Cats Cradle Chapters 103 127 The Endof the

Cat’s Cradle Chapters 103 -127: The End…of the World

Journal 5 “Midget, midget, how he struts and winks, For he knows a man’s as big as what he hopes and thinks!” (284).

Goodbye, “Papa” “‘Now I will destroy the whole world’… ‘It’s what Bokononists say when they are about to commit suicide’” (238). • Remember that the only thing sacred to Bokononists is mankind. • How does this fit with Vonnegut’s own humanist beliefs?

The Fourteenth Book of Bokonon “What Can a Thoughtful Man Hope for Mankind on Earth, Given the Experience of the Past Million Years? ” … “Nothing” (245). • What is this commentary saying about mankind? • Do you agree or disagree?

Anybody? Turn to page 267, and we’ll try to talk someone into singing us a song. “Each one of us has to be what he or she is” (267). • What roll did Bokonon play for San Lorenzo? • John? • Felix? • Frank?

The Purpose “Man blinked. ‘What is the purpose of all this? ’ he asked politely. ‘Everything must have a purpose? ’ asked God. ‘Certainly, ’ said man. ‘Then I leave it to you to think of one for all this, ’ said God. And he went away” (265). • Is this question answerable? • Does purpose vary from one person to the next?

Learning vs. Understanding “‘Beware of the man who works hard to learn something, learns it, and finds himself no wiser than before…He is full of murderous resentment of people who are ignorant without having come by their ignorance the hard way” (281). • What is the difference between learning and understanding?

Bokonon’s Farewell “If I were a younger man, I would write a history of human stupidity; and I would climb to the top of Mount Mc. Cabe and lie down on my back with my history for a pillow; and I would take from the ground some of the blue-white poison that makes statues of men; and I would make a statue of myself, lying on my back, grinning horribly, and thumbing my nose at You Know Who” (287).