The Real Mr. Hoenikker

Truth cannot be constructed through a human’s perception of another person. The truth only exists in the heart and mind of the individual. This concept is important when looking at Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle and trying to figure out what is true and what is not. Between pages 1 and 187, the narrator tries to paint a picture of Mr. Hoenikker’s identity. The narrator accomplishes this through his children and the people that worked alongside him. They used words like genius, father, and creator of the Atomic Bomb. These words or phrases went into describing who Mr. Hoenikker was, but at the same time, they painted a picture of him that was false. He certainly was a genius, having created many different patents; he also was a father, having three children; and he did create the Atomic Bomb. However, to himself, Mr. Hoenikker was none of these things, which directly contradicts identity that was place upon him. In actuality he was a child trapped in a man’s body. The proof is in the things he surrounded himself with: children’s toys. The idea that he plays with toys does not make him a child trapped in a man’s body, it is what these toys represent. Toys, in the perspective of Mr. Hoenikker, were a sign of his everlasting innocence, something he was trying to hold on to. The day the Atomic Bomb was dropped he was playing with string; the mindset of a child clinging to the little bit of innocence he had left. Deep down, Mr. Hoenikker hated what he had created. American citizens may have loved him, but in other countries he was the evil which children are told about at night. All he had were his toys to remind him that he was just an innocent, little boy. Everyone else saw him as a genius, a father, the creator of the Atomic Bomb, and in rare cases, and a monster.  How Mr. Hoenikker is shown in the book is nothing more than a fictional person created through others perception of him.