Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Cat’s Cradle, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Science and Morality
Religion
Governance, Politics, and Nationhood
Absurdity and Meaninglessness
Summary
Analysis
John quotes Bokonon again. This time, it’s an autobiographical anecdote that talks about “an Episcopalian lady” who professed to understand “God and His Ways of Working perfectly.” Bokonon pours scorn on this idea, explaining that “she was a fool, and so am I, and so is anyone who think she sees what God is Doing.”
There is a paradox in Bokononism—it insists that the existence can’t be explained while also going through the motions of seeming to offer such an explanation. It is thus, despite its occasional kernels of wisdom, a deeply absurdist device.
Themes
