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AP Literature MAJOR WORKS DATA SHEET Title: Cat’s Cradle____________________________ Author: __Kurt Vonnegut _______________________________ Date of Publication: ____1963___________________ Genre: ____Satire/Science Fiction ______________________________ Historical Information about the period and place of publication – what was happening in the world the author lived in and how might that have influenced him? Biographical Information about the Author ● Vonnegut’s life span 1922-2007 ● Known as one of the most influential American novelists of the 20th century ● Studied at Cornell University and afterwards joined the U.S. Army ● Vonnegut was captured as a prisoner of war as well as fought in combat ● After war, Vonnegut settled down and married his high school girlfriend and they had 3 children together Vonnegut wrote his novel about twenty years after World War II ended ,but the impact that World War II made on Vonnegut was long lasting. Vonnegut makes his novel focusing on the increasing power of technology and its capability of destroying life sometime in the future. Characteristics of the Genre Satire is the art of ridiculing current events or ideas and in Cat’s Cradle , Vonnegut ridicules mass destruction from technology and human stupidity. The science fiction part of the novel includes the mass destruction and the satire part of the novel includes the fact on how easy mass destruction is by leaving the power in the wrong hands. Plot Summary John, the narrator, decides he wants to write a book and title it The Day The World Ended. The novel will focus on what the rest of the world was doing when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. To begin his research for the novel, John writes to Newton Hoenikker, the youngest son of the man who created the atomic bomb, Felix Hoenikker. Newton replies and tells John what he was doing the day that the atomic bomb was dropped. From then on, Newton was able to get John in contact with the people that knew Felix Hoenikker the best. Furthering his research, John travels to a town called Illium, which is where the Hoenikker family lived during World War II and where they lived when the atomic bomb was dropped. John is able to meet and ask Dr. Asa Breed questions while in town. Dr. Asa Breed was Felix Hoenikker’s supervisor in a laboratory that he worked in. After learning significant information from Dr. Asa Breed about the Hoenikker family, John also learns that before Felix Hoenikker died, he created ice-nine without documenting the creation, but left the remains to his three children. One of Felix’s sons, Frank, is a Major General of the San Lorenzo island. As a side job, John is a freelance writer and was assigned an article to write about a philanthropist that lives in San Lorenzo. After arriving in San Lorenzo, John shortly learns that the entire island follows a religion called Bokononism. Bokononism is a religion entirely based off believing in a utopia and that everyone is told “white lies” to stay happy. Considering Frank Hoenikker is the leader of San Lorenzo, he decides he can no longer lead the country and asks John to take over the country as president. Taken back by this request a first since this was the first time he had ever been to the island, but shortly after he accepts this request. On the day that John planned to tell the people of San Lorenzo he was going to be their next president, icenine was swallow by one of the doctors on the island. Unaware of how the doctor received the icenine, John and the Hoenikker children were sent into a panic realizing that damage icenine could do now that it was out. Just like they expected, icenine somehow got into the ocean began to freeze everything in sight. In a matter of seconds, the world was changed forever and death began to haunt to island. The few people that survived were John, the Hoenikker children, and a few others that tagged along with them. John used the novel he was writing to record all of these events that ironically revolved around the day the world ended. Describe the author’s style An example that demonstrates that style humorous, blunt “My book is going to emphasize the human rather than the technical side of the bomb, so recollections of the day through the eyes of a “baby”, if you pardon the expression, would fit perfectly”(Vonnegut 7). Memorable Quotes Quotation Significance “After the thing went off, after it was a sure thing that America could wipe out a city with just one bomb, a scientist turned to Father and said, “Science has now known sin” (Vonnegut 17). This quote reveals Vonnegut’s true feelings about technology contributing to mass destruction. Vonnegut was very interested about technology and its powers for good or evil clearly the atomic bomb was the first showcase that people had of mass destruction with the touch of a button. “The trouble with the world was,” she continued hesitatingly, “ that people were still superstitious instead of scientific. He said if everybody would study science more, there wouldn't be all the trouble there was” “He said science was going to discover the basic secret of life someday,” (Vonnegut 24). This quote explains that people are distrusting of science and the information it can discover about life in general. I think people are afraid of the truth that science can discover about the world so people avoid learning or accepting science’s power. “If I were a younger man, I would write a history of human stupidity;” (Vonnegut 287). “She was a fool, and so am I, and so is anyone who thinks he sees that God is doing, [writes Bokonon]” (Vonnegut 5). This is ironic because this is the narrator saying this quote ,but that is basically what Vonnegut is writing about. Vonnegut appears to feel strongly that human stupidity is a serious problem in society. This quote is stating Vonnegut’s skepticism of religion and the power of it if it has any. Vonnegut appears to be a straightforward man solely trusting scientific reasoning. Characters Name John Felix Hoenikker Role in the Story Significance Adjectives Narrator John describes majority of the events throughout the novel with a humorous and sarcastic tone Sarcastic “Father of the Atomic Bomb”, known to be one of the Emotionless, smartest scientists to live, created “ice-nine” which had the ability to destroy everything by freezing it Angela Hoenikker Frank Hoenikker Newton Hoenikker Dr. Asa Breed Bokonon Felix’s first child, basically takes over family when her mother dies and runs the family since Felix is incapable of that Felix’s second oldest child and is the Major General of San Lorenzo Felix’s youngest child and is a midget. Felix Hoenikker’s supervisor, explains to John about the misunderstandings of scientists and what they do One of the founders of San Lorenzo, created the religion of Bokononism Partially the reason for the world ending since he created icenine Introverted, Gives John valuable information about icenine and helps him understand its power introduces San Lorenzo to John and gives John the power to be president of San Lorenzo Indecisive, technically minded Is naive about outsiders and accidentally allows russian girlfriend who is secretly a spy from Russia the ability to have icenine naive about the intentions of others Lead John in the direction of majority of his discoveries within the Hoenikker family helpful created the religion of Bokononism and was the reason the country of San Lorenzo was the way it was and why the people there believed lies rather than truth. Bokonon symbolized human stupidity in society Deceiving Setting ⅓of the novel is spent in the town of Illium, the town the Hoenikker’s lived during World War II and the dropping of the atomic bomb and then ⅔of the novel is spent in the country of San Lorenzo Significance of opening scene The opening scene is John describing to his readers his purpose for his book and what he wants to accomplish and it is very similar to Vonnegut’s intentions for writing the novel in general. Significance of ending/closing scene Symbols 1. Icenine: The ability of mass destruction due to technology The ending scene is John, the Hoenikker children and a few other select people, adapting to life being most likely the last people on earth. This scene mocks that human stupidity impacts the world tremendously. 2. Bokononism: the fact that society would rather believe lies than to face the truth and confront the issues needed to be solved as complex as they are 3.Cat’s Cradle: as complex as the cat’s cradle game is, life can be viewed as complicated or simple. That depends on one’s perspective of life. 4. Old AP Questions 5. Leave Blank for Now Possible Themes 1. Technology can lead to mass destruction 2. Avoiding the truth will make life easier 3.Desire and Happiness