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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
In four pages this paper examines the Bokononist religion featured in Kurt Vonnegut’s science fiction novel in a consideration of the function of faith and how it is based more upon untruths than on logic. One source is listed in the bibliography.
Page Count:
4 pages (~225 words per page)
File: TG61_TGcatscrad.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
they all fit nice And I made this sad world A pa-ra-dise" (Vonnegut, 1991, p. 127). As a prisoner of war during World War II, Kurt Vonnegut (1922-2007) witnessed
firsthand the horrors of war and the deadly consequences of modern technology when Dresden, Germany was firebombed by the United States and Great Britain in 1944. For Vonnegut, his
wartime experiences intensified his disdain for religion, which he believed historically sanctioned combat as "Gods will," and technology was developed to perpetuate the notion that war will ultimately culminate in
peace. According to Vonnegut (1991), "All religions... are nothing but lies" (p. 219). In his science fiction novel Cats Cradle, first published in 1963, he presented an alternative
religion - Bokononism - that was based on this premise that man is happiest when told untruths and can then better accept a less-than-perfect reality instead of being constantly disappointed
in an elusive quest for perfection. The narrator John (a.k.a. Jonah) was conducting research for his novel, The Day the World Ended, and established contact with the children of Dr.
Felix Hoenikker, one of the inventors of the atomic bomb. At the same time, John is commissioned to write an article about multimillionaire Julian Castle, who now resides on
the Caribbean island of San Lorenzo. This impoverished country is also home to the eldest Hoenikker son Frank, who like his father, prefers science to humankind. In San
Lorenzo, John becomes acquainted with a religion known as Bokononism, which was created by Lionel Boyd "Bokonon" Johnson and his marine deserter friend Earl McCabe as a way of eliminating
the residents disillusionment with their lives, concocting hope through foma, which "are lies" (Vonnegut, 1991, p. 265). Having an innate understanding of human nature, Bokonon has the religion outlawed
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