Mona is the most beautiful woman on San Lorenzo, and John practically falls in love with her as soon as he sees her picture. She is the daughter of a Finnish architect who made some of the buildings on San Lorenzo. She was adopted by “Papa” Monzano and has been tutored by Bokonon (alongside Philip Castle). She is a practicing Bokononist and often engages in boko-maru with multiple “lovers.” She is due to marry “Papa’s” successor, which at one stage is Frank Hoenikker but soon becomes John. She commits suicide by ingesting ice-nine after she and John discover the bodies of the San Lorenzians who have killed themselves on Bokonon’s instruction.
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Mona Aamons Monzano Character Timeline in Cat’s Cradle
The timeline below shows where the character Mona Aamons Monzano appears in Cat’s Cradle. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 37. A Modern Major General
On the cover of the supplement is Mona Aamons Monzano, whom John says he falls in love with immediately. Inside, he reads a...
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Chapter 40. House of Hope and Mercy
...a “free hospital” in the San Lorenzo jungle. His son, Philip Castle, runs the hotel—Casa Mona—at which John plans to stay. John is mostly excited by the possibility of meeting Mona.
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Chapter 51. O.K., Mom
...explains that they are heading to San Lorenzo for a wedding—Frank is due to wed Mona.
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Chapter 54. Communists, Nazis, Royalists, Parachutists, and Draft Dodgers
John returns to the book about San Lorenzo, looking up Mona in the index. He finds a section about her father, Nestor Aamons, who fought in...
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Chapter 55. Never Index Your Own Book
John looks at all the different index entries for Mona. From these, he learns that she grew up in the compound of the hospital, had...
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...embarrassing and “self-indulgent.” She can tell from the index that Philip is in love with Mona, but that “he’ll never marry her.” Minton later whispers to John that this is because...
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Chapter 64. Peace and Plenty
...notices that Frank is “Papa” Monzano’s personal bodyguard. John can’t help staring at the beautiful Mona, who plays some music on a xylophone for the crowd.
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Chapter 65. A Good Time to Come to San Lorenzo
...the nation—“The Day of the Hundred Martyrs to Democracy” and the engagement of Frank and Mona. Minton congratulates him, and the newly-weds.
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Chapter 66. The Strongest Thing There Is
Frank frantically tries to help “Papa” by loosening his collar and blouse. John notices that Mona still looks serene. In fact, she appears to be rubbing her feet with one of...
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Chapter 69. A Big Mosaic
John, Hazel, and Crosby arrive at the Casa Mona hotel, which has no previous guests in its guestbook. A white man is working on...
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Chapter 70. Tutored by Bokonon
...Philip’s father. Philip explains that Bokonon was his tutor as a boy, as well as Mona’s.
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Chapter 74. Cat’s Cradle
...house in a cab, on the slope of Mount McCabe. The house was designed by Mona’s father, Nestor Aamons, and has a terrace over a waterfall. Frank is not yet home,...
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Chapter 86. Two Little Jugs
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...
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Chapter 87. The Cut of My Jib
...walls are adorned with paintings of “very early man,” all fixated on the subject of Mona.
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Chapter 90. Only One Catch
...be a catch. Frank explains that there is a catch: John would have to marry Mona. It says in The Books of Bokonon, explains Frank, that she will marry the next...
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Chapter 91. Mona
Frank brings Mona to the cave and leaves her alone with John. John admires her physical beauty, and...
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Mona initiates boko-maru with John, saying it will help him. John, from the present-day, tells the...
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Chapter 93. How I Almost Lost My Mona
After boko-maru, John tells Mona that he loves her. She loves him too, she says. He asks if there is...
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John tries to order Mona to be his and his alone from now on. Tearfully, she says, “I make people...
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John asks Mona about her boko-maru with the pilot during the ceremony, and whether she used to perform...
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Chapter 104. Sulfathiazole
Mona largely ignores John but speaks to the other guests. Present-day John ponders “the meaning of...
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Chapter 106. What Bokononists Say When They Commit Suicide
Dr. Koenigswald explains that “Papa” had been raving about “pain, ice, Mona,” before saying “now I will destroy the whole world.” This is what Bokonists say before...
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Chapter 117. Sanctuary
John and Mona take shelter in one of “Papa” Monzano’s other rooms, the wall and the roof now...
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Chapter 118. The Iron Maiden and the Oubliette
During John and Mona’s first twenty-four hours in the oubliette, tornadoes rattle overhead. John tries the radio, but there...
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John and Mona have separated beds; Mona is not interested in sex with John; present-day John implies that...
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Chapter 119. Mona Thanks Me
...doodely, do / What we must, muddily must, muddily must, muddily must.” John mentions to Mona that humans breath in oxygen and breath out carbon dioxide, telling her that it is...
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...the tornadoes hanging high in the air but no longer posing a threat, John and Mona venture outside. Every step John takes makes “a gravelly squeak in blue-white frost.” John says...
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Chapter 120. To Whom It May Concern
As John and Mona walk, John wonders where they’ll find the dead. He has a resurgent feeling of wanting...
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Chapter 121. I Am Slow to Answer
John and Mona can’t see any sign of Bokonon. John is outraged at the “gall of the man.”...
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Chapter 122. The Swiss Family Robinson
...sort of igloo under a translucent, blue-white dome of ice-nine.” Those apart from John and Mona initially took shelter in a dungeon of the palace.
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