Philip Castle Character Analysis in Cat’s Cradle

Philip Castle is Julian Castle’s son and lives on San Lorenzo. He is the author of the only (relatively) academic text about the island, from which John learns a lot about its history. He runs the island only hotel in which he is making a huge mosaic of Mona (with whom he is in love).

Philip Castle Quotes in Cat’s Cradle

The Cat’s Cradle quotes below are all either spoken by Philip Castle or refer to Philip Castle. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

“Oh, yes. Anyway, one sleepless night I stayed up with Father while he worked. It was all we could do to find a live patient to treat. In bed after bed after bed we found dead people.

“And Father started giggling,” Castle continued.

“He couldn’t stop. He walked out into the night with his flashlight. He was still giggling. He was making the flashlight beam dance over all the dead people stacked outside. He put his hand on my head, and do you know what that marvelous man said to me?” asked Castle.

“Nope.”

“‘Son,’ my father said to me, ‘someday this will all be yours.’”

Related Characters: John (speaker), Philip Castle (speaker), Julian Castle

Page Number and Citation: 162

Explanation and Analysis:

This quote comes from a conversation John has with Philip Castle about the latter’s father, Julian. After a life of big business and debauchery, Julian decided to build the island’s only hospital, the House of Hope and Mercy in the Jungle. Philip is describing what it was like when bubonic plague visited the island and wiped out many of the inhabitants. In Philip’s story, Julian is portrayed as a fundamentally absurdist man, driven to laugh in full view of immense suffering. That doesn’t mean that he’s unfeeling necessarily, but more likely that he is expressing a kind of eternal “truth” Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. U

Philip Castle Character Timeline in Cat’s Cradle

The timeline below shows where the character Philip Castle appears in Cat’s Cradle. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Absurdity and Meaninglessness Theme Icon

...the age of forty, founded 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... (full context)

John narrates the story of Bokonon’s life as told by Philip Castle’s book. Bokonon went to the London School of Economics before fighting in World War... (full context)

...San Lorenzian English dialect is “easy to understand and difficult to write down.” He gives Philip Castle’s translation of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” According to Bokononist legend, Bokonon’s ship will sail... (full context)

Governance, Politics, and Nationhood Theme Icon

...learns that she grew up in the compound of the hospital, had a romance with Philip Castle, and was turned into a “national erotic symbol” by “Papa” Monzano. Bokonon was her... (full context)

John talks about indexing with Claire, who used to do it professionally. She sees Philip Castle’s indexing as embarrassing and “self-indulgent.” She can tell from the index that Philip is... (full context)

...and disease-ridden. Before their arrival, the island was a sugar colony under the authority of Philip Castle’s grandfather. San Lorenzo did not have any effective system of governance. (full context)

...a book—this is the book John has been reading on the plane. The man is Philip Castle. (full context)

John explains that he is a writer and has come to see Julian Castle, Philip’s father. Philip explains that Bokonon was his tutor as a boy, as well as Mona’s. (full context)

Crosby comes over angrily, asking if Philip is a “beatnik.” Philip replies that he is Bokononist; Crosby is shocked, considering that being... (full context)

John returns to his room, finding Philip Castle there installing a roll of toilet paper. Philip complains about the hotel, wondering why... (full context)

John asks Philip about his upbringing at Julian Castle’s hospital, and more generally about Julian’s character. Philip describes... (full context)

The story is interrupted by a phone call to the room; Philip didn’t realize the phones were connected yet. On the phone, Frank tells John in a... (full context)

Philip goes back to the story. After trying to treat the plague victims, Julian and Philip... (full context)

...boko-maru with the pilot during the ceremony, and whether she used to perform boko-maru with Philip Castle. She insists she will not marry a sin-wat, saying that Bokononist religion instructs that... (full context)

...guests know that he is to be president, or how close to death “Papa” is. Philip puts it to John that he might call “a general strike of all writers until... (full context)

...great crack emerges in the ground. The crowd race to get across the crack. John, Philip, and Frank help Hazel and H. Lowe Crosby to safety, but Claire and Horlick Minton... (full context)

...someone else to write the poem John saw by the palace gate. John assumes Angela, Philip, and Julian are dead, but doesn’t want to ask how yet. (full context)

John explains how Julian and Philip Castle died. They had set out on foot for the hospital while the tornadoes still... (full context)

Philip Castle Character Analysis

Philip Castle Quotes in Cat’s Cradle

Chapter 73 Quotes

Philip Castle Character Timeline in Cat’s Cradle