Kurt Vonnegut is the most honest liar I believe I will ever encounter. But is he a liar?
Cat's Cradle seems to weave to together some of the most believable fiction I have seen. Without a little research, one may never know that the elaborately illustrated Hoenikker family never existed, there is no such place as the sad San Lorenzo never existed (though many cities are named San Lorenzo) and Bokononism is not a real religion. Well, maybe the last one wasn't too hard to figure out.
But all of those are just examples of fiction to reality. There are even examples of fiction to the book, showing that we can't even believe the story from the narrator's point of view. For example, when he arrives at San Lorenzo, he sees signs indicating what will happen to those people who show any sign of belief in Bokononism. However, he later learns from Julian Castle that that was invented by Bokonon himself, with the belief that people would be more into it if it was illegal. It seems too, that most of the more powerful characters are well aware of this, but they play along.
Does that mean fiction is more enticing? That the people would know the threats are false, but still hide their religion is interesting, especially since we all know that "nothing in this book is true," yet we all want to keep reading.
To add on to that, Ilium, New York is not an actual place, and the atomic bomb wasn't even developed in New York. The three main places where the atomic bomb was developed and built are in New Mexico, Washington, and Tennessee. I probably would've believed that it was built in New York, even though Vonnegut states that nothing in this book is true. I guess we depend so much on books and experts to tell us what is true, that we will believe basically anything, as long as it comes from a "reliable" source.
ReplyDeleteThe interesting thing about the lies in this book is that Vonnegut will have these little believable fibs like the atom bomb being built in Ilium, New York (believable because of Ithaca, NY), and then he has huge whoppers like the existence of ice-nine and Bokononism. They weave together so nicely that you don't even catch the believable lies unless you're really looking.
ReplyDeleteI can see how lies would be more enticing. If it wasn't, why would people dream about having celebrity lifestyles or superpowers?
ReplyDeleteAlso, the balance between big lies and little lies makes you wonder what you'll ever be able to believe.
The fact that you think Vonnegut the most believable liar you "will ever encounter" is very convincingly stated! And I say this b/c it is precisely in Vonnegut's delivery of his text that he gains the most power. This was a nice post, particularly given the fact that it ends with the recognition of how persuasive and attractive such truthful lying can be!
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