Creating Tension

Dynamic tension exists throughout Cat’s Cradle, from the physical tension exerted on the cat’s cradle string to the overwhelming divide between science and religion throughout the book.  Other tension exists in the novel, especially between the government of San Lorenzo and the religion of Bokonon. What is distinct about this example, however, is that it is synthesized tension, as the government does not truly hate Bokononism. When Jonah finds it strange that they fail to ever catch Bokonon, Julian Castle explains, “McCabe was sane enough to realize that without the holy man to war against, he himself would become meaningless” (175). The only reason to denounce Bokononism is to give the government some sort of purpose, a tension that McCabe can execute power over. McCabe and the officials of San Lorenzo understand that people will look to leaders and an established government when they are told there is something to hate.  I realized that this concept of creating tension enabled the rule of many governments throughout history. Governments, in order to be powerful, must rely on tension in order to keep them powerful. Following this logic, it becomes clear that the most powerful empires exist in times of war. I find it interesting that even in a world where tension is present almost everywhere, people will create even more if the commodity of power is up for grabs. 

Another way in which humans introduce tension into their lives comes at a more personal level,  as our need to understand challenges the reality that many questions cannot be answered at all. The Book of Bokonon explains that “tiger got to hunt; bird got to fly; man got to wonder ‘why why why’? Tiger got to sleep; bird got to land; man got to tell himself he understand” (Vonnegut 182). The internal tension within every human can be traced to the simple concept of “why”. While the other species focus on necessary skills for survival, humans are constantly preoccupied with curiosity, always attempting to assuage the tension that unknowns and unanswerable questions create in their minds. Although humans may consider themselves superior to these species in terms of brain function and complexity, we carry the burden of an intrinsic need to understand. We are bringing unnecessary tension into our mind.