Well, here we are again, I suppose. Another blog; another attempt to make sense. Let us begin…
Cat’s Cradle, to me thus far, just screams postmodernism. The random hops from topic to topic seem in keeping with postmodernism’s lack-of-structure theorums. Additionally, the characters that have been mentioned are more than a little unconventional, and Vonnegut clipped, witty writing style serves to highlight everyone’s absurdities.
More specifically, there is the character of Dr. Felix Hoenikker; both he and John (or should I call him “Jonah”) are posterboys for postmodernism. Felix is completely indifferent to any set moral code. Why, when one scientist says to Felix following the first atomic bomb’s explosion, “Science has now known sin”, Felix glibly replies “What is sin?” (p.17) Now THERE’S a postmodernist question if I ever saw one! After all, in order for one to judge right from wrong , one must hold some truths to be self-evident; one must have some sort of moral center against which one can compare shades of gray—a metanarrative of some kind. The postmodernist notion that there is no such thing as absolute truth, that metanarratives can only be trusted to marginalize lesser narratives aligns quite nicely with Felix’s refusal to subscribe to a moral code.
Then, of course, there is Bokononism, revealed through the eyes of John (Jonah). It seems perplexing, almost impossible that a religion that admits to being false can still gain followers. This deeply reflects, in my mind, the postmodernist ability to hold two contradictor thoughts at the same time, rather like double think. (ie: There are no more metanarratives. P.S. This is a metanarrative. –-Love, Jean-François Lyotard) Bokononist know that their religion is made of lies, yet they live by it’s rule’s and feel secure in the sense of purpose it gives their lives. I believe Vonnegut is making commentary on both religion and the human race through this religion. First, he is saying that all religions are equally false and founded on lies—anything, I suspect he is saying, that claims there is sense in this madness we call life must be founded on lies. But on the other, I believe he is also saying that human beings need a sense of purpose in this world to keep from going crazy. Bokononism admits to being false, bypassing the fanaticism that would spring from a religion that its follower’s believed to be true, while giving its believers the illusion of something solid to rest their feet on. Add the concepts of “karasses” and “sinookas” (p.6), and you’ve got Postmodernist religion at its best, I presume.
Okay, so this is my first time commenting on one of your blogs and I would just like to say it was very entertaining to read. I like how you started off talking about the structure, or actually lack-of-structure in Cat’s Cradle. This idea never really occurred to me but I completely agree. I also mentioned the “Science has now known sin”, Felix replies “What is sin?” (p.17) in my blog and believe it is so far the greatest example of Postmodernism in the text. Flex seems to be callous and blind to any type of moral foundation. I just find this hard to believe.. Most people would care or at least be interested in what their research is being used for especially if it involves other people. In addition, your paragraph about Bokonism and religion proved to be very insightful. Keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteSo...i now am in love with your blogs. they provide information that sounds way better than i would put. Anyways, I totally agree on the randomness of Cat's Cradle. It goes from one topic to another and it is kind of his hard to keep track of. I like when you said,"I suspect he is saying, that claims there is no sense in this madness we call lifemust be founded on lies." I think that makes a very good point on Jonah and how he perceives things in life. Very good job on the blog. see you in class.
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Great blog! I loved how you wrote about several differant aspects of the book that were postmodern and not just one. It never occured to me that Bokonism and postmodernism also use doublethink but I totally agree with you. It seems to me that even though people know that Bokonism is a lie they believe in it anyways since the truth hurts too much it is more appeasing to believe in lies.Perhaps, people simply got tried of admitting that they are sinners,and turned to a religion based on lies to avoid guilt. Also, I liked how you analyzed that Bokonism provides stability because it gives people something to believe in even though it is based on lies. Your blog was really interesting to read.
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