During their lives, Bokononists create individualized
realities with the help of their religion, Bokononism. The building blocks of
these constructed realities are the foma,
or harmless untruths, that Bokononism introduces. The citizens of San Lorenzo,
by allowing themselves to believe these untruths, can create a false happiness
in their lives, despite the poverty and devastation that surrounds them. When a
Bokononist dies, however, his individual reality dies with him. Others’
realities are left essentially untouched. This is why, when a Bokononist
commits suicide he or she says “Now I will destroy the whole world” (Vonnegut,
238). Obviously, the individual is not actually referring to the entire world,
but his or her own “world.” After a Bokononist dies, his or her reality is no
longer relevant. In order words, in the end, a Bokononist would not die with
“the right symbol” (Vonnegut, 285) in his or her hands. In fact, in the end,
all of the meaning that has been imposed on a Bokononist’s life is meaningless.
When someone dies in The Things They
Carried, however, the necessity of lies is only amplified. Tim O’Brien and
all others involved in the war, use stories and lies to reanimate the dead. If
the soldiers create a reality for someone who has already died, they avoid
dealing with the death of that person, making war easier on themselves. For
example, when the men are confronted with the corpse of an old man they proceed
to “propose toasts. The [lift] up their canteens and [drink] to the old man’s
family and ancestors, his many grandchildren, his newfound life after death” (O’Brien,
215) rather than deal the blatant truth.
I feel that after a Bokononist dies, they continue to impact the lives of other Bokononists through relationships and chains of events, and in that way realities merge, or at least interact, and thereby some meaning survives death.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you and think you make a very valid point. In "The Things They Carried", when someone dies, that loss becomes another thing that the soldiers carry. For example in the beginning when Lieutenant Cross feels guilty for the death of one of his mean and blames himself for quite a while. Again, on page 20, there is a quote that says, "they carried the emotional baggage of all the men who might die." This shows us that no matter how prepared they are to deal with death, they are never ready to deal with it. However, in Cat's Cradle, I don't get this same feel, and although I still believe they are valued and are important after death, I dont think the effect of the death is as prominent in the San Lorenzo citizens.
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