Vonnegut 2
Vonnegut, considered by many to be one of Americas foremost living authors, was himself a veteran of World War Two. He, as a prisoner of war, was one of the few survivors of the fire-bombing of Dresden. In Dresden he saw what many believe was a more horrible tragedy than Hiroshima. The allied bombs destroyed the entire city and killed as many people, if not more, than were killed in Hiroshima. He would eventually write about this experience in the semi-autobiographical Slaughterhouse-Five. This novel, like Cats Cradle, takes a very strong anti-war stance. But along with being an Anti-war book, Cats Cradle is an excellent satire of the Atomic Age. It is essentially the story of one man, an author by the name of John (or Jonah) and the research he is doing for a book on the day the bomb exploded in Hiroshima. This involves him with members of the Dr. Felix Hoenikker familyÐthe genius who helped build the bombÐand their adventures. In the book Vonnegut paints an imaginary world where things might not seem to make any Gioielli 5sense. But there is in fact an amazing amount of symbolism, as well as satire. Dr. Hoenikker is an extremely eccentric scientist who spends most of his time in the lab at his company. He is interested in very
In addition to Dr. Hoenikker and his doomsday games, Vonnegut provides an interesting analysis of atomic age society with the Bokonon religion. This religion, completely made up by Vonnegut and used in this novel, is the religion of every single inhabitant of San Lorenzo, the books imaginary banana republic. This is the island where Jonah eventually ends up, and where the ice-nine holocaust originates. ÒI burst into tears. I jumped up and ran out of the house as fast as I could.Ó(18)What Newt doesnÕt remember is what he said to his Father. Later in the book we find this out from Newts sister, Angela that newt jumped of his fatherÕs lap screaming Ò No cat! No cradle! No cat! No cradle!Ó(53) few things, his children not among them. His children are almost afraid of him. One of the few times he does try to play with his children is when he tries to teach the game of cats cradle to his youngest son, Newt. When he is trying to show newt the game Newt gets very confused. In the book, this is what Newt remembered of the incident:ÒAnd then he sang, ÔRockabye catsy, in the tree topÕ;he sang, Ô when the wind blows, the cray-dull will fall. Down will come cray-dull, catsy and all.Õ With this scene, Vonnegut is trying to show a couple of things. Dr. Hoenikker symbolizes all the scientists who created the atomic bomb. And the cats cradle is the world
Some common words found in the essay are:
Dr Hoenikker, Nobel Prize, Dr Gioielli, Dresden Dresden, Felix Hoenikker, San Lorenzo, Cats Cradle, War III, John Jonah, dr hoenikker, , cats cradle, world game, cat cradle, world war, piece ice-nine, atomic age,
Approximate Word count = 912
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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