Monday, November 2, 2009
Cat's Cradle...Chapters 1-7...Postmodernism?
Alright. Postmodernism, Cat's Cradle. This novel is showing some signs of postmodernism, for sure. Even in how it's written, with the little bitty chapters, feels postmodernistic. I believe the purpose of the chapters is to keep the attention of the reader, so they wouldn't get bored reading an entire normal length chapter. This is like commercials on TV, just a few seconds to fit the attantion span of postmodern people. Another postmodern theme in it is religion, and how it is a grand narrative, and all that. Except, it kind of seems to be the opposite of postmodernism in that respect. This is because Cat's Cradle, so far, looks to be encouraging grand narratives in the form of religion, or beliefs, or what have you. In the beginning of the novel, it says "Live by the foma(harmless untruths) that make you brave and kind and healthy and happy." It basically says that religions can be lies, but it is still good for one to have some sort of philosophy, or belief, or set of morals to center one's life around. The father does not look to do this, though. In fact, the father seems the most postmodernistic part of the book so far. He is basically the epitome of science for the sake of science. He wonders about things, going from one thing to the next, playing with whatever he found interesting at the time. He "plays" with the bomb, but doesn't care about how the knowledge he gains will be used. After the testing of the bomb, when a scientist says to him "Science has now known sin," he replies with "What is sin?" He is removed, detached from others, only looking to learn more. He doesn't understand the concept, because he doesn't see-or care, more like- how the science will be used, he just wants to experiment, discover, learn. Acquire knowledge for the sake of knowledge. It doesn't matter what it is about. One day it's bombs, the next, turtles. He even describes it himself in his Nobel Prize acceptance speech as "dawdling like an eight-year-old on a spring morning on his way to school." That is just how the father is, and it seems quite Postmodern-like to me.
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Good ideas Cathy! Some of the bits were pretty cool, like Honneiker being the only REAL postmodern part. So, postmodernism doesn't allow for grand narratives? I suppose it seems that way, compared to our traditionial grand narratives, but all of the books so far seem to have had one SOME way. I mean, the whole LIE concept of Big Brother was one big Foma. So was the Ford "religion" thing. Honneiker's mind drifts to random things, is that Postmodern? I'm not sure. I suppose the idea of pure research is... if such a thing even exists. In the end, Honneiker's research was driven by his human emotion of interest.
ReplyDeleteAnyways, good thoughts Cathy. Makes me think.
Hey Cathy! You made some really good points! I like how you mentioned that Cat's Cradle is postmodernistic ,since the chapters are short and sweet to appeal our scattered brains like you pointed out in your T.V. analogy. I also agree with you that the father exemplifeies postmodernism in his random interests and detachment from his family. I think he has been marginalized into his own discourse , since he seems to isolate himself from everyone.I also liked how you pointed out that the father does not even have a religion based on lies to give him stability. Anyways, I enjoyed reading your blog it was very interesting. See ya tommorrow:)
ReplyDeleteHey Cathy I think was your best blog till date. It was very insightful and I found myself agreeing with a lot you had to say. I was thinking about the same things i just cant write them as fluidly as you can i guess. But pack to the story. What i didnt notice as being somewhat postmodernistic was the length of the chapters, after reading your blog however it makes much more sense and there is a connection between the two. Your analysis of Felix was also excellent. I think your onto something here. Felix represents science and his quest for knowledge is an endless one. It has no end and can seemingly go on forever. I think that Vonnegut is trying to tell us that science will always lead to new discoveries which will then lead to new discoveries but no matter what we discover, the one thing that cannot be found though science is the meaning of life. Life is not something that you can put in a test tube and see if it turn green. The meaning of life simply cannot come through science. That's just what i think, but ya good job on the blog. Hope to read more of your stuff in the future.
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