Bokononism

Vonnegut immediately breaks the wall between narrator and reader starting from the very first line. He speaks directly to the reader telling him or her to call him “Jonah”. Vonnegut also sets out lying to us instantly, and also admitting his own lies. Vonnegut introduces his religion of “Bokononism”, a made up religion consisting of beliefs that the world is split up into teams that unknowingly carry out God’s will. He also explains to us that the first line of the “Books of Bokonon” is “All of the true things I am about to tell you are shameless lies,” followed by his own warning about his own book: “Anyone unable to understand how a useful religion can be founded on lies will not understand this book either.” We get a clear view into Vonnegut’s prospect of religion, or lack thereof. It seems as though he has had some struggle with religion, truth and meaning but recognizes, and wants the reader to recognize that meaning and truth can derive from anything, even lies.  Vonnegut is making a clear parallel between the religion of “Bokononism” and Cat’s Cradle. This foreshadowing of the Cat’s Cradle suggests that it ultimately argues the meaninglessness of truth in religion, and in belief in general. Vonnegut prefaces this text as a kind of manifesto of how faith and meaning can be based on fiction.