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
Claire’s letter was published during the McCarthy era, she explains, and Minton was fired twelve hours later its publication. Minton says that “the highest possible form of treason … is to say that Americans aren’t loved wherever they go, whatever they do.” John suggests Americans are hated in a lot of places; Claire points that “people” more generally are hated in a lot of places.
McCarthyism is named after an American senator renowned for baseless accusation and suspicion during the “Red Scare of America,” when America was generally distrustful of the Soviet Union and Communism. Claire’s comment is a withering assessment of the rife divisions between peoples across the globe.
Themes
