Black 1Bransen Black Mrs. Sarah Deonier English 10 AA16 August,
2014
Cats Cradle EssayIn the novel Cats Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut the
cats cradle is referred to many times thorough the novel. Through
these phrases and words referring to the cats cradle, Vonnegut is
referring to life. All through the novel the main character Jonah,
is on a search for something he doesn't even know exists, and in a
way this relates to everyone in life at sometime. We are all
searching for something to believe in no matter what anyone says
about it.
Throughout the novel the main character, Jonah, is following a
made up religion that he calls Bokononism. Jonah tries to follow
this religion to the best he can, always reading the Books of
Bokonon just like a christian would read the bible. This religion
is just like the cats cradle he looks at it, but gains no
sustenance from it. Just like the cats cradle.
Throughout the novel Vonnegut doesnt specifically refer to the
cats cradle. Things that can relate to the cats cradle are all
around. Because some things are never as they seem. As an example,
when Jonah and the taxi driver go to the cemetery to find Dr.
Hoenikker s plot they approach a gigantic head stone, thinking it
was for him only to find that the stone was for his wife when she
passed. The stone was decorated by the children, weather it be a
poem or a personal message each child put a personal touch to their
mothers stone. When Jonah and the taxi driver found Dr. Hoenikkers
stone, it was nothing but a little stone with his name on it, no
personal touches. That represents the cats cradle in a sense;
Nothing is ever what it may seem.
The entire point of the cats cradle is that nothing is ever what
it seems. See the cat? See the cradle? Is a representation of the
fact that some people only see what they want to see or what other
people make them see. In the novel, Newt Hoenikker says No wonder
kids grow up crazy. A cats cradle is nothing but a bunch of Xs
between someones hands. this shows that as a child he saw what his
father asked him to see.
In conclusion, the cats cradle can relate to all of us, we
sometimes see things or believe things that other people tell us
that turn out to not be true, or steer you from what you though
originally. The novel Cats Cradle was an ironic metaphor for
itself. The text is very thought-prevoking in the fact that it
really makes you think about your own life and the way people can
steer your vision of what you may see.
