How Absurd!

           Cat's Cradle seems to have many messages embedded in the text, but since the disclaimer at the beginning of the book states that everything in the book is a lie, it is hard to tell whether or not these messages are Vonnegut's true beliefs.  There are two clear instances when the idea of Absurdism is presented, yet it is unclear whether or not Vonnegut agrees with these proclamations.  Absurdism is the belief that one must create one’s own meaning in a meaningless world.  As readers, we must impose our own meaning on these Bokononist excerpts.  On page 169, Castle evaluates Newt's painting and says, "So this is a picture of the meaninglessness of it all!"  He goes on to say, "Man is vile, and man makes nothing worth making, knows nothing worth knowing," (169).  This example shows that Castle thinks that the world is meaningless and what man learns is not truly meaningful because everything he knows is not “worth knowing.”  Castle’s believes that people have the wrong idea of meaning, which is his own meaning that he has crafted. 

Jonah, the narrator, reads a passage from The First Book of Bokonon, which discusses God's creation of the earth and of Man.  The passage reads, "Man blinked.  'What is the purpose of all this?' he asked politely.  'Everything must have a purpose?' asked God.  'Certainly,' said man.  'Then I leave it to you to think of one for all this,' said God,” (265).  While this passage shows that Man created meaning for the world instead of God, the beginning of this passage says that this book is nothing but lies, and Jonah states after reading this passage that he does not think any of this is true.  This conflict between beliefs throughout the novel makes the reader wonder what is true and what is not true, but it also gives the reader some liberty in deciding for themselves what they believe in and what is meaningful in this book.  Are these messages Vonnegut’s true beliefs?  Does it matter if these messages are labeled as lies?