"Call me Ishmael. Some years ago--never mind how long precisely--having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world." That is the first few sentences of Moby Dick by Herman Melville.
"Call me Jonah. My parents did. Or nearly did; they called me John." That is the first few sentences of Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut.
Pretty cool, right?!
Now, why Vonnegut did this so directly and purposefully, we may never fully understand. But the implications are surely there: John (the narrator of Cat's Cradle) will pursue knowledge about the atomic bomb, and tireless pursuit of this may seem a little insane. While Ishmael, in Moby Dick, watches Captain Ahab's obsession over a whale make him seem increasingly insane. One might also consider this technique foreshadowing a significant theme throughout Cat's Cradle's, which is man's endless pursuit for "something." The characters want that "something" to be truth or immortality or some religious principle, or some meaning to all of this, this thing we call life. We should also note that the name Jonah relates to whales in another way: the biblical tale of Jonah and the whale. A man was swallowed whole by a whale and survived inside the whale due to his faith in god. We could assume that even using the name "John" has other biblical implications (John the Baptist). I believe these are relevant to mention because a significant theme in Cat's Cradle is religion.
But here is the kicker about this novel, Vonnegut doesn't answer that mysterious "something" question. Instead, he dances around the idea of it and merely points out how ridiculous life is. Then attempts to argue, subtly but still, that life is meaningless and that searching for meaning is a waste of time. For example, in the novel, the main character is sitting at a bar having a conversation with Sandra, a streetwalker who went to school with the man who invented the atom bomb. The discussion proceeds as follows:
He said science was going to discover the fundamental secret of life someday,' the bartender put in. He scratched his head and frowned. 'Didn't I read in the paper the other day where they'd finally found out what it was?'
'I missed that,' I murmured.
'I saw that,' said Sandra. 'About two days ago.'
'That's right,' said the bartender.
'What is the secret of life?' I asked.
'I forget,' said Sandra.
'Protein,' the bartender declared. 'They found out something about protein.'
'Yeah,' said Sandra, 'that's it."
How wonderfully, beautifully empty, and frustrating is that? But I think it reminds us of several things: one, we are all searching for this truth, this meaning of life, and second, none of us have any clue what it is or how to find it. Again, Vonnegut does a fantastic job commenting on this throughout this novel.
Vonnegut does an excellent job of having an in-depth discussion of religion in this book without really saying much about it. He doesn't really mention other religions, and if he does, it is merely commentary via characters and such; he never directly attacks any one particular religion. Vonnegut instead discusses faith through satire, which is simply using humor & exaggeration to expose some of the hypocrisies found within the tenants of religious institutions. He plays around with this idea in a genuinely brilliant way: he creates a religion in this novel called Bokononism. He introduces this religion is by bolding, stating: "Don't be a fool! Close this book at once! It is nothing but foma! All of the true things that I am about to tell you are shameless lies."
Foma is the lies we tell each other and the lies religions tell us – they are considered "harmless" lies but useful in Bokononism. While that sounds negative, the novel goes on to clarify by saying those who practice Bokononism should use their foma's to "make you brave and kind and happy and healthy." Throughout the novel, you will continually feel a push and pull of mockery of religion versus religion's usefulness. Perhaps it is a tug of war Vonnegut himself felt, or maybe he wanted to express that many feel it, and nobody can do that better than Vonnegut does in this novel. For example:
"Well, 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. The 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."
At this point in the novel, Vonnegut does a remarkable job of not so subtly calling out religious institutions for taking advantage of people who are, as he points out: 'miserable.' He argues those at the lowest point in their lives feel that religion is the only viable option. One might conclude that Vonnegut is arguing for better economics for all. While simultaneously arguing that religion would not be popular in a society where everyone is better cared for (lower poverty, lower crime, better healthcare, plenty of jobs, economic security, etc.). This theme - wanting better treatment for all of humankind - can be found throughout many of Vonnegut's novels, thus dubbing him one of the greatest "American Humanist authors" of our time.
Another central theme in Vonnegut's writings is that the universe truly is just a random scattering of events. Even the religion Vonnegut creates in Cat's Cradle touches on the idea of randomness and states that Bokononists are often muttering "busy busy busy" when they face how complicated and unpredictable life is. Although, that's another exciting part of this religion: it offers no real solutions, no absolute comfort. If you dive deep enough into the tenants of this religion, it answers no questions about the meaning of life. And I believe Vonnegut did this on purpose. He wanted to point out that as crazy as Bokononism sounds, all religions offer the same thing: no real answers. Vonnegut's response to the lifelong question of "why" can be rewritten as simply "because."
Vonnegut provides various commentary about life being a horrific combination of random, messy, and painful. Still, also, he points out some beautiful things in life: love, family, the beauty of the natural world, and, most importantly, helping your fellow man and the joys that come with it. In contrast, many of these themes are subtler than the blatantly apparent satirical commentary on religion, some tidbits scattered throughout Cat's Cradle.
Vonnegut does an unbelievable job in this novel of nagging and picking apart some of the major institutions that we rely on in our society, from societal norms to our reliance on technology to criticizing the invention and use of weapons of mass destruction. In addition, the ending of Cat's Cradle is outstanding and hits the reader with various concepts at once, which does wonder for the overall themes.
So, if you are looking for something new to read, I highly suggest not only this novel but anything written by Kurt Vonnegut. Although, this is by far one of my favorite novels. Below I have included sources as well as some websites you might want to check out.
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