Themes In Cat's Cradle

Words: 1836
Pages: 8

One of Vonnegut’s themes from the text is how whether a person uses science, religion, or a mix of them to influence their life, it's unimportant in the end so create great struggles, conflicts and war over the two? Human stupidity, selfishness, ignorance,
IsAre the satirization of religion and a doomsday weapon too serious to be considered a joke in today’s society? Religious controversy and fear of atomic weapons are prevalent in today’s society which makes some question whether Kurt Vonnegut’s novel Cat’s Cradle is acceptable to be taught in schools. Despite all opinions Vonnegut’s work highly educates its readers and should not be banned over conflicts that people talk about everyday.
The idea that science is “ ‘the most valuable commodity on earth’ ” which characters like Dr. Breed believe is
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Ice-9 serves as “a transparent metaphor for nuclear weaponry” causing controversy about the novel being in schools (Censorfreelib).The fact that a weapon of mass destruction, such as this isotope, can be dispersed easily caused paranoia to spread through the parents and students reading the book after the Cold War. Their fear lead to the book being challenged. Vonnegut is merely satirizing human stupidity but fear overwhelmed those who had the text banned. Cat’s Cradle should not be banned simply because critics do not understand his purpose for satire. Vonnegut’s satirization of human stupidity segways into the end of the book, making it a critical piece. His work points out what society already knows about humans which that they are selfish and ignorant. It also paints it in a comical way that fuses with a few other satirized perspectives. During the Cold War people fear the nuclear apocalypse and this novel becoming apart of school curriculum soon after terrified many Americans because of how easy human stupidity ends the world in Cat’s