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
Angela, Newt, John, and Julian have cocktails on the terrace. Angela drunkenly complains of how the “world had swindled her father. He gave so much, and they gave him so little.” She says that Dr. Hoenikker didn’t earn what he deserved; Dr. Breed earned more.
Dr. Hoenikker gave the world the capacity to destroy itself not once, but twice. That Angela finds this worthy of reward reflects her blind worship of her father and refusal to infuse science with morality.
Themes
Julian points to a small village at the bottom of the waterfall, and explains that the villagers “have a net made of chicken wire” down there. By now, they’ve probably gathered up Newt’s painting, he assumes. Angela grows more hysterical, so Newt implores her to fetch her clarinet.
The villagers of the island are a notable absence from the book. John rarely speaks to any of them and they are usually talked about in an abstract, collective form.
Themes
When Angela is out of earshot, Newt apologizes on her behalf, explaining that her husband, Harrison C. Conners, is unfaithful and treats her badly. John says he thought they had a happy marriage; Newt responds by making a cat’s cradle with his hands, asking “see the cat? See the cradle?”
Angela’s marriage is, of course, a sham, based on Conners’s desire to acquire the ice-nine technology. Newt re-employs the cat’s cradle to signify the difference between illusion and reality.
Themes
