Hello all, here’s my blog post, which hopefully serves as
food for thought and discussion as well as proof that I am indeed alive.
The use of the "cat's cradle" as a metaphor for a
facade used to conceal unpleasant reality particularly intrigued me.
"'From the way she talked,' I
said, 'I thought it was a very happy marriage.' Little Newt held his hands six
inches apart and he spread his fingers. 'See the cat? See the cradle?'(Vonnegut
179)
Newt pantomimes a cat's cradle, asking Jonah if he can
"See the cat? See the cradle?"(179).
Obviously, Jonah can see neither the cat nor cradle, and not even the
string; all are objects of the imagination. Angela's facade of a happy marriage
is no more real than the cat sitting in Newt's imaginary string cradle. Indeed,
her husband "'hardly ever comes home–and when he does, he's drunk and
generally covered with lipstick."'(179)
Through Newt's rhetorical question, the titular cat's cradle
becomes more than the child's game of string; it seems to take new meaning as a
reference to the human tendency to create an imaginary scene or explanation when
the real one is found to be lacking.
The cat's cradle reappears in the next chapter, when Little
Newt scoffs at religion with the same phrase.
Here, Newt seems to reveal an aspect of his own character: his
unwillingness to acknowledge things whose existence cannot be simply proven. To
Newt, the imaginary nature of his cat's cradle is no different than the
supposed existence of God. Neither the
cat nor God can be seen by Newt, leading him to view both as nonexistent. This
use of the cat's cradle is consistent with Newt's previous comment, which used
the cat's cradle to describe the act of using imagination when reality is
insufficient or unsatisfactory.
Another passage that I found interesting was part of Frank's
explanation of why he could not be president.
According to Frank, "Maturity ... is knowing what your limitations
are"(198). Frank continues to explain that he cannot be president because
he is no good at facing the public. This
definition of maturity as the acceptance of one's limitations is particularly
interesting given that Bokonon defines maturity as "a bitter disappointment
for which no remedy exists, unless laughter can be said to remedy
anything"(198). These two definitions of maturity when viewed together seem
to convey that acknowledging one's limitations must be a severely disappointing
experience.
Hiya Harry--I think you might have read ahead a bit, but I really like your ideas, and I think they are represented throughout the book in many ways. The cat's cradle definitely contributes to the idea of appearance vs. reality because, as Newt observes, neither a cat nor a cradle exists in the tangle of string. This theme is bolstered by other examples, such as the laboratory and the bomb. The lab is made out to be this well-oiled machine that operates with purpose and efficiency, but in actuality, the "research" being conducted there is ambiguous at best, and each "researcher" chooses the subject of his study and may never actually produce anything. Additionally, the bomb is portrayed as this wondrous instrument of peace that ended a war, but in truth, it destroyed the lives of countless people. This twisting of reality contributes to the larger point of the book that we have been discussing extensively in class--that humans prefer to remain heedless of the consequences and repercussions of their actions and focus on what is in front of them, on that facade that gives them peace of mind rather than the negative outcomes that could weigh on their consciences. The cat's cradle proves, however, that no matter how much we twist and reshape, we will always end up with the same harsh reality, whether or not we choose to see it for what is really is.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea you brought up in the cat's cradle being comparable to the existence of god -- that being that humans have to create something out of nothing. I think one of the ways that Vonnegut displays this satire is through his made-up religion of Bokonism, which was meant "to provide the people with better and better lies" so that they are a bit less miserable on the poor and backwards island. Just like the cat's cradle is imagined within pieces of string tied around someone's hand, so is the religion of Bokonism. The cradle provides people with a bit of imagined fun, while the job of Bokonism is to comfort the people and provide them with lies to distract them from harsh reality. With this parallel between the cat's cradle and Bokonism and religion in general, Vonnegut creates a satire of the purpose and nature of religion.
ReplyDeleteI think that this quote is an integral piece in our understanding of the relationship between Newt and his father. In his letter to John, Newt describes the scene in which his father tries to play Cat's Cradle with him: "'Cat's cradle. See the cat's cradle? See where the nice pussycat sleeps?'" Whether it's intentional or merely a subconscious decision, Newt uses language that is incredibly similar to his father's, and I think that this wording draws the comparison between the two men. As I read your post, Harry, I was thinking about Dr. Hoenikker - he too questions what God is - and I concluded that despite the lack of connection between Dr. Hoenikker and his children, he has greatly influenced them (Angela drops out of high school to take care of the family, Frank conducts "experiments"), especially Newt, who we see adopt his father's stance. Dr. Hoenikker and Newt differ in their reactions to unfulfilling realities; whereas Newt rejects unsatisfactory results, Dr. Hoenikker creates an alternative reality through his lab dabbling. Lastly, I think that Dr. Hoenikker's experiments illustrate his lack of limitations (he thinks about something, solves it, and moves on), and according to Frank's definition of maturity, Dr. Hoenikker is not mature, though it doesn't seem like he acknowledges this or seems to mind.
ReplyDeleteI like the ideas you brought up about maturity. I find it interesting that Vonnegut presents the meaning of maturity as excepting one's own limitations, but many men have attempted to exceed their own limitations. Dr. Hoenniker is a great example. He is attempting to exceed his own limitations as a human being by in his lifelong pursuit of knowledge. However, he has not censored himself, and him exceeding his own expectations he has invented two devices(ice-nine and the atomic bomb) that have the power to destroy huge amounts of human life.
ReplyDeleteDisclaimer: Harry's post covers material that we haven't quite gotten to yet, so that's why some people might be confused. I have read ahead, so I'll try to keep spoilers out of my response, but I think that his post still resonates with what we've talked about in class. With that done and over, here is my response:
ReplyDeleteWell put Harry, I thought that this particular passage was extremely important, as most places where the author incorporates the cat's cradle are. In these two chapters, Vonnegut further develops this reoccurring metaphor by bringing up Newt's childhood again. However, this time we see this time just how his father's trivial actions truly impacted Newt's development, causing him to look for sinister double meanings in simple games. I interpreted the cat's cradle quote as a jab at science rather than religion. Newt was horrified by his father and his attempt to play with a child, as he had already become so detached from humanity that he had neglected his family and built the atomic bomb, never once stopping to think of the consequences of his actions. However, when his father tries to go back and reclaim some of the humanity he forsook, he finds only fear and hatred in the family that he was once a part of. Newt's fixation on the cat's cradle, this children's game that goes around and around in cycles always ending up in the same place, shows how he never understood his father or any of his ways, yet part of him still dwells on that traumatic experience.
I think the cats cradle (obviously) plays a large role in the book in different ways. I see it as something similar to Wilde's idea that the trivial is serious and the serious is trivial. In Cat's Cradle, the scientists creating the atomic bomb, one of the most serious matters possible as it concerns the life and death of hundreds of thousands of people, are caught up in trivial games, particularly the cat's cradle. In this sense, the cat's cradle serves not as the façade but rather as the true focus of Dr. Hoenikker, while scientist and inventor of weapons of mass destruction seem to hide his obsession with the trivial, which to him is altogether very serious. I think in revealing what is beneath this façade and the many other presented in the book, Vonnegut presents to us his satire of the different aspects of the novel. Things are not what the appear to be, and in revealing the true origins and meaning beneath, we discover that things to us that should be or seem extremely serious are treated with the utmost triviality, and vice versa.
ReplyDeleteOh, and we miss you Harry!
DeleteI like the theme that "acknowledging one's limitations must be a severely disappointing experience." Going from this analysis, the book seems to portray science as driven by this very fear of facing limitations. I, however, don't think that imagination is conveyed as a shelter from reality but rather a medium to manipulate (or attempt to manipulate) reality in order to challenge the supposed limitations. Dr. Hoenniker created ice-nine in order to change the physical structure of ice, originally a work of nature that is normally revered instead of challenged. This goes back to the old battle between nature and science, where science pushes against the idea that nature is a force that no one can defy. Ironically, in the scientists' effort to push that limitation, they didn't bring progress but destruction instead, as evident by the atomic bomb. A second irony is that in the usual science vs. nature discussions, a lot of human narcissism is involved in the support of science. On the other hand, in this book the scientists completely ignore the human factor, which makes me wonder why they are even trying so hard.
ReplyDeleteI'm interested in your idea of the cat's cradle concealing an unpleasant reality as well as how it relates to the imaginary.
ReplyDeleteThe cat's cradle is this web of 'imaginary' that most buy into because it's a game; it's meant to be enjoyable. Newt, however, says this about the cat's cradle, "No wonder kids grow up crazy. A cat's cradle is nothing but a bunch of X's between somebody's hands, and little kids look and look and look at all those X's...No damn cat, and no damn cradle," (Vonnegut 165-166). This symbol seems to relate to many of the experiments that take place in the book, like Bokonism. There is no truth in it, but the "children," or people who don't think for themselves, are willing to accept the imaginary.
On page 12, Hoenikker sings, "Rockabye catsy, in the tree top...when the wind blows the cray-dull will rock. If the bough breaks, the cray-dull will fall. Down will come cray-dull, catsy, and all," (Vonnegut 12).
As we've started to see, when people take the imaginary too seriously, bad things start to happen, like how both McCabe and Bokonon started to go insane and treat it as reality. Perhaps we'll be seeing some falling cradles?
Hi Harry,
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for this post - it's going to be a great discussion! Going off of Jianna's comment, science is very much a way to organize the universe and fight chaos. Ironically, religion is as well, but one is objective and the other is subjective. Perhaps the difference is accepting limitations. Like Jianna said, Dr. Hoenikker tried to manipulate nature, whereas Bokonism adds to nature and attempts to explain it in a different way (well, sometimes it tries to change nature, but I don't want to start an argument there).
Perhaps maturity happens in three phases: the phase of belief, the phase of disbelief (if I can't see it, it can't exist), and the final phase that one can believe without seeing.
When discussing the cat's cradle, I think it is important to consider the scene where Newt and John reflect on Newt's painting. The description of the painting as just "scratches made in a back, gummy impasto" emphasize this idea that there is nothing in the cat's cradle that makes it look like cradle or a cat. It seems that cat's cradle represents our attempt to make nothing out of something. The imagery of a cat and a cradle are lies just like religion and science. This symbol of cat's cradle utilizes how truth, lie, and reality are all different. I think it is also important that cat's cradle is also mentioned as an old game that has been around for thousands of years because that would seem to convey that Vonnegut is commenting on how the lies, the truths, etc. have all remained unchanged over time. The fact that there is "no damn cat, and no damn cradle" are just the things that we ignore. It is just our own constructed image, just like our own constructed ideals of what the bomb is and what science is.
ReplyDeleteI really liked what you said about Newt's inability to acknowledge the things that cannot simply be proven. In class we watched a documentary about Fred Leuchter, an unqualified "engineer" who found no proof of cyanide in Nazi gas chambers, which eventually led him to be a leader in the Holocaust denial movement. He chose to believe that what wasn't simply proven by his inadequate tests, meant that the Holocaust never happened. In class we paralleled this man to Dr. Hoenikker, however positively linking this trait to Newt is sufficient as well.
ReplyDeleteBy doing so, Vonnegut is criticizing human's inability to stretch the imagination even if something is not proven.
DeleteSpencer's Post (out of town)
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, glad to hear you're alive Harry. So far i've found the book really fascinating. Vonnegut does an excellent job pointing out so many of the hypocrisies of our society. Besides the use of the cat's cradle metaphor, I found his description of religion extremely fascinating. When he explains how Bokonon exiled himself to make his religion more interesting, he points out a motif in so many followings.
The repetition of Newt's musing over the cat's cradle is certainly central to Vonnegut's satirical analysis. I'm glad you brought up the re-mentioning of the cat's cradle regarding the religious discussion, since this is a prime example of Newt's outlook on conventions. Clearly, he views organizations (or, as Bokonon would say, granfalloons) as inherently fatuous and rather pointless. This is seen re-occurring many times throughout the text, although in more subtle ways. For instance, look at the House of Hope and Mercy, where people die like flies. See the hope? See the mercy?
ReplyDeleteWhen you mentioned that Newt scoffs at anything that cannot be proven, it reminds me that this entire book is pretty much Vonnegut using different characters to satirize the pursuit of empirical truth. What is remarkable about this particular case is that it is Newt who is unable to see the value in anything non-scientific. Like Lisa said in her class discussion addendum email last week, Hoenikker's kids are all outwardly rejecting his philosophies and ways of living his life, but in reality are essentially imitating him.
ReplyDelete