One of the main themes of Cat's Cradle is the role of religion on people. Vonnegut concerns himself with the idea that religion is a means to restore optimism to a world damaged by the cold truths of science and reality. A good example of this is the religion of Bokononism in San Lorenzo. When telling about past of this religion, Julian Castle explains, "when it became evident that no governmental or economic reform was going to make the people much less miserable, the religion became the one real instrument of hope. Truth was the enemy of the people, because the truth was so terrible, so Bokonon made it his business to provide the people with better and better lies" (118). In this quote, Castle alludes to the the economic struggle of the island
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This is primarily observed when a large portion of the San Lorenzan population commits suicide by ingesting ice-nine. The story goes that when the San Lorenzans see what had happened to the world, they find Bokonon and ask him what they should do. In a letter Bokonon tells that, "The mountebank [Bokonon] told them that God was surely trying to kill them, possible because He abide through with them, and that they should have the good manners to die" (182). Thus, even though Bokononism has made the natives' lives more bearable, it is also deadly. Bokonon does not only allude to the fact that an angry God might be showing his wrath, he directly states that they have done a wrong, and they should be killed, or "have the good manners to die". At this moment, religion is behaving as science would. On the topic of science, Vonnegut alludes to the idea that even the pursue of knowledge with only the purpose of acquiring new understandings, will ultimately result in the death of innocent people. And, in this passage this idea transfers to religion as well. However, religion is still seen as helpful. When Mona sees the dead bodies of the islanders, she remarks, "It's all so simple, that's all. It solves so much for so many, so simply" (182). Mona's statement conveys the idea that Bokononism still can be seen as helping the San Lorenzans. They are now in the most terrible circumstances, and as science often attempts to do, Bokononism endeavours to assist the natives. Yet, the simplest way to solve this problem is death, and even though it does eliminate the mystery it does not do it in the most ideal and humanitarian way as religion is often expected to
This is primarily observed when a large portion of the San Lorenzan population commits suicide by ingesting ice-nine. The story goes that when the San Lorenzans see what had happened to the world, they find Bokonon and ask him what they should do. In a letter Bokonon tells that, "The mountebank [Bokonon] told them that God was surely trying to kill them, possible because He abide through with them, and that they should have the good manners to die" (182). Thus, even though Bokononism has made the natives' lives more bearable, it is also deadly. Bokonon does not only allude to the fact that an angry God might be showing his wrath, he directly states that they have done a wrong, and they should be killed, or "have the good manners to die". At this moment, religion is behaving as science would. On the topic of science, Vonnegut alludes to the idea that even the pursue of knowledge with only the purpose of acquiring new understandings, will ultimately result in the death of innocent people. And, in this passage this idea transfers to religion as well. However, religion is still seen as helpful. When Mona sees the dead bodies of the islanders, she remarks, "It's all so simple, that's all. It solves so much for so many, so simply" (182). Mona's statement conveys the idea that Bokononism still can be seen as helping the San Lorenzans. They are now in the most terrible circumstances, and as science often attempts to do, Bokononism endeavours to assist the natives. Yet, the simplest way to solve this problem is death, and even though it does eliminate the mystery it does not do it in the most ideal and humanitarian way as religion is often expected to