Cat’s Cradle Kurt Vonnegut’s novel Cat’s Cradle is a satirizing of the Cold War and the possible catastrophic apocalypse brought on by moral ambiguous scientific innovations. One of Bokonon’s sayings explains why Vonnegut favors satire: “Maturity is a bitter disappointment for which no remedy exists, unless laughter can be said to remedy anything” (Vonnegut. 1963, p. 198). World War II brought rapid scientific advances and a state of political tension between the Soviet Union and the United States. Interaction between the two super powers was a series of indirect proxy wars, such asVietnam and Korea, and various scientific races, technological competition, and espionage. By 1960, a man-made apocalypse seemed like a real dreadful possibility.
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Bomb drill and Bomb shelter were not unusual during that time and even represented in the novel “And at the foot of the ladder we found a state secret. "Papa" Monzano had caused a cozy bomb shelter to be constructed there.” (Vonnegut, 1963, pg. 186). Even the Crosbys’ hate of Communists was a normal feature of American patriotism. The strangest thing of all is the overall premises and intent of the novel to show the ineptitude of religious truths and following by the general populist of a land but at the same time show the importance of following something in your life. Many view science as institution of truth and knowledge, but some seriously questioned whether the truth and knowledge of modern science are necessarily beneficial. Cat's Cradle ridicules all of this by emphasizing that human stupidity not only thrives but armed to the teeth to do us all in. Two things stand out to me the most: truth and untruths. Believing in something even if other do not can “make you brave and kind and healthy and happy” (Vonnegut, 1963, pg 1) but sometimes it just makes you crazy. “See the cat? See the cradle” (Vonnegut, 1963, pg 126). Vonnegut said, “people are not wholly bad. People are not wholly good, either. Try not to create characters in terms that are absolute – real people aren’t like that” (Shields, 2011, pg 277). People are careless, sometimes indifferent, often stupid, and ultimately caught up in their own lives. Lets just hope we don’t blow our selves up or turn the world into a sterile white
Bomb drill and Bomb shelter were not unusual during that time and even represented in the novel “And at the foot of the ladder we found a state secret. "Papa" Monzano had caused a cozy bomb shelter to be constructed there.” (Vonnegut, 1963, pg. 186). Even the Crosbys’ hate of Communists was a normal feature of American patriotism. The strangest thing of all is the overall premises and intent of the novel to show the ineptitude of religious truths and following by the general populist of a land but at the same time show the importance of following something in your life. Many view science as institution of truth and knowledge, but some seriously questioned whether the truth and knowledge of modern science are necessarily beneficial. Cat's Cradle ridicules all of this by emphasizing that human stupidity not only thrives but armed to the teeth to do us all in. Two things stand out to me the most: truth and untruths. Believing in something even if other do not can “make you brave and kind and healthy and happy” (Vonnegut, 1963, pg 1) but sometimes it just makes you crazy. “See the cat? See the cradle” (Vonnegut, 1963, pg 126). Vonnegut said, “people are not wholly bad. People are not wholly good, either. Try not to create characters in terms that are absolute – real people aren’t like that” (Shields, 2011, pg 277). People are careless, sometimes indifferent, often stupid, and ultimately caught up in their own lives. Lets just hope we don’t blow our selves up or turn the world into a sterile white