In Cat’s Cradle, lies ultimately lead to truth. In Vonnegut’s satirical voice, that truth does not reveal itself until the lies play out. Each web of lies finally arrive at the same truth: believing in the lies will lead to destruction.
Bokonon and McCabe are prime examples of this. When they cannot improve the misery in San Larenso, they invent the religion Bokonism. Bokonism is complete fiction, yet the people, including its makers, are expected to believe in it. Outlawing the false religion then becomes a second lie. In reality, the government knows everyone is a Bokonist, yet it declares anyone practicing Bokonism will be impaled on a hook. The society thus becomes a web of lies, and McCabe and Bokonon are ensnared in their own trap. McCabe plays the role of the dictator forbidding the religion, while Bokonon plays the hunted holy man. They eventually become so bound by their acts, that they forget their true identities and fall to insanity. By believing in the lies, the two men lose themselves, thus meeting their own destruction.
In a similar way, Felix himself is the ultimate lie. As a scientist, he represents a source of pure truth through his discoveries. However, his actions reveal two lies that sully this reputation. He tells Dr. Breed that he never invented ice 9, yet before his death, he gives each of his children a piece of the lethal isotope. With this one verbal lie, he not only contradicts the occupation he holds, but betrays the world. The world trusts that knowledge and science will further its well-being, but ice 9 brings about the apocalypse. On the surface, science appears wholly benign and is easy to accept. But the effects of ice 9 demonstrate that blind approval is a liability for deception.
Ultimately, Vonnegut proves that humans prefer to believe small lies rather than truth. The lies take less energy to accept and cause far less pain. Though in the end, we must decide with which we would rather live: the lies that will eventually destroy us or the pain of the truth.
I am left to wonder at what point might "complete fiction" become "fact" or "truth" or "faith" or "belief"? Perhaps this is, in part, how Vonnegut's satire functions: creating truth from "harmless untruths." For example, both Bokonon and McCabe grow insane, as a result of their complete immersion in keeping up the 'truthful' appearances of their lies. And while I agree with the notion that such behavior leads to destruction, I also wonder if we shouldn't see the other side: for destruction there must first be creation. And so what Vonnegut ultimately maps out in his novel is a continual process of generation and decay... as old (and natural) as Nature herself!
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