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 falls asleep, and is woken by a loud banging. He flees out of the house, as do Newt and Angela. It turns out that the power has returned, and the noise is coming from the radio. Each of them has grabbed certain objects, having believed their lives to be under threat. John has his passport and money, while the two Hoenikkers have “little Thermos jugs,” which they seem shocked to be carrying.
The three characters have gathered the objects they feel are somehow most important to their survival. In fact, these objects are an almost subconscious expression of what each character feels to be most important to them.
Themes
Outside, they see Frank trying to fire up a large motor-generator. He has Mona with him. John, from the present-day, tells the reader that the thermos jugs carried by Angela and Newt contained chips of ice-nine. Frank takes John aside to talk, while John lusts after Mona.
Angela and Newt have thus prioritized ice-nine over all other possessions, because deep down they feel its potential significance to the planet. They don’t, however, translate that feeling into one of responsibility.
Themes
