“New place, new me.” This is a common expression used when someone has moved from one place to another and is new to their surroundings. In Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle, as the setting of the story changes, his main character, John, changes as well. John is also the narrator of the story and he undergoes many changes as time goes on. The changes are either major or minor depending on what setting he is in. The three main settings of the story is Illium, New York, San Lorenzo, and the plane ride to San Lorenzo. Each setting has a different meaning and has a different purpose for the story.
John starts out the story as a normal guy. He has a job as a writer and is currently writing a book called The Day The World Ended. It was suppose to be …show more content…
This is where John made the biggest changes regarding his lifestyle and his beliefs. When he first arrived at San Lorenzo he met Frank, who was the oldest son of Dr. Felix Hoenikker. Frank was suppose to become the next president of San Lorenzo and he was going to marry Mona Aamons Monzano. Mona was the adopted daughter of the dictator of the island, ‘Papa’ Monzano. John learns shortly after arriving there that Frank wants him to become president and to marry Mona. John agrees to that and this becomes a huge change in his life. He went from only being a writer to a president of a country. Also in the story he was emerged in a whole new culture and the religion, Bokononism. It was in San Lorenzo when John made the decision to convert from being a Christian man to a Bokononist. In the story John asked Mona, who was a Bokononist, “Could I have your religion if I wanted it?” Mona responded by saying, “Of course.” and then John replied saying, “I want it.” (209). This is an important change too because he changed his whole belief system and his outlook on life changed as well. So, San Lorenzo is symbolizing John’s new lifestyle and his new religion. The author was trying to show us how John took on the customs of this new place that he was in and this basically changed his life. San Lorenzo is showing us the last stage of how far John has come since the beginning of the
John starts out the story as a normal guy. He has a job as a writer and is currently writing a book called The Day The World Ended. It was suppose to be …show more content…
This is where John made the biggest changes regarding his lifestyle and his beliefs. When he first arrived at San Lorenzo he met Frank, who was the oldest son of Dr. Felix Hoenikker. Frank was suppose to become the next president of San Lorenzo and he was going to marry Mona Aamons Monzano. Mona was the adopted daughter of the dictator of the island, ‘Papa’ Monzano. John learns shortly after arriving there that Frank wants him to become president and to marry Mona. John agrees to that and this becomes a huge change in his life. He went from only being a writer to a president of a country. Also in the story he was emerged in a whole new culture and the religion, Bokononism. It was in San Lorenzo when John made the decision to convert from being a Christian man to a Bokononist. In the story John asked Mona, who was a Bokononist, “Could I have your religion if I wanted it?” Mona responded by saying, “Of course.” and then John replied saying, “I want it.” (209). This is an important change too because he changed his whole belief system and his outlook on life changed as well. So, San Lorenzo is symbolizing John’s new lifestyle and his new religion. The author was trying to show us how John took on the customs of this new place that he was in and this basically changed his life. San Lorenzo is showing us the last stage of how far John has come since the beginning of the