Cat’s Cradle and the Meaning of Life

“The web of life is a beautiful and meaningless dance. The web of life is a process with a moving goal. The web of life is a perfectly finished work of art right where I am sitting now” (Robert Anton Wilson) Life has no meaning. This is a common theme of Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle. Life is much like the game of cat’s cradle: while it may seem complex and intricate, in reality it is simple and leads to nothingness.

The religion described in the book, Bokononism, follows the teachings of a man, Lionel Boyd Johnson or Bokonon. In the beginnings of his books he warns readers to “close the book at once! It is nothing but foma” (Vonnegut, 265). Foma, are lies. Despite this, most of the island of San Lorenzo follows this religion. Bokonon realized the meaninglessness of life and created a religion based on lies to provide happiness for people as a result. This is why Bokonon leads people to believe they will find out their karass and reason for life only after they die. He wants to spare them the disappointment of knowing everything they do has no purpose.

Throughout Cat’s Cradle, there are a few references to the game the book is named for. The first is when Dr. Hoenikker, Newt’s father, tries to show his son the game on the day his bomb was dropped on Japan. (Vonnegut, 11) Later on Newt goes into detail explaining the game to the narrator, Jonah. Atop a mountain, Newt had just finished painting the game. “No wonder kids grow up crazy. A cat’s cradle is nothing but a bunch of X’s between somebody’s hands, and little kids look and look and look at all those X’s….No damn cat, and no damn cradle.” (Vonnegut 165-166)When the painting is seen by another, it is interpreted as a picture of the meaninglessness of life. Even discussing the painting has no meaning. Everything humans do has no meaning behind it because nature neither benefits nor learns from the experience. The painting is used to connect the meaninglessness of religion as well.

“My God--life! Who can understand even one little minute of it?” Jonah was shocked when his question was answered with a quote from The Books of Bokonon that describes man’s unknowing of the meaning to life yet he pretends to understand anyway to avoid questioning and finding the truth. (Vonnegut, 182) It goes on to say that the creator of the religion is constantly adding to the books to which Newt brings up Cat’s Cradle. There is no visible reason behind religions. People put all of their faith into writing, which in the case of Bokononism, is all lies. The citizens of San Lorenzo seem extremely happy to the outside world. This happiness hides the real issues however.

Bokonon teaches people to hold only humans sacred. In doing so, the citizens reject the focus on themselves. Many of them are starving and have nothing else to live for. In the end, when the world comes to an end, Bokonon tells the survivors to commit suicide and they do without question because they realize there is nothing left for them on Earth. Everything has frozen and surviving would be a greater struggle than suicide.

Faith allows people to believe they’re on this earth for a reason and their life has a meaning. It comforts them and provides a basis for their argument that there is meaning to their lives. They are living to do the work of God. While this is a main belief of the fictitious religion of Bokononism, it is a basis of Christian beliefs as well. Everything from the Ten Commandments, which describe the rules to be followed in order to please God, to the belief that everything one must do should go to help others before yourself. However, even the New International Version Bible points out the meaninglessness of life: Meaningless! Meaningless! Says the Teacher. Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless. What do people gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun? Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever ……………………………………………………………………………………… I applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens. What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind! I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind. (Ecc. 1.2-4, 13-14) Philosophers also believe that life has no meaning. Existential Nihilism is a form of thinking that developed in the 20th century after the greatest despairs our world has faced especially the World Wars and the Great Depression. This philosophy describes the belief the world has no purpose or meaning. Their basis is a result of the unfortunate events outnumbering the good events. (“Nihilism”) The freedom of choice makes it seem as though life has no true sense of meaning. Once one dies there is nothing left. Everything they worked for seems to be done in vain.. Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle explores the underlying theme that life ultimately has no meaning. The references to the meaningless game help explain the intricate yet somehow simple explanation to life. Bokonon understood this and created a religion to help people find a “meaning” to their lives to provide happiness. Although this book is fictitious, similar points can be made in Christianity. Even the book of Ecclesiastes points out the lack of meaning in life. Philosophers who follow the Nihilistic way of thinking try to explain why living beings exist and their purpose. Everyone comes to the same conclusion: Life has no meaning. Everything one does before their death ends with their life.