The Satire of Vonneguts Cats Cradle Essay - 1009 Words

The Satire of Cats Cradle Cats Cradle is, Vonneguts most highly praised novel. Filled with humor and unforgettable characters, this apocalyptic story tells of Earths ultimate end, and presents a vision of the future that is both darkly fantastic and funny, as Vonnegut weaves a satirical commentary on modern man and his madness (Barnes and Noble n.pag). In Cats Cradle, Kurt Vonnegut uses satire as a vehicle for threatened self-destruction when he designs the government of San Lorenzo. In addition, the Bokonists practice of Boko-maru, and if the world is going to end in total self destruction and ruin, then people will die, no matter how good people are and what religion people believe. An example†¦show more content†¦The story of Bokonon and his religion begins with the dictator of San Lorenzo and Bokonon at first being friends, but then they decided to govern San Lorenzo by themselves. Seeing that the people are hopeless and without direction, Bokonon invents his religion, When Bokonon and McCabe took over this miserable country year ago...they through out the priests. And then Bokonon, cynically and playfully invented a new religion (Scholes 172). But then McCabe outlaws it and makes practicing any religion other than Christianity punishable by the deadly Hook, Anybody caught practicing Bokononsim in San Lorenzo, will die on the Hook (Scholes 134). All the people on the island have become devout Bokonists, and the struggle between the government and the religion keeps them entertained, and therefore alive, Well, when it became evident that no government or economic reform was going to make the people much less miserable, the religion became the one real instrument of hope. 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 (Scholes 172). The hopeless, directionless people represent mankind as a whole and the government plot represents what Vonnegut sees as societys mindless, clear diversion from reality that keeps everyone interested in life. An example of satire as a vehicle of self-destruction in theShow MoreRelated Satire and Fantasy in Kurt Vonneguts Cats Cradle Essay780 Words   |  4 PagesSatire and Fantasy in Kurt Vonneguts Cats Cradle For this essay, I decided to pick two terms that describe Cats Cradle. I felt that satire and fantasy were two terms that suited the novel quite well. The book qualifies as a satire because it makes a mockery of things that were of concern in the sixties. For example, the Cuban missile crisis was a big issue in the early sixties. Religion was taken much more seriously, and the family unit was more tightly wound. In the novel, the threat comesRead More Satire, and Black Humor in Kurt Vonneguts Cats Cradle Essay714 Words   |  3 PagesSatire, and Black Humor in Kurt Vonneguts Cats Cradle Cats Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut was written in 1963. It is a satirical commentary on modern man and his madness (back cover). It is a book that counters almost every aspect of our society. As well as satire, Vonnegut also includes apocalyptic elements in this novel. Satire, the use of irony, sarcasm, or ridicule in exposing, denouncing, or deriding vice or folly (Webster 1193), is very prevalent in Cats Cradle. Vonnegut hits on manyRead MoreKurt Vonneguts Cats Cradle Use of Satire1498 Words   |  6 PagesCats Cradle: Religion and Satire What is religion? There is no one correct answer, however, one definition that seems to cover every aspect of most established religions is, Â…the most comprehensive and intensive manner of valuing known to human beings (Pecorino). 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Vonnegut uses small poetic insertions throughout his piece to help communicate hisRead More Postmodernist Features in Vonneguts Cats Cradle2907 Words   |  12 PagesPostmodernist Features in Vonneguts Cats Cradle Cats Cradle is a book, which enables many points for literary discussions. One possible topic of them could be the postmodernist features in this book. In this examination Ihab Hassans essay Toward a Concept of Postmodernism was used as a source of secondary literature for defining of postmodernist features. The most visible and prevalent features are postmodernist metonymy, treatment of the character, dynamic