It IS fiction, but is it all a lie?

As I was reading Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle, a flood of questions suddenly entered my mind: Is any of this true? Is Bokononism a real belief in our world? Was there really a Dr. Hoenikker who took part in the creation of the atom bomb? So I opened up Google Chrome and did a little research. The research did not take more than 3 minutes as the answers all came up the same. No, none of this really exists or existed in our world. Then I realized "Oh yeah, this is fiction." My curiosity should have stopped there but for some reason I was not satisfied.

I began thinking about Bokononism and the numerous references the narrator makes to the fictitious religion. I realized then that perhaps a reason as to why the author created this religion was to keep the readers open minded throughout the story. In the very beginning of the book the narrator says "Anyone unable to understand how a useful religion can be founded on lies will not understand this book either"(6). From what I gathered, the main principle of Bokononism is to have a purpose beyond our own, such as the will of God. Like the religion Bokononism, we as readers shouldn't solely rely on our own knowledge of truth as there may be a greater purpose.

A few examples that struck me were "I just have trouble understanding how truth, all by itself, could be enough for a person" (54), "Well done, Mr. Krebbs, well done" (79), and "If you wish to study a granfalloon, just remove the skin of a toy balloon" (92). The first quote is a lesson to us and illustrates how we cannot focus only on our own truths. We should not be blinded by our own preconceptions and truths because like the balloon in the third example, things are not always what they seem. As readers, we should be open to anything in the book, as absurd as it may be. The narrator even believes that a strange man such as Mr. Krebbs, who tore the narrator's apartment apart, did those things for a reason. Although the book is fiction, does that mean it has no truth to it? Bokononism does not exist in our world but perhaps it can expose a something worthwhile for the readers. There is definitely a greater truth that that lies in this piece of literature and to find it we must think beyond the reality and truths we have lived in.