"See the cat? See the cradle?" retorts the dwarf Newt in an attempt to explain the inspiration for one of his grotesque and confusing paintings. This singular quote is the namesake of Kurt Vonnegut's novel Cat's Cradle and embodies the leitmotif of this ironic canon about religion, sex, politics and everything in between. In the years following its publication, Vonnegut's novel became fodder for the countercultural movement of the 1960s, as it opposed the restrictive societal norms of the dominant culture. Among the institutions he attacks throughout the novel, religion is the most visible. Vonnegut dissects the very human inclination to have something to believe in, questioning not only the nature of organized religion, but also its validity and role in society. Vonnegut creates a picturesque island named San Lorenzo, whose national religion is the work of a nihilistic poet. Vonnegut uses this religion, called “Bokononism,” as a vehicle to reveal (no pun intended) that religion is as substantial as a “cat’s cradle.” Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Vonnegut presents the “cat's cradle” as a metaphor for different interpretations of life. "A cat's cradle is nothing but a pile of X's in someone's hands" (165), says Newt, who had been traumatized as a child by the sight of his father brandishing such “tangles of string” (165) in front of his face. And although there is “no fucking cat, no fucking cradle” (166), the “little children look and look and look at all these X’s (166). In the metaphor of Newt's cradle, we see what we want. » See the cat? Do you see the cradle?" (179) Newt says in response to questions about the seemingly perfect marriage of his sister and Jesus Christ, both of whom are not what people think they are. This is the philosophy that Vonnegut wife throughout the novel People tend to see what they want and read what exists in reality Vonnegut creates a religion in order to question the role of faith. in society and the validity of traditional religious hypotheses. dialogue between the scientist Félix Hoenikker and a secretary, Mademoiselle Faust “God is love” (55) affirms the latter “What is God? love?” (55) responds first According to the Books of Bokonon (the founder of Vonnegut’s fictional religion), one must “believe in the foma [harmless untruths] that make you courageous and kind, healthy. and happy” (i) To understand this statement, we must take into account the Bokononist postulate according to which “all religions are nothing but lies” (219). Thus, a “useful religion can be founded on lies” (6) as long as it inspires it. Followers must be “kind, healthy and happy.” Miss Faust is content to believe the Christian presumption that God is love without any physical proof “no matter what Dr. Hoenikker says” (55). All these things mentioned above, his religion can be considered "useful". This is his “cat’s cradle”. It takes into account the nature of the world and interprets it in the light of Christianity. religion takes into account the nature of things and interprets them on the basis of hypotheses. His vehicle for this point is the cosmogony found in the Books of Bokonon. Bokonon observes the planetary orbits there. The assumption that a follower of Bokononism must make is that the sun is a living entity and has a name, "Borasisi", and that it has somehow produced children with another living entity, the moon, whose."