Blind Faith in Cat's Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut

Oscar Wilde, an acclaimed Irish Poet, novelist, dramatist and critic once aptly commented, “Men become old, but they never become good”. The philosophical aspect of this quote relies on the basis that human beings are inherently malevolent. Through his pessimistic perspective, Wilde clearly captures the ill-disposed mindset of mankind. Moreover, there are various deductive arguments that discredit the optimistic depiction of human nature. One of the prime examples can be found in Kurt Vonnegut’s literature. In Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat's Cradle, through the illustration of his characters, the author symbolizes the four elements of human fallibility.

Under the research of J. Michael Bishop, Science is being defended and explored for positive and negative out comes in the past years, to form an argument against the critics who believe science is no longer the answer. Throughout the article I discovered quality examples that support claims of ethos, pathos, and logos. Logos being the most reoccurring from of argument that Bishop chose, in my opinion reveals a stronger argument rather than one that has an argument revolved around pathos.

He treats it as one big puzzle and he doesn't care about the outcomes. He treats it as a game. And of course he ultimately creates ice-nine out of his carelessness. Although Ice-nine starts out with a relatively innocent purpose, it ends up having cataclysmic results. Vonnegut’s message is that science must be conscious of what itself is capable

The reading by William McComas covered the ten most popular myths in the world of science. Widespread believed myths such as a hypothesis being nothing more than just an educated guess and the idea that science can answer all questions were mentioned in the text. The author not only lists the ten myths but also debunks them with explanations and states that students such as myself believe most of these myths. He attributes the belief of these myths by students to a lack of science philosophy content in teacher education programs and the misguided teaching of the nature of science in high school textbooks.

In the early sixties, Kurt Vonnegut Jr. released his candidly fantastical novel, Cat's Cradle. Within the text an entire religious sect, called Bokononism is born; a religion built on lies, absurdity, and irony. The narrator of Cat's Cradle is Jonah, a freelance writer who characterizes Bokononism as being, "free form as an amoeba" (Vonnegut, Cat's Cradle, 3). It is boundless and unpredictable as the unconscious itself. Bokonon lives on the impoverished island of San Lorenzo where he spends his days scribing poetic calypsos in the books of Bokonon. Jonah arrives on the same island in his pursuit of Frank Hoenniker, the military commander and son of the eccentric Dr. Hoenniker, who invents a substance

Plausibly the most convoluted manifestations of the human ego, the internal debate between what one desires and what is deemed morally correct has perpetually perplexed human beings since the genesis of mortal conflict. During these scenarios, it is not uncommon for overbearing emotions like paranoia or vindictiveness to eclipse logical rationale; however, in order to successfully confront this conflict, tame his passion, and fulfill his obligations, man is compelled to disregard the lasting consequences of his actions. In his satirical novel entitled Cat’s Cradle, Kurt Vonnegut presents a realistic, yet farcical, cast of characters who delude themselves into zealously pursuing private passions—such as religion, romance, and science— whilst

On the other hand, truth and science gives us atom bombs and Ice-nine, which aren't great for anybody. Even with his choice of character names, like Dr. Breed, Vonnegut paints a picture of science as cold and something that just invents more weapons. Throughout certain parts of the novel,

Vonnegut’s classic satire Cat’s Cradle revolves around a journalist named Jonah (as in “Jonah and the whale”), writing a book about the day the first atomic bomb was dropped. In trying to interview the three children of the bomb’s inventor, Felix Hoenikker, he is led to the impoverished island of San Lorenzo. It is here that Jonah becomes aware of the outlawed religion Bokononism. Religion (Christianity and Bokononism) proves to be a central element of Cat’s Cradle. Vonnegut is highly critical of religion, suggesting through character interactions with both Christianity and Bokononism, that religion is a false form of human connection at best and at worst a vehicle through which followers cleanse themselves of responsibility for the world.

In the fraudulent words of the prophet Bokonon, “God made mud. God got lonesome. So God said to some of the mud, ‘Sit up!’” (Vonnegut 220). Thus, the creation of man. Unfortunately for all the mud, some of the mud decided that the only thing missing in life was a way to end it. Kurt Vonnegut’s novel Cat’s Cradle takes a satirical look at the shortsightedness and hubris in man’s approach to new technology. In the novel, one of the designers of the bomb that fell on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Dr. Felix Hoenikker, invents a way for military commanders to solidify muddy battlefields into a hard surface, perfect for crossings by tanks and soldiers. The material Dr. Hoenikker creates, ice-nine, causes any water it comes in contact with to instantly

Cat’s Cradle is a children’s game in which a string, tied at both ends to make a loop, is used to make different shapes. Coincidentally, this is the game from where Kurt Vonnegut’s novel Cat’s Cradle gets its name. The story follows John, a journalist who is researching to write a book about the day the atomic bombs were dropped in Japan. Following through his journey, John finds himself meeting the Hoenikker household; family to Felix Hoenikker, who is frequently called “the father of the atomic bomb.” John later meets Dr. Breed who was in charge of overseeing Felix’s work, and John learns of Ice-nine, an isomer of water that is frozen at room temperature and will affect all water that it comes in contact with. John, then, finds himself flying to the island of San Lorenzo, where he learns of Bokononism and the Books of Bokonon. As the story draws to an end, Ice-nine - the isomer of water - drops into the ocean, which causes it to freeze completely, and causes an apocalypse to start. Even though, the novel doesn’t seem to follow one clear story line, it does centralize around the themes of the role of religion, and truth in people’s lives. Particularly, Vonnegut argues that religion greatly impacts people’s lives, both positively and negatively, and that its main role is to bring meaning to a meaningless existence.

“No wonder kids grow up crazy. A cat’s Cradle is nothing but a band of X’s between someone’s hands and little kid’s look and look at all those X’s… No damn cat and no damn cradle,” Vonnegut writes is his appropriately titled book Cat’s Cradle. A cat’s cradle is a string trick we all grew up learning and seeing, and it is just as Vonnegut described, nothing. Everyday we experience things like a cat’s cradle; we experience insignificant objects, feelings, or idols that we base our life on. We base and change our lives off of things with no real significance. Kurt Vonnegut’s novels Cat’s Cradle and Slaughterhouse-Five demonstrate the ineptness of the human race to base our life and happiness

Science was born deeply intertwined within the Western cultural realm. It developed snuggly with ideas of European grandeur through the “grace and favor of Almighty God” (Lindqvist, pg.11). “The cultural conditioning these [scientists] had absorbed early in their careers influenced more than their writing: it skewed their research (Freedman). Coinciding with scientific inquiries of

‘Some readers have seen the novel as an illustration of the fear of the power of science’

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. is a contemporary American author whose works have been described by Richard Giannone as "comic masks covering the tragic farce that is our contemporary life" (Draper, 3784). Vonnegut's life has had a number of significant influences on his works. Influences from his personal philosophy, his life and experiences, and his family are evident elements in his works. Among his "comic masks" are three novels: Cat's Cradle, The Sirens of Titan, and God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater. Throughout these novels, elements such as attitude, detail, narrative technique, setting, and theme can be viewed with more understanding when related to certain aspects of his life. These correlations are best examined in terms of each

It’s crazy to think my science education began over 15 years ago. Science has played a role in my life for as long as I can remember. My first memories of science began with me playing in the dirt, picking flowers for my mom and chasing butterflies. I remember picking raspberries in the backyard, keeping a ladybug as a pet, and the long days at camp spent fishing and hunting with my dad. On the contrary, the start of my science education also included some negative experiences. I got stung by a bumble bee, fell off my bike and scraped my knee, and left a container of worms open inside our fridge. This taught me at an early age that science is fun, but also complex. These childhood experiences were the base of my understanding and knowledge of science.