these novels in a time where women's rights was radically less than it is in the present day?
Rachel Kuhn
Question 2:
ReplyDeleteThroughout the second part of Cat's Cradle, Vonnegut constantly returns to the theme of good vs evil and it's necessity to keep society as a whole happy. This is most notable in the case of Bokonon being the “good” in the jungle and McCabe, then "Papa" being the “bad” in the palace. However, this is not a realistic portrayal of human nature, which is illustrated when Julian describes how Bokonon and McCabe go insane because they were forced to only show one side of their nature (172-176). When Jonah writes his speech for accepting the presidency he considers getting rid of the fiction, but decides to keep it based on the fact that he is not capable of bettering the lives of the islanders, therefore saying it was better to keep them happy in a false sense than making the effort to achieve actual changes(225). Is Vonnegut suggesting that society prospers when the focus is on the war between good and evil whether or not it is a true war, or is he trying to show the necessity of realizing that human nature contains both good and evil and instead of ignoring that and making the masses happy through a ficticious war steps should be taken to actually better the quality of life because of the cataclysmic way he ends the novel?
Rachel Kuhn