Cat's Cradle

Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut is a heavily satirical novel that follows the experience of an unsuccessful writer named John. John’s story begins as he starts writing a book about the bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, and specifically, what significant people were doing on the day of the bombing. John’s research of Felix Hoenikker, the deceased “father of the atom bomb”, tangles him up in the lives of the three Hoenikker children. Newt, Frank, and Angela Hoenikker are innocent, naïve, and enthralled with the father who neglected them. They are also the only heirs to their father’s secret legacy, ice-nine. Ice-nine is a form of water discovered by the late scientist that has the ability to turn all water solid at the slightest touch and is the basis of the novel.

A series of events brings John together with the three Hoenikker children, whom have already been in contact with the writer, on the fictional, hopeless island of San Lorenzo. They arrive to be greeted by the president of the island, “Papa” Monzano, who waits with his adopted daughter Mona, the most beautiful girl on the island, and the holder of John’s heart. Soon after the arrival of the four main characters, “Papa” collapses due to the fatal cancer he is suffering from. As it becomes apparent that “Papa” will not survive much longer, the president carefully chooses his successor as none other than Frank Hoenikker, who also happens to be the Major General of San Lorenzo. Frank accepts this arrangement at first, only to bribe John to take the offer instead, promising him Mona, who was declared to marry the next president. John plans to announce his arrival to the office at the island’s ceremony for its national holiday, but the day of the ceremony brings tragedy. “Papa” Monzano is discovered in his bed, curiously frozen solid, holding pinched fingers to his lips. While “Papa’s” security remains baffled, John knows the exact cause, realizing that Frank Hoenikker has given his piece of ice-nine to his beloved president in exchange for a job opportunity. After sharing the news with the other Hoenikker children, John quickly realizes that each one traded in their piece of ice-nine for the pursuit of happiness, only to have their plans backfire. Not long after the suicide of “Papa”, the first human to die of ice-nine, planes prepare to fly over the island to honor the national holiday. However, the inhabitants of San Lorenzo quickly realize that one of the planes is crashing. The plane ends up hitting the castle of “Papa” Monzano, which knocks it into ocean bordering it, causing the ocean and all connecting bodies of water to freeze, almost completely destroying the human population in a few days.

Vonnegut also centers his novel around his made-up religion of Bokonism. Bokonism, founded by Bokonon, is a religion that emphasizes its basis of lies. The purpose of this fictional religion is to satirize real-life religions, specifically but not limited to Christianity, and the human need for meaning in life. The cat’s cradle, the string game commonly referenced by Newt Hoenikker, also represents the useless human desire for meaning. Overall, the book was very entertaining and well written, not to mention thought-provoking. Aside from the offensive themes and occasional bad language, Cat’s Cradle is an amazing read that I would highly recommend to anyone.