FACTS: and the lies we tell.

What is reality? What is illusion? People seem to have different interpretations of what is real and what is not. In this world there are only facts; nothing more and nothing less. However, as people, we feel the need to take the facts that are convenient to us and label them truth. It is the way we deal with reality. The facts that work against us are seen as illusions because they contradict an established truth about ourselves. However, the question then becomes who has made our reality? Kurt Vonnegut, would say our reality is not in our own hands but in the hands of the people that control the flow of information. In San Lorenzo, information is dictated, by The President. In addition, at the same time the island is controlled by to religious forces, one known—Christianity--and one secret--Bokononism. These three forces constitute a large part of the spectrum of what is true for the island. Once Jonah comes to the island we see how his personal facts, which govern his reality affect the island. His facts are based off the stereotypical beliefs of American civil rights, and righteousness. He believes people cannot be happy if they live in horrible situations and do not have enough food. He is unable to perceive happiness connected to anything beneath what Americans would consider middle class.  The way of living for the residents of San Lorenzo is a truth Jonah and Kurt Vonnegut are unwilling to accept. Therefore, Jonah tries to establish the idea that as president he will help the people of Lorenzo discover true happiness; happiness based on his own personal facts about the world. As for Vonnegut, he writes a story based on facts he personally rejects in order to make the whole book a lie. The only fact in Cat’s Cradle is that “Human perception of the world changes with the individual”.