Cat’s Cradle
(Kurt Vonnegut)

Chapter 1-10

John, or Jonah, is the narrator of the story. As a Christian, he has started to write a book called “The Day the World Ended” about the day the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima; now he is a Bokononist. Bokononists are organized into teams called karasses and the people on these teams do not know what knowledge they are carrying. The Bokononist manuscripts all start out with a disclaimer that the stories within are comprised of lies; John thinks that everyone should appreciate that religion is sometimes based on lies. When John was researching for his book, he came about the karass he belongs to, comprised of siblings Angela, Frank, and Newt Hoenikker. Their father, Felix, is one of the men responsible for inventing the atomic bomb. John asks Newt what he remembered of the day the bomb dropped, and he answers that he recalls his father playing cat’s cradle at their home in New York.

Felix had been inspired to build the bomb by a prisoner, who sent him a manuscript about the end of the world and who envisioned a weapon which could wipe out all of humanity. Felix did not read the book but was intrigued at the idea as well as the string that held the book together. He would often get distracted in his research, but the kids would keep him on track. When the bomb was first tested another scientist told Felix that science has now encountered sin, and Felix simply asked the man what sin is. Newt wrote John a letter from Cornell, where he had failed all of his classes, stating that he was engaged to a Russian dancer named Zinka, who was a midget, just like him. John read in the paper soon after that Zinka was 42, not 23, and that she had returned to the Soviet Union. John scheduled an interview with Dr. Asa Breed who works in the lab where Felix had worked. The night before his interview John finds a prostitute named Sandra and a bartender who knows Frank; they said he is a recluse and is known as “Special Agent X-9”.

Chapter 11-20

John’s new acquaintances tell him that Felix was set to give the commencement address at Frank’s school but did not show. Another scientist spoke instead and claimed that science would discover the key to life someday in the future. Sandra says that a certain protein had been discovered, which is considered as the “basic secret” to life. The day the bomb dropped, a bum came in and thought the world was ending and Asa Breed’s son quit his job at the research lab because he thought everything science created would end up as a weapon. Apparently there are rumors going around that Asa Breed had an affair with Felix’s wife Emily and her children may be his.

The next morning John meets with Asa and gets a tour of the laboratory. Asa tells him that once Felix left his car in the middle of the road, and Emily had to come get it; on the way home she got in an accident and her pelvis was crushed. Asa thinks that the injury is what caused her to die while giving birth to Newt. In the lab, the secretaries are often teased for their lack of understanding, and they believe that the scientists spend too much time thinking. John asked Asa some questions about the day the bomb was dropped, and Asa immediately got defensive and uncomfortable; he commented that people believe scientists have no morals now and do not appreciate research. His “noble goal” is to increase the amount of knowledge that mankind can comprehend.

According to Asa a general had once asked Felix to create a way to eliminate mud, because his troops were always getting stuck in it. Felix determined that he could form a new isotope of water which he would call “ice-nine” which could remain solid at a room temperature. If a seed of that isotope were dropped into some mud, then the water in the mud would take on the quality of the isotope and would freeze over. The conversation is interrupted by some of the girls who work at the lab, the “Girl Pool”, who began singing as though part of a choir.

Chapter 21-30

After the interrupted John returns his attention to Asa, horrified by the thought of such a powerful isotope; he asks Asa what would happen if the invention were implemented and Asa tells him that not only would the mud freeze but every source of water on earth because it is all connected. Even rainwater, if it were to fall, would turn into ice the second it came into contact with the ice-nine. John wondered whether Felix had ever actually created this seed, and Asa furiously denied it and then called off the interview, obviously uncomfortable with John’s line of questioning. John learned that Felix had created this isotope, which would melt at 114 degrees Fahrenheit. He had shared this information with his children while they were vacation in Cape Cod for Christmas, just before he died. Each of the children had taken a sliver for themselves, and John believes that after he spoke with Asa the isotope became the secret thing around which his karass revolved.

Miss Faust, one of the secretaries, gave John a tour of Felix’s lab. There were toys everywhere and plaques on the wall. She says that Felix was not truly known by many people because he was not concerned with people; he was only concerned with “truth” though she doesn’t think that is enough. Felix had once challenged Miss Faust to make a statement of truth to which she replied “God is love” but when he asked her define God and Love she could not. In the elevator, John asked the attendant, Knowles, if he knew any of the Hoenikker children and he says they were “babies with rabies”. Next John heads to the cemetery to take a photo of Felix’s grave. He sees that Emily’s tombstone is massive in size, reads “Mother”, and has poems from Angela and Frank engraved on it as well as baby Newt’s handprint. Felix’s tombstone, however, was only a small marker with the word “Father” engraved on it.

Chapter 31-40

John pays a visit to Martin Breed, Asa’s brother and the owner of the tombstone shop. He is told that one year after Emily’s death Angela and Frank came by with baby Newt and purchased the grave marker. They used Felix’s money from winning the Nobel Prize to do so, as he had never bothered himself. Martin admits that he had been in love with Emily when they were children and had even taken up playing the violin to impress her, since she was a talented musician. Asa ended up taking Emily away from him, and then Felix took her away from Asa. After Felix created the atomic bomb, Martin had a hard time viewing him as “harmless”. He thinks that Felix has always been dead because he did not care about anything other than his work; not even his beautiful wife who was terribly unhappy. Martin told John that Frank did not even stay for Felix’s entire funeral. He now is a wanted felon who belongs to a car-theft ring in Florida. John finds this hard to believe, but Martin assures him that it is true, though he suspects that Frank has been killed by now for knowing too much. Newt was born a midget, but Angela was over six feet tall. She never had any friends, as Felix pulled her out of her sophomore year of high school to care for the family when Emily died, and she spent her time playing the clarinet in her room. John notices a stone angel carved by Martin’s grandfather and wonders if there is anyone left who can make such intricate carvings. Martin says that Asa’s son can, as he became quite the sculptor after quitting his job at the lab.

John went to interview Jack, the owner of the hobby shop where Frank had worked before he fled to Florida. Jack also believed that Frank has been killed by the people who run the car theft ring in Florida. When John sees one of the models that Frank built, tears come to his eyes because he is upset that anyone would kill a person who could create something so beautiful. While John was in Ilium, New York he allowed a poet named Sherman Krebbs to live in his apartment in the City. Upon returning John found that his cat was dead, there were hundreds of dollars of long-distance calls on his phone bill, and his apartment was destroyed. John decides that Krebbs is a wrang-wrang, which is a bokononist term for a person who has pushed you away from a line of thinking; Krebbs pushed John away from nihilism.

At a later time, John found a tourism ad for San Lorenzo, which was an island republic. He fell in love with the photograph of Mona Aamons Monzano, adopted daughter of “Papa” Monzano the dictator of San Lorenzo. There was also a photo of the island’s Minister of Science and Progress, Major General Franklin Hoenikker. There was an essay with the ad, presumably ghostwritten, detailing Frank’s voyage to the island; he sailed in from Cuba with no passport and was jailed. When “Papa” Monzano found out he was the son of Felix Hoenikker he was released and was warmly welcomed into the society. John took a job writing an article about a man named Julian Castle, who created a hospital for the destitute on San Lorenzo, and who was an alcoholic womanizer. His own child Phillip owned the hotel where John would be staying. John dreamed that Mona would fall in love with him on his trip.

Chapter 41-50

On the plane to San Lorenzo, John was seated next to Horlick and Claire Minton; Horlick was the newly assigned American Ambassador to San Lorenzo. John thinks that they are in a two-person karass because they did not pay attention to him at all, even when he tried to speak to them. John headed to the bar where he met a man named H. Lowe Crosby and Hazel his wife. Crosby was moving his bike business to San Lorenzo, and Hazel was excited to find out that John was from Indiana, just like her; she told him to call her “Mom”. Hazel talked a lot about Hoosiers and John believes her fascination with Hoosiers is indicative of a granfalloon; which is a false karass like political parties or nation-states. Hazel was happy that most of San Lorenzo is Christian and that the language is English. There is a remarkably low crime rate on the island, which Lowe attributes to their use of “the hook” for punishment; when someone commits a crime he or she is impaled. Lowe muses that “the hook” would probably not work as well in a democracy, but perhaps a democratic society could bring hangings back to scare off potential juvenile offenders. Lowe and Hazel had been to the Museum of Horrors where they had seen “the hook” as well as a statue depicting a man who was burned to death for the sin of killing his son, which it was later learned he was not guilty of.

John learned from the Crosby’s that Horlick had been fired by the Department of Defense for not taking a firm stand against Communism. When John returned to his seat, he asked Horlick about it, and Claire told him that it was her fault. She had written the New York Times a letter from Pakistan, saying it is a shame that Americans were constantly searching for a love that just did not exist. The letter happened to be published during the height of McCarthyism; Claire was guilty of not implying that everyone loves Americans regardless of their offenses. John was given by the Mintons an as-of-yet unpublished manuscript by Philip Castle called “The Land, the History, the People”. John read about Bokonon and learned that he was born Lionel Boyd Johnson on the island of Tobago and his parents were wealthy Episcopalians. He attended school in London and then participated in World War I. After being discharged, he attempted to sail to Miami with a man named McCabe but shipwrecked on San Lorenzo where the locals called him Bokonon. The natives painted Bokonon’s ship gold and slept in it; he prophesized that it would sail again someday when the end of the world comes. Hazel comes to tell John that there are two more Hoosiers on the plane; Angela and Newt Hoenikker.

Chapter 51-60

John recalls angrily that Angela and Newt were both transporting their ice-nine, but he did not know it then. Angela tells him that she is sorry for not writing to him about the day that the bomb dropped. But she was told by Asa not to help him because Asa believed John was trying to damage Felix’s reputation. She and Newt are traveling to San Lorenzo to celebrate Frank’s engagement to Mona; the girl John fell in love with from the picture. Angela shows John her photographs, and he is shocked to find that she is married to a devilishly handsome man named Harrison C. Conners. He once worked as Felix’s assistant in his lab, but now he is the president of a company called Fabri-tek which engages in top-secret arms research.

Back to Philip Castle’s book, John finds out that Mona’s biological father was a man named Nestor Aamons who was a Finnish architect. Julian Castle commissioned him to design his hospital in San Lorenzo. On the island, he married a native woman and fathered Mona, though he died shortly after her birth. There are many references to Mona and Nestor throughout the book. John learns that Monzano adopted Mona because she is beautiful and he wanted her beauty to help increase his popularity. Mona grew up on the grounds of the hospital and was close friends with Philip, to whom she was engaged for a short time. Bokonon tutored Philip and Mona when they were children, and Mona became horrified about being a sex symbol; she did everything in her power to make herself ugly. Claire interrupts John’s reading to tell him the dangers of a person indexing their own books, as Philip did. She said that she could tell from Philip’s index that he was insecure about his own father, that he was in love with Mona, and that he was a homosexual.

John continues to read the book and learned that when Bokonon landed there the natives were all poor and disease-stricken. Julian Castle had built a sugar corporation, and, between that and the Catholic Church, there was no land left on the island, though Castle’s sugar corporation made no profit. There had been no liberty on the island for a long time, though when Castle built his corporation there was no government at all. McCabe and Bokonon stepped up to be in charge of the island, and aimed to make it a utopia. Castle did not mind because his business was not making a profit anyway. Bokonon created a new religion and McCabe worked on the economy and legal system. As John’s plane lands on the island Lowe tells everyone what a “pissant” is and is excited at having found out that he, Newt, and John all attended Cornell. When Lowe learns Newt’s last name, he asks if he had anything to do with the Russian dancer who was supposedly a spy. But Newt promptly changes the subject.

Chapter 61-70

When John looks out the plane window he notices that San Lorenzo still appears to be quite poor, aside from a grouping of modern buildings at the capital city of Bolivar. Despite McCabe and Bokonon’s attempts, they have not been able to improve the quality of life for the natives. John notices that there are signs up all over the place declaring the practicing of Bokononism to be illegal activity, and other signs with a picture of Bokonon and the offer of a reward for his capture whether he is dead or alive. When they get off the plane Mona, “Papa” Monzano and Frank were all waiting for them. “Papa” is much older than John expects him to be and appeared to be quite ill. Mona meets up to all of John’s expectations, and he describes her as the embodiment of what all male fantasies are about. Monzano greets Lowe particularly warmly, obviously believing him to be the ambassador, until Lowe directs him toward Horlick. Monzano tells Horlick that the next day will be a holiday honoring the Hundred Martyrs to Democracy, which Horlick lies and told him every schoolchild in America knows about. Monzano collapses to the ground and whispers that Frank will be the president after he dies because Frank has science on his side, and “ice”.

Monzano is taken away, and John and the Crosbys head to their hotel. They ask the cab driver about Bokonon who says that he is a terrible man and quite possibly a Communist. John also asks the driver about the Hundred Martyrs, and he learns that, after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the island of San Lorenzo declared war on Germany and Japan sent a ship with one hundred people to America. The ship of Japanese was sunk by Germany just as it left Bolivar; the dead soldiers became known as the Hundred Martyrs to Democracy. When they arrive at the hotel, they find that they are its first guests ever. Crosby tries to talk to a guy who is making a mosaic of Mona, but the man is rude and short with him. John tries to ask the man questions too but is treated just as flippantly. John soon realizes that the man is Philip Castle, the author of the manuscript that John had been reading on the plane and proprietor of the hotel.

Chapter 71-80

Crosby tries to talk to the clerk at the hotel about the artist’s rude behavior, but the clerk informs him that the artist is the man who owns the hotel. Crosby immediately decides to leave the Casa Mona and stay at the American Embassy. John finds his hotel room to his liking except that he discovers there is no toilet paper in the bathroom. As he wanders around the hotel looking to ask a maid for toilet paper, he finds two employees sitting on the ground with the soles of their feet pressed together. The workers beg John not to tell anyone what he saw because they would be punished with “the hook”. John had walked in on a Bokonon ritual known as boku-maru.

When Philip was the age of fifteen, San Lorenzo was overcome by the bubonic plague, which was brought in by a German ship which had wrecked on the island. Philip came to the hospital to help his father one night but found that all of the patients were dead. Julian started laughing uncontrollably and told Philip that someday it would all be his. While Philip is telling John his story, Frank calls John’s room and asks to speak to him immediately. John goes to Frank’s house, which is designed by Nestor Aamons, to meet with him. Frank is not there, but Newt is sleeping out on the terrace where he has been painting; the artwork is all black with scratches which resemble a spider’s web. When Newt wakes, he tells John that the painting is of a cat’s cradle, which has neither a cat nor a cradle, so he can see why it would drive children nuts.

When Angela and Julian arrive John asks Julian about his supposed interest in Albert Schweitzer. Julian tells John that Schweitzer is not a hero but Jesus Christ is, and Schweitzer is the person who taught him that. He also mentions that Newt’s painting seems to represent the meaninglessness of life; John points out that Julian has just been talking about Jesus but Julian replies that people only talk to exercise their voice boxes. Julian tells John that he finds humanity useless despite the so-called knowledge they possess; when Newt agrees with Julian, Julian throws Newt’s painting off the terrace and into the waterfall below. John realizes that if he were to write an article about Julian, he would have to concentrate on the man’s charitable work, because his philosophy on life would probably not be hugely popular.

Julian tells John that when Bokonon and McCabe started building a new economy they soon realized that they could not end the poverty of the people; instead Bokonon created a religion which would make people more comfortable. Bokonon made his religion illegal on purpose because he knew it would generate interest in it. Bokonon went into hiding when executions began happening, and McCabe, despite the fact that it would be easy, did not turn Bokonon in. When McCabe died, Monzano took over he continued doing executions from time to time to keep up the charade. After having a few drinks, Angela begins to rant about the world not appreciating her father, and Newt suggests for her to go play her clarinet to make her feel better. When she leaves, Newt explains that she knows her husband is cheating, and it makes her upset; John is surprised by this news. Julian reads a poem by Bokonon and tells John that all copies of Bokonon texts are handwritten. Newt dismisses the idea of religion entirely, holds up his hands, and says, “See the cat? See the cradle?”

Chapter 81-90

Frank calls his house and asks that John stay there until he gets home and can speak with him, but he would not tell John why over the phone except that it is related to Monzano’s impending death and John’s role in it. Julian tells John that Monzano has terminal cancer and his doctor worked at Auschwitz for six years; he joined Julian’s staff at the hospital on San Lorenzo to atone for his sins. Julian comments that it would only take until the year 3010 for the man to save as many lives as he took. The soldiers at the training camp on the island, Fort Jesus, are digging holes when the power goes out on the island; they would say that they were just protecting Monzano. John feels uneasy and quells the feeling by listening to Angela and Newt discuss Felix’s siblings; a twin brother and a sister. John also spends some time reading Frank’s copy of the Books of Bokonon. They all fall asleep and are jarred awake when the lights come back on; Angela and Newt begin running around like crazy with their thermoses containing ice-nine, though John is not aware of it yet. John looks outside and sees Frank standing there with Mona, tinkering with a generator. John decides he must have Mona.

Frank tries to speak to John about his destiny, man-to-man. He tells John that he wants John to be president when Monzano dies, rather than him. Frank does not feel comfortable with the public, just like his father, and thinks John would do a better job. John tells Frank that he does not want the job, but Frank is desperate to pawn the job off on someone else. John begins laughing at the situation, and Frank gets upset because John’s laughter reminds him of the days that his peers called him “Secret Agent X-9”. John points out how ironic it was that the people who used to pick on Frank were probably blue collar workers now, while Frank is a Major General about to become the president of a republic. Frank points out that they would have been shocked to know he is sleeping with Jack’s wife when he works at the hobby shop, too. Frank tells John that the Book of Bokonon prophesized that Mona would someday marry the future president of the republic so if he takes the job he would get Mona as well; John then accepts the job.

Chapter 91-100

Mona and John perform the boku-maru ritual together and then declare their love for one another. John tries to tell Mona that she cannot perform the ritual with anyone else, but she does not respond well; she calls him a sin-wat, which is a person who demands all the love of another, and she tells him that she will not marry him. John takes back what he said and becomes a Bokononist from that day forward; he learns that Bokononists hold nothing sacred at all except for humanity. John and Frank visits Monzano the next day to get his blessing for their plan. There is a Christian minister there to perform a chicken sacrifice as well; he has to create new rituals because Catholicism and Protestantism are outlawed on the island. When they go to see, Monzano he is laying on the gold bed made from Bokonon’s boat and wearing a necklace that contains ice-nine, though John does not know at that time. Monzano gives his blessing and asks that John kill Bokonon and Frank educate people through science because it is the truth. He sends the minister away.

Monzano wants John to kill Bokonon, but he still wants Bokononist last rites given to him. Dr. Koenigswald agrees to perform the rites, but he feels he’s betraying science by doing so. He believes religion is based on lies, and he thinks about the legend of the creation of the earth while he does the boku-maru with Monzano. John asks Frank for some advice for the upcoming announcement of his presidency. Frank does not want to help John beyond anything that his job description as the minister of technology demands of him. John quickly realizes that in agreeing to Frank’s plan he’s giving him everything that he’s ever wanted; Frank would be able to have all of the comfort and honor he can want and still avoid all human responsibility just like his father.

Chapter 101-110

John briefly considers changing the entire tone of the island when he becomes president. He wants to outlaw “the hook”, allow Bokononism, and maybe even put Bokonon in a government position. He soon realizes that he cannot provide for the people of San Lorenzo and neither can Bokonon, so he would have to go about business just as the other leaders had and the people of San Lorenzo will continue their balance and battle of good versus evil.

Time comes for the ceremony of the Hundred Martyrs of Democracy, and the tables are all full of albatross and “rum” which is just acetone. John gets sick from the albatross meat and refuses to wash it down with the rum though Lowe indulges in the alcohol heavily. Cardboard cutouts of various world leaders and philosophers float in the water and will be used for target practice, much to Lowe’s appreciation. No one knows that John is about to be declared president and Julian and Philip are surprised to be there, since they had been enemies of Monzano for a long time. Mona shows no emotion about Monzano’s impending death and no affection toward John; he wonders whether she’s a vision of spirituality or frigid. Frank speaks to Lowe and Hazel about Bokonon and his refute of science, which disappoints them because doctors saved their mothers.

John is terribly sick from the albatross and heads toward the restroom. On his way Dr. Koenigswald runs from Monzano’s room, hysterical, and demanding to know what had been on Monzano’s necklace. Apparently Monzano swallowed whatever was in the tube around his neck and had instantly turned into a statue. When John sees Monzano’s frosty, blue body he knows immediately that he must have ingested ice-nine. John recalls that Bokonon thinks everything should be recorded so the same mistakes are not made more than once, so he writes down that Monzano was the first person to die of ice-nine. Dr. Koenigswald had touched Monzano’s lips after he died and then washed his hands; he becomes the second person to die from ice-nine. John, now knowing ice-nine exists, calls Angela, Newt, and Frank to the room to admonish them for being so careless with it. John comes to the realization that Zinka got ice-nine from Newt and Harrison got it from Angela; therefore it is in the hands of others. In the Books of Bokonon, he states that a thoughtful man can hope for nothing on earth.

Chapter 111-120

Angela, Newt, and Frank tell John that they had learned of ice-nine on the Christmas before their father died. Felix had made some ice-nine in the kitchen and fell asleep before he cleaned up his mess, and he never woke up. Each of them had taken a piece of the ice-nine before cleaning up, though none of them knew why. John and the others take a break from the hefty conversation to attend the ceremony of the Hundred Martyrs. Horlick rises and begins to speak about how honoring fallen soldiers is not a patriotic thing to do, as soldiers who die are no more than murdered children. It would be best if war never happened. Then there would be no reason for patriotism to begin with. Horlick believes that the viciousness of humanity should be worked on, rather than celebrated. As he is giving his speech the air force fires at the cardboard cutouts.

One of the planes firing at the cutouts catches on fire and crashes into the cliff over Monzano’s castle, causing one of the towers to break off and cause a rockslide. The rockslide first kills the Mintons and then sends Monzano’s body free, which spreads ice-nine and freezes the entire world in a matter of seconds. Tornadoes spring up over the sea, and John and Mona hide in the underground bomb shelter to wait them out, and to pass the time they have crazy and furious sex. After that, John begins reading the Books of Bokonon; he sees that the first page displays a warning that the contents are based on lies. It states that when God created humans out of mud they asked him what their purpose was; he asked them if they needed a purpose, and when they admitted they did, he told them their purpose was to find a purpose. When the weather improves, John and Mona leave the underground and climbe to the peak of Mount McCabe. There they can see thousands of frozen citizens of San Lorenzo and a note from Bokonon himself. He said the people who survived wanted to know why God did this to them; he told them that God was trying to kill them, so they should just die, and so they did.

Chapter 121-127

John expresses his anger over the cynicism of Bokonon. Mona just laughs at John and asks him whether he would want any of the dead to be alive again; when he did not answer she brings a piece of the ice-nine to her lips and dies. Lowe and Hazel find John and take him to what remains of Frank’s house where Frank and Newt are waiting; Angela died when she tried to play her clarinet that had some ice-nine on the mouthpiece. Philip and Julian die as well; they were trying to help people at the hospital. John, Lowe, Hazel, Frank, and Newt spend the next six months melting ice-nine to make water, eating food out of cans, trying to send an SOS signal, and sewing an American flag. John spends most of his time chronicling the events that would become “Cat’s Cradle”.

Frank finds some ants which had survived and created an ant farm for them; he’s interested in watching them adapt to the new environment that ice-nine created. Frank asks John some questions about the ants, and John gives flippant answers, though Frank tells him that he is not a child anymore and will not accept silly answers. John replies that Frank that he grew up and dealt with his own social anxiety by killing every other person in the world. Newt and John comment that they have lost all sexual urges now that there are no childbearing women around, as reproduction is the purpose of sex anyway. John meets Bokonon later as he’s writing the final entry in his Books. He writes that had he been younger he would have written about the stupidity of humans. He then killed himself with ice-nine and thumbed his nose at God.