Outside Reading: Cat's Cradle #1

     I had recently read a book called Slaughterhouse Five, by Kurt Vonnegut, and I found his humor as well as his unique perspective on world events to make the book enjoyable. Because I enjoyed this book so much I decided to choose Cat's Cradle, also by Kurt Vonnegut, as the book for my second quarter. Throughout what I have read so far (pages 1-72) Vonnegut has not disappointed in terms of comedy, and the topic of science and World War II has kept me interested.
     Similarly to his invention of Tralfamadorians in the book Slaughterhouse Five, Vonnegut has created a fake religion in Cat's Cradle called "Bokononism," which I still don't fully understand. However, in the book he talks about how this religion has given him a different, more enlightened perspective on the universe, giving several quotes from a the fictional religion's book that attribute to the ideals represented by the religion. This connects strongly with Postmodernism, since Bokononism seems to be very unique and very much against the societal norm, which are both qualities of the Postmodern philosophy.
     Another part of the book which I have found to resemble Postmodernism is the focus of the story, Dr. Felix Hoenikker. This man is very depicted as extremely intelligent, to the point where they sometimes refer to him as inhuman. In addition to this quality, however, he is very different from everyone else in terms of how he views and interacts with the world. He interacts with society in ways which are unexpected and abnormal, and asks questions which aren't normally asked. For these reasons, Dr. Hoenikker is almost an embodiment of Postmodernism. Though he is innocent and immature for the most part, many people view him as a killer due to his work on the atomic bomb, and whether or not the main character in the story believes this himself has yet to be seen.
     This book is focused mainly on Postmodernism, so it doesn't connect with readings we've done in class very much. However, if I had to connect it to one of our class readings, I would say it is most similar to "Young Goodman Brown." In "Young Goodman Brown," the protagonist demonstrates conflict over whether to view society as good or evil, which is similar to the moral issue demonstrated by the atomic bomb in Cat's Cradle.
     My American Literature definition doesn't demonstrate too much similarity to this story so far. My definition discusses mainly the American Dream and the foundations of American identity throughout the time periods we're studying, and so far most of what I've read focuses mainly on the individual. There have been a few places where Vonnegut has humorously written that most of American society is ignorant and such, but this isn't something that I can reasonably apply to literature.