Previous
Similes
Situational Irony
Explanation and Analysis—Mud:
Dr. Hoenikker’s invention of ice-nine becomes situationally ironic in retrospect. His invention owes its inspiration to mud. According to Dr. Breed, a general had approached the genius scientist in search of “a little pill or a little machine” that would spare the Marines the trouble of fighting in mud. With ice-nine, the military would be capable of transforming “infinite expanses of muck, marsh, swamp, creeks, pools, quicksand, and mire as solid as [a] desk.”
Related Themes:
Chapter 68. Hoon-yera Mora-toorz
Explanation and Analysis—100 Martyrs of Democracy:
Situational irony abounds in Cat’s Cradle, which draws its humor partly from the unexpected circumstances and discoveries that undermine first impressions. One such instance involves the 100 Martyrs of Democracy, a group whose legendary status moves Papa Monzano to declare a holiday. When John asks the taxi driver about the martyrs, he confronts instead a somewhat anti-climactic truth:
Unlock with LitCharts A+The driver told me that San Lorenzo had declared war on Germany and Japan an hour after Pearl Harbor was attacked.
San Lorenzo conscripted a hundred men to fight on the side of democracy. These hundred men were put on a ship bound for the United States, where they were to be armed and trained.
The ship was sunk by a German submarine right outside of Bolivar harbor.
Related Themes:
Chapter 78. Ring of Steel
Explanation and Analysis—Bokononism:
Cat’s Cradle subjects Bokononism—and religion at large—to a satire of contradictory, mind-boggling ironies. Through interspersed chapters and digressions, John relates the Bokononist tenets to the reader. The portrait that follows is puzzling, absurd, and comic. In what seems to be a feat of cognitive gymnastics, Bokononism is aware of its own foma as it preaches to the masses. The people who practice the religion—that is, all San Lorenzans—manage to recognize its consistencies and nonetheless embrace its doctrines. Bokononism presents an extreme caricature of religion by reveling in its own incompatible lies.
Unlock with LitCharts A+
Related Themes:
