Cat's Cradle, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. Cycle 22 Reading Response, Pages 1-231

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., the author of Cat's Cradle

The fabled cat's cradle string game

Two people doing boko-maru, a Bokonon ritual

Cat's Cradle is told by John, an author writing a book about what important Americans were doing when the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. He pursues the story of what Dr. Felix Hoenikker, one of the fathers of the atomic bomb, was doing on that day. He receives from Newt Hoenikker, Dr. Felix Hoenikker's youngest son, his memory of what happened on that day. Included in his memory are his older brother Frank and his older sister Angela. Newt had recently flunked out of a pre-med program, his sister was unhappily married with two daughters, and his brother had escaped the country after getting into illegally shipping cars to Cuba. He then goes to Ilium, New York, where the Hoenikkers lived. He encounters high school classmates and coworkers, as well as the family graves for Dr. Hoenikker and his children's mother. When he visits the lab where Dr. Hoenikker did his work, he learns of ice-nine, a technology that Dr. Hoenikker developed in response to a request by a Marine General to find a solution to mud. This technology solidifies mud. The people that John talk to say it is impossible, but Dr. Hoenikker found otherwise. As we learn later, he succeeded in creating this, but it led to his death. He is assigned to write a piece about Julian Castle, an American sugar millionaire who was living on San Lorenzo, an island in the Caribbean. As it turns out, this is where Frank was residing as a Major General in the Republic of San Lorenzo. On the flight there, he meets the new American Ambassador to San Lorenzo and his wife, as well as a bicycle manufacturer who is thinking about moving his factory to the island. Also on this flight are Angela and Newt. When they arrive, they are welcomed, but the current president of the island, "Papa" Mozano, collapses. When he later dies from ice-nine solidifying all of the liquid in his body, John is appointed as the new president, even though Frank was supposed to assume the post and marry "Papa"'s adopted daughter and love icon of the island, Mona. John marries her and learns more about Bokononism. An accident happens and the corpse of "Papa", which contains ice-nine, is sent hurling into the ocean, and the world's moisture becomes solid. Everyone on the island dies except for John, Frank, Newt, the bicycle manufacture and his wife. John finds Bokonon, who the San Lorenzonans have been searching for since he was outcast, and he finishes The Books of Bokonon. 

foma*: "Live by the foma that make you brave and kind and healthy and happy." (p. 1) noun, harmless untruths

karass*: " 'Man created the checkerboard; God created the karass.' " noun, teams that do God's will without ever discovering what they are doing

kan-kan*: "... and the instrument, the kan-kan, that brought me into my own particular karass was the book I never finished..." (p. 14) noun, the instrument with which one is brought into their karass

sinooka*: "...was no doubt a member of my karass though he was dead before my sinookas...began to tangle with those of his children." (p. 16) noun, tendril of one's life

wampeter*: "No karass is without a wampeter, Bokonon tells us, just as no wheel is without a hub." (p. 50) noun, the center and goal of a karass

vin-dit*: "It was in the tombstone salesroom that I had my first vin-dit..." (p. 64) noun, sudden and personal shove toward Bokononism

wrang-wrang*: "If he was, he served as a wrang-wrang." (p. 71) noun, a person who steers people away from speculation with absurdity

duprass*: " 'A true duprass,' Bokonon tells us, 'can't be invaded, not even by children born of such a union." (p. 78) noun, a karass composed of only two people

Hoosier: " 'My God,' she said, 'are you a Hoosier?' " (p. 80) noun, a native or inhabitant of Indiana

granfalloon*: "Hazel's obsession with Hoosiers around the world was ... a text book example of what Bokonon calls a granfalloon." (p. 82) noun, a false karass

calypso*: "In his 'Fifty-third Calypso,' Bokonon invites us to sing along with him:" (p. 14) noun, poems written by Bokonon and included in The Books of Bokonon

querulously: " 'Don't tell,' begged one querulously." (p. 131) adverb, done petulantly or whiningly complaining 

saroon: "And, inwardly, I sarrooned..." (p. 165) verb, to submit to the demands of a vin-dit

boko-maru*: " 'Boko-maru would help,' she suggested." (p. 167) noun, a Bokononist ritual involving touching the soles of your feet to the soles of another person's feet

sin-wat*: "She stared at me with widening eyes. 'A sin-wat!' " (p. 170) noun, a man who wants all of somebody's love

crenel, machicolation, balistraria: "Vines and bird nests clogged the crenels, the machicolations, and the balistrariae." (p. 173) nouns, indentation in the battlements of a fort or castle to fire missiles, opening between the supporting corbels of a projecting parapet or the vault of a gate through which stones could be dropped on attackers

fustian: "He had a written speech with him - fustian and bombast, I imagine." (p. 205) noun, pompous or pretentious speech or writing

*Note: Some of the vocab in this book are from the Bokonon religion.

Many things in this book interested me. I liked the style of writing, as well as the content. The content was captivating and imaginative. The ultimate end of the world in this story is ice-nine, a strange substance which is at the core of the story. Kurt Vonnegut crafts this novel in a way that keeps you wondering and reading.

The story is written in 127 short episodic increments. Each episode tells a short part of John's saga. Each story adds a little bit. We start knowing almost nothing, except who John is and what book he is writing. With each new story, we learn a little bit more about the subject of his book, Dr. Hoenikker, and his surviving relatives. We learn about where they lived, the people living there now, and then this strange island of San Lorenzo. Each episode is too short to tell us a lot, but we still manage to learn and make connections. For example, in just a matter of three short chapters, we are taken from the letter Newt wrote to John's trip to Ilium, which happens over 2 years in actuality. I liked this style of writing in short bursts. After each episode, I could take a break to think about what had happened in the last chapter. It was easy to find good places to stop reading and it was easy to pick up right where I left off.

The thing is, this book can't be put down. The story is fascinating. This world is so believable. John is just an author, writing a book about a historical event -- nothing too out of the ordinary. Then he gets swept up in his subject and finds this island. There are many islands in the Caribbean, maybe even a San Lorenzo. This island could exist. In one of the episodes, we hear the entire history of San Lorenzo. Its government was started by two men Corporal Earl McCabe and Lionel Boyd Johnson, the latter of whom was the man who would later be called Bokonon. Bokonon founds the religion of San Lorenzo, Bokononism. Bokononism is an intricate religion. Its creation created an interesting divide on the island. To govern the people, the two founding men of the island took opposite roles in their attempt to make San Lorenzo a utopia. Bokonon was the religious one, and McCabe ran the government. He outlawed Bokononism. This is from the "Calypsos" of Bokonon.

I wanted all things

To seem to make some sense,

So we all could be happy, yes,

Instead of tense.

And I made up lies

So that they all fit nice,

And I made this sad world

A par-a-dise. (p. 109)

Bokonon created these lies, and McCabe outlawed them. As good needs evil, evil needs good. Bokonon became the exiled savior of the people while McCabe was the cruel ruler. In one of the episodes, Kurt Vonnegut describes how these changed. When the arrived on the island, they were both half-good, half-bad. As they settled into their roles on the island, Bokonon became all good, and McCabe became all bad in the eyes of the people. Bokonon had a bounty on his head and Bokononism was outlawed, with the punishment of "The Hook" for anyone who is caught practicing Bokononism. The interesting culmination of the religion aspect of the story is when "Papa", the president of San Lorenzo when John arrives, dies and has the Bokonon last rites performed. Even when it is outlawed, everyone is secretly Bokonon, a secret revealed with their death. When the whole island, with the exception of John, Frank, Newt, and the bicycle manufacturer and his wife, dies, they are discovered later by John, who finds this note-

To whom it may concern: These people around you are almost all of the survivors on San Lorenzo of the winds that followed the freezing of the sea. These people made a captive of the spurious holy man named Bokonon. They brought him here, placed him at their center, and commanded him to tell them exactly what God Almighty was up to and what they should now do. The mountebank told them that God was surely trying to kill them, possibly because He was through with them, and that they should have the good manners to die. This, as you can see, they did. (p. 220)

The note was signed by Bokonon. They were found in the position of boko-maru, the position unique to Bokononism, and the position that was assumed during the Bokonon last rites before death. All of these people secretly practiced Bokononism. The mystery around Bokonon continues until the end of the book, the final episode entitled simply "The End". He finds Bokonon sitting, frosty with ice nine but not yet dead, and pondering how to end the Books of Bokonon. When he decides, the book ends. I think that Bokonon died, or committed suicide with ice nine. He lived his life with the penalty of death if anyone contacted him or read his teachings, as well as if he appeared publicly. 

He ended his life with ice nine, the substance created by Dr. Hoenikker which had more destructive capabilities than the atomic bomb he also fathered. As we learn on the trip to the Dr.'s lab in Ilium, New York, he spent his last days researching ice nine, after being approached by a Marine general who wanted a solution for mud. His Marines were getting stuck in the mud. He was convinced that the great scientific mind of Dr. Hoenikker could come up with a way to solidify mud so that his Marines could get across. Dr. Hoenikker hypothesized that if the molecules of water could be stacked in a certain way, they would become solid like that, sort of like ice, if you dropped in a little bit of the substance stacked that way already. In effect, this would solidify any moisture it encountered. While the science of this is interestingly developed, I find its power more intriguing. After discovering their father had died after ingesting ice nine, the three Hoenikker children -- Angela, Frank, and Newt -- divided up the only samples of the substance the world has ever seen, and carried their third with them. This gave them incredible power. Angela got herself an attractive husband, who she shared the ice nine. Frank used it to get himself the position he held on San Lorenzo. Newt had won a Ukrainian midget's love with this power he possessed because he had the ice nine. The ice nine had such destructive power, but it had enabled Angela, Frank, and Newt to be happy. The question is, were they really happy? Can you still be satisfied with achieving your goals, even if you bribed your way there? Would their happiness be the same if they had gotten love and position without the help of ice nine? Along with the other deaths caused by the release of ice nine, we know that Angela died, and it's more than likely that Frank and Newt eventually did as well. This substance that gave them a happy life ultimately took it away.

Cat's Cradle is a wonderfully developed book. The characters, plot, and context make it a must-read. It is not very heave reading; each short episode is manageable in length. As imaginative as it is, the book sparks realistic questions in my mind about the role of religion and deception, as well as the power of destruction. After reading this book Kurt Vonnegut is one of my favorite authors. While reading you get sept up int he world of San Lorenzo and Heonikkers, and you don't wan tot put the book down. Like the cat's cradle itself, created out of a loop of string taken through twists and turns, has many seemingly separate segments, but there is always a string tying them together. It is up to the reader to figure out what is their interpretation of the string.