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Symbols
The cat’s cradle is a complicated symbol that is clearly front and center to the novel, giving it its title. In a literal sense, a cat’s cradle is a game played with string in which each player must maneuver their fingers to create different images (one of which is the cat’s cradle). It is one of the oldest examples of human play and thus ties in with the idea that the book, though grounded in a specific historical moment, is principally concerned with the entirety of the human story. The cat’s cradle is, on the one hand, a representation of human ingenuity. One of the things that makes humans a remarkable creature is the capacity for play; the cat’s cradle takes skill and imagination, and it thus functions as an analogy for humankind’s increase in scientific understanding, experimentation leading to results, science as a kind of play.
Crucially, however, the cat’s cradle is also a representation of illusion. As Newt Hoenikker points out, the cat’s cradle created by the string isn’t actually a cat’s cradle—literally speaking, it’s just a gathering of string. The cat’s cradle thus also represents an emptiness at the heart of humanity: as Newt tells John, there is “no damn cat, no damn cradle.” The cat’s cradle is the first position of the string in the game, and so it’s prominent place in the story can also be taken as a suggestion that humanity is still in its first position too—that is, for all its delusion of progress, humanity is fundamentally the same as it ever was, and ever will be.
Cat’s Cradle Quotes in Cat’s Cradle
The Cat’s Cradle quotes below all refer to the symbol of Cat’s Cradle. 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:
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Chapter 5 Quotes
“But he went down on his knees on the carpet next to me, and he showed me his teeth, and he waved that tangle of string in my face. ‘See? See? See?’ he asked. ‘Cat’s cradle. See the cat’s cradle? See where the nice pussycat sleeps? Meow. Meow.’
“His pores looked as big as craters on the moon. His ears and nostrils were stuffed with hair. Cigar smoke made him smell like the mouth of Hell. So close up, my father was the ugliest thing I had ever seen. I dream about it all the time.
“And then he sang. ‘Rockabye catsy, in the tree top’; he sang, ‘when the wind blows, the cray-dull will rock. It the bough breaks, the cray-dull will fall. Down will come cray-dull, catsy, and all.’”
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This quote is part of Newt’s written reply to John’s letter asking about what Dr. Hoenikker was doing on the day the bomb was dropped. It serves various functions. Firstly, it demonstrates that Dr. Hoenikker was a man who acted only on the whim of his intellect—this exchange takes place just after his invention, the atom bomb, has killed a huge amount of people on the other side of the world. Nothing in his actions suggests an acknowledgement of the event, which is in keeping with the general impression formed throughout the book that he, consciously or not, felt himself 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. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque err
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Cat’s Cradle Symbol Timeline in Cat’s Cradle
The timeline below shows where the symbol Cat’s Cradle appears in Cat’s Cradle. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 5. Letter from a Pre-Med
...He was playing on the carpet when Dr. Hoenikker interrupted him to show him a cat’s cradle made from string. This string, continues Newt, had been wrapped around a book written by...
(full context)
The incident with the cat’s cradle was, according to Newt, the closest Dr. Hoenikker ever got to playing a game with...
(full context)
Chapter 6. Bug Fights
...Apparently, Angela told Newt that he had really hurt Dr. Hoenikker by not admiring the cat’s cradle . Newt doesn’t think his father was very capable of being hurt. On that day,...
(full context)
Chapter 74. Cat’s Cradle
...if it represents “human futility.” Newt wakes up and explains that the painting is a cat’s cradle . He says it’s no wonder kids grow up crazy; adults show them a bunch...
(full context)
Chapter 76. Julian Castle Agrees with Newt that Everything Is Meaningless
...it. Julian hypothesizes that it might be hell; John explains it’s meant to be a cat’s cradle . Angela calls it ugly. John talks about the significance of the cat’s cradle, causing...
(full context)
Chapter 80. The Waterfall Strainer
...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?”
(full context)
Chapter 81. A White Bride for the Son of a Pullman Porter
...made by hand, and Bokonon adds things every day. Newt shouts “religion!” and makes the cat’s cradle sign again.
(full context)
