Cat’s Cradle: Bans Without Reason

What is a banned book? A banned book is a book that has been removed from the shelves; it could be from a library, classroom, or even the bookstore because of its content. A book could be banned for many reasons, but it could be banned because it contains sex, violence, inappropriate language, religious viewpoints, witch craft, and many more things because other people deem it inappropriate. When someone bans a book they ban it for everyone else too.

Satire, "the use of irony, sarcasm, or ridicule in exposing, denouncing, or deriding vice or folly" (Webster 1193), is very prevalent in Cat's Cradle. Vonnegut hits on many aspects of human life with this satire. Government, religion, medicine, and business are just a few of these aspects. In focusing on government, Vonnegut shows us a leader ("Papa" Monzano), who attempts to create a utopia, but just like in

“Harrison Bergeron, “a short story by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., takes place in a totalitarian society where everyone is equal through handicaps forced on them by the government. Harrison, the main character, attempts to save the broken society, but ultimately fails to change anything. Vonnegut uses Harrison as a Christ figure in his novel ironically, to make a statement about our own society today and how we are blind to many political things happening around us. These ideas can be explored through analyzing Thomas Foster’s novel How to Read Literature like a Professor.

It is a perfect example because the story takes place in an environment of integral conformity and describes a scene of pure deviance where Vonnegut’s disseminated strong messages. By analyzing Vonnegut’s short story with the help of both “The social animal” by Eliott Aronson and “Wayward Puritans” by Kai T. Erikson we will point all the wrong aspects of perfect conformity in a first paragraph. And, in a second paragraph, we will discuss more about the importance of deviance by analyzing the last scene.

Prose starts off with very strong language in her essay “I know Why the Caged Bird Cannot Read”. Prose’s opening paragraph includes words such as “appalled”, “dismal”, and “dreariness”, which establishes negative connotation, a central feature of the essay(Prose 176). These words signify the lack of confidence that Prose has in the trends of American education. By beginning her essay with judgemental and cogent language, Francine Prose develops a clear and concise argument. She intends to hook her readers by immediately stressing the importance of the subject and conveying her justifiably strong perspectives. Prose claims that she is “ appalled by the dismal lists of texts that her sons are doomed to waste a school year reading” (Prose 176). Prose’s use of negative connotation allows her to clearly and effectively convey her message regarding the negative influence that American education has had on literature.

First, the author argues, “When engaging in critical literacy, readers question reality and entertain multiple perspectives about particular topics, attitudes, and behaviors” (Graff). Challenged and banned books are beneficial to readers. These banned books help students evaluate more difficult pieces of literature, which could be used in the future. Jennifer Graff states, “...Book censorship helps us think critically about the power of the written word as well as the relationships between individuals, texts, and contexts, to paraphrase Lawrence Sipe (1999)” (Graff). Banned and challenged books allow readers to see the truth--from the past, future, or present--written by the author. Readers can apply these ideas to real-life situations successfully. In the article, On Reading and Sharing Banned Books, the topic of “...heightened sensitivity about what and how we say things,” and needing, “ongoing conversations about how literature can be part of our lives without undue stress and controversy” is exposed (Graff). Books are written for many reasons, to inform persuade, entertain, and relax; however, with books censorship, finding relaxing or entertaining books is extremely difficult. Without censorship, readers could easily discuss these now controversial topics without worry. The purpose of the book, good moral, and potentially

The main reason was because the book mentioned discussions of being drunk, smoking cigarettes, profanity, and using God’s name in vain. Criticizer Diana Verm stated "The book had a bunch of very bad language in it. It shouldn’t be in there because it’s offending people.” Altom Verm also said "It's just all kinds of filth.” Just because you find “offensive” terms in the book, doesn’t mean it has to be barred from everybody. Alton Verm has stated he hasn’t read the book. (yourhoustonnews.com Kassia Meck) His only reason for wanting it to be banned is because he finds it “too offensive.” I find it nefarious that a book can be banned just because it doesn’t fit someone’s ideal opinion. The ALA states “The ALA promotes the freedom to choose or the freedom to express one's opinions even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular” (ALA mission statement) This just goes to show that what you believe, shouldn’t have an impact on others. I don’t believe a book should be banned from a school district for those

The first reason why this book was banned was the author’s use of offensive language. In the story, Rex Wall, who is Jeannette’s father, is the one who frequently says a lot of offensive languages. He has been saying a lot of words including: damn, hell, s---, screw, c--k, crap, c--t, a--, b--ch, b--tard, whore, p-ss, faggot, w-nker and the f-word. He also keeps repeating the

Banned books are a topic of controversy, especially Judy Blume’s Tiger Eyes. Through this novel we follow the journey of Davey Wexler, who tries to pick up the pieces and overcome her father's sudden and tragic death. Adam, her father, was killed in an armed robbery, and though the Wexler’s attempted to handle their grief independently, they were forced to live with their Aunt Bitsy and Uncle Walter. A book can be banned for a number of reasons, but overall the main cause is based off of opinions of what someone defines as controversial or explicit. But that isn’t very logical because we all have different standpoints and are all equally valid; so why should one opinion, or group of peoples deter you from

Many books have been questioned and challenged. Even as far as to banning them. But what exactly is a banned book and why are they banned? A banned book is a book that has been censored by an authority, a government body, a library, or a even school system. A book that has been banned is actually removed from a library or school system. The actual contextual reasons as to banning them is use of explicit violence, gore, sexuality, explicit language, religion, or dark times in history. On the non-contextual side of the reason why they are banned books are usually because with the best intentions to protect people, frequently children, from difficult philosophies and information. Teachers, or even more common adults, often censor books from

It is expected for arguments to arise when writing about controversial topics. Many times the meaning of a book is not as obvious as the author intended, which may lead to problems. Other times, books are challenged because they contain sexual or inappropriate material. When Kurt Vonnegut released Slaughterhouse-Five critics were quick to judge his peculiar way of writing. Although Kurt Vonnegut’s book Slaughterhouse-Five was oftentimes misunderstood, interpreted as inappropriate, and judged for the peculiar point of view, critics seem to appreciate and accept one aspect of it: the structure of the book.

The idea works and the religion spreads to almost every resident of San Lorenzo. The citizens of San Lorenzo stop their threats and are happy (Schatt 62). The Books of Bokonon are a satire of other religious texts because, as nearly everyone knows, most religions have some sort of holy text. Judaism has the Torah, Christianity has the Bible, Islam has the Koran, Hinduism has the Shrutí, etc. (Wilson). Who knows who wrote these religious scriptures and why? The Books of Bokonon was written for political gain (Schatt 62). Johnson, the author, becomes a crazy, disheveled, cynical, old man while he continues to write (Vonnegut 286-287). Maybe the Torah, Bible, Koran, and Shrutí are just some ancient man's way to influence and control the masses. The Books of Bokonon are just one way in which Vonnegut satirizes religious themes.

As an author, Kurt Vonnegut has received just about every kind of praise an author can receive: his works held the same sway over American philosophy as did those of Jack Kerouac or J.R.R. Tolkein; his writing has received acclaim from academics and the masses alike; and three of his books have been made into feature films. Society has permanently and noticeably been altered by his writing. Through accessible language and easily-understood themes, Vonnegut has created works subtle, engrossing, and familiar. His main method for doing this is by exploiting a theme with which everyone is familiar and about which everyone has his own opinion: religion.

Kurt Vonnegut is known for his dark humor, wit, and imagination. He is consistently listed among the great American authors of the later twentieth century and his novel’s such as Cat’s Cradle and Slaughterhouse Five are considered modern classics. In this essay, I will focus on two of Vonnegut’s short stories “Welcome to the Monkey House” (1968) which takes place in a dystopian future where everyone is required to take pills that take all the pleasure out of sex and “Miss Temptation” (1959) which takes place in a small east coast town by looking at them through a feminist lense. Both stories come to the same ultimate conclusion that over-moralization of human

I was banned a long time ago. I recognize that my behavior was not only unprofessional but also harmful. I think I have already changed from my mistakes. Meaning that I have worked to think, feel, and conduct myself differently. But I promise that I have addressed the source of the problem and that I am taking the following steps to correct it and ensure that it never happens