See the Cat? See the Cradle?

Okay so Cat's Cradle does indeed relate to the ideas of Post Modernism, simply by the statement  from Powell’s Postmodernism For Beginninners: "We live in a world interconnected with differences, differences amplified and multiplied at the speed of electricity"(Powell 3). Today's world is all about differences in every aspect of life. Everyone's goal is to be original, and stay away from the norm.

Simiarly, in Cat's Cradle the Bokononist religion advocates this same idea. In Bokononism, you have the power to believe anything you wish as long you were able to understand it. Bokononism was merely whatever you please, and Bokonon himself reveals this when he states, “All of the true things I am about to tell you are shameless lies” (Vonnegut 5).

 In addition, Powell discusses how Post Modernism has resulted in cyberspace developing vast “new universes and realities” (Powell 2), in which who’s to say that these realities have any meaning to them? With realities constantly being created, there is no means of information of whether they are true or false. In Cat’s Cradle Newt shows Jonah his painting and asks him if he “see[s] the Cat’s Cradle” (165). There was indeed no cat or cradle in the painting, however that is exactly right. Cat’s Cradle is merely a never ending meaningless game, as was Newt’s painting. Nothing ever really meant anything to Newt; it was just something he did to pass the time.  The same idea is present with Postmodernism. Because everything is constantly changing and revamping itself to become better, nothing really means and thing to anyone, at least not like things used to. We are so consumed in daily activities to solve our boredom, rather than  looking at the big picture, and that itself is Post Modernism.