Cat's Cradle, written in 1963, revolves around created relationships and groups. Set in the small island of San Lorenzo, it is the story of a chemical that can end the world. It is quickly learned upon arrival at San Lorenzo that nearly all inhabitants practice Bokonism, a religion based solely on lies, Bokonism is a 'blatant opiate to blind people to the misery around them" (Giannone 69.) In the books of Bokonon, it is plainly stated to the readers that the religion is centered on lies, one of the verses proclaims, "I wanted all things to be happy/to seem to make some sense/so we could all be happy, yes/instead of tense/and I made up lies/so that they all fit nice/and I made this sad w

One of Vonnegut's most acclaimed novels, Breakfast of Champions, written in 1973, ten years after Cat's Cradle, also employs many of the same themes. Throughout Breakfast of Champions, many of the characters try to feign relationships to belong to a group or any association for a feeling of acceptance. One of the main storylines in Breakfast of Champions is that of Kilgore Trout's cross-country adventure to Midland City. Kilgore makes this whole journey at great expense to meet his one fan, Elliot Rosewater. Kilgore feels lost in his life being alone, even his mediocre relationship with his parrot provides for a slight instant happiness. At the same time Kilgore Trout tries to establish friendships, Dwayne Hoover desperately pushes away his 'real' friends and tries to create new relationships on a superficial level. Dwayne begins feeling helpless in his relationships with the people who care about him as they try harder and harder to help him and react to the problems they notice. In response, Dwayne pushes them away and seeks refuge with his dog (Vonnegut, Breakfast of Champions 52.) instead of his life long friends. Both Dwayne and Kilgore seem to believe that relationships that they control will give them more control in their lives and thus more meaning.

Dwayne Hoover's friends and family try to stand by him and reach out for him as his mysterious symptoms progress almost exponentially, Dwayne's disposition can be accredited to schizophrenia. Dwayne exhibits nearly all schizophrenic symptoms. He begins slipping away from reality more and more often. His reality is replaced by hallucinations of rubbery asphalt and paranoia of any and everyone around him. Hallucinations, paranoia and escapes from reality are all symptoms of severe schizophrenia (Mental Health Network). Along with those symptoms, Dwayne suddenly demands perfection in every aspect of his life. Like other schizophrenics, Dwayne expects everyone around him to behave in congruency to his mind, and he expects everyone to know how to act. (Tufano 94.) Dwayne's schizophrenia eventually becomes the end of him.

Throughout Vonnegut's novels, his characters continu

Some common words found in the essay are:
San Lorenzo, Cat's Cradle, Vonnegut Slapstick, Frank Hoeniker, Dwayne Hoover's, Health Network, Breakfast Champions, Eliza Wilbur, Dwayne Hoover, Kurt Vonnegut, breakfast champions, cat's cradle, san lorenzo, eliza wilbur, mental health, vonnegut kurt, kurt vonnegut, schizophrenic traits characters, themes throughout, government issued, health network, traits characters cat's, characters cat's cradle, mental health network,
Approximate Word count = 1457
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)