Cat's Cradle

Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut is an entertaining satirical novel that puts both science and religion under the spotlight. Using diction, humor, and writing style, Vonnegut gives a clear social commentary on his feelings as to the advances of science and religious beliefs.

PART A:

A predominant symbol in the novel is Dr. Hoenikker's Ice Nine. A vastly important invention, since one speck could cast an apocalyptic global freezing that would end the world, ice nine plays a vital role in Vonnegut's social commentary on science. This symbol essentially can be used to define the meaning of the work as a whole by itself: humanity must be wary of technology because for all the good that science attempts to bring about, it can result in dire consequences. Vonnegut applifies this meaning by making the way in which ice nine brings about the end of the world so ridiculous. This is the nature of a satirical piece and Vonnegut uses this ridiculous event to make his point. Papa commits death by ice nine and then a plane crashes, shaking Papa's frozen body into the sea and destroying the world. How unbelievable is this? This incident is used to show Vonnegut's meaning that even an accident in science can have terrible implications. Ice nine also shows how science needs to be more morally aware. Dr. Hoenikker made ice nine simply to prove that he could make it. However he did not consider the implications it could cause had a simple accident like tripping and dropping it into a river or if it had fallen into the wrong hands of a terrorist who wished to destroy the world. Vonnegut is saying that science should not create things that need not and should not be created just because they can be. They should be more careful of what they do and should look to the future as to what their actions could lead to, even if they had been intended to do good.

PART B:

One of best quotes from the novel that points right to Vonnegut's feelings on science is found on page 31. "A winded, defeated-looking fat woman in filthy coveralls trudged beside us, hearing what Miss Pefko said. She turned to examine Dr. Breed, looking at him with helpless reproach. She hated people who thought too much. At that moment, she struck me as an appropriate representation for almost all mankind" (31). This is a great description. This woman is so fed up with science's ideas that everything is analytical and that scientists place too much importance on discovery and research, she has become tired for fighting. She has been dragged down by the unbearable weight that she feels from science and the role that it plays in everyday life, and now she has capitulated and cannot go on. What a great sentence when Vonnegut writes that at that moment she was a perfect representation of almost all mankind. That is saying something. It could be that science plays too much of a role in everyday life and people simply do not care or do not understand it. Either way, science plays too much of a role and the constant analytical nature of it stands in contrast to the ideas that most care about.

PART C:

This novel was a good book. It was enjoyable to read since its satirical nature made it comical and a fun book to read. The constant jabs at science and religion really stood out to me and I was able to make many connections with what Vonnegut was saying. Also the superficial nature of the characters was entertaining and informative. Many of the characters were on such a one way track, either science or religion, they were unable to see the other side and unable to realize the importance that the other side plays in life. If I were to recommend this novel to another, I would tell him or her that it is a good novel, not the best, and that does take a while to get into since for the first hundred pages at least you do not see where the novel is going at all. However, on the whole I would recommend it to anyone.

The Handmaid's Tale

The Handmaid's Tale is a very controversial novel by Margaret Atwood. Full to the brim with controversial topics such as religion, abortion, pornography, women extremists, and sex, this novel no doubt makes for a very interesting read. Taking place in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the current site of Harvard University, the Republic of Gilead is a dystopian society where the rights of all, especially women are virtually non-existant. All of this is for the sake of protecting the women and to allow them to fulfill a sole purpose: the continuation of the human race.

PART A

A very good symbol that points to one of Atwood's problems addressed by the novel is found on page 57. From the break on, Offred speaks of a pillow that is in her room, a pillow with the word "Faith" on it. Now this in itself is strange since women are not allowed to read because it might give them poor ideas. However, there is a much deeper meaning to this simple pillow and it is embedded in Atwood's commentary on religion. Offred describes the pillow as, "A hard little cushion on it, with a petit pint cover: Faith, in square print, surrounded by a wreath of lilies. Faith is a faded blue, the leaves of the lilies a dingy green. This is a cushion once used somewhere else, worn but not enough to throw out. Somehow it's been overlooked" (57). Wow. These few sentences give a crystal clear image of what Atwood is saying about religion and Offred's individual religious views. Offred's faith is faded and worn. By saying how it was once used somewhere else is Atwood saying that Offred once had a use for religion in a past time before the rise of this horrible Republic of Gilead. It had once held a position of high regard of Offred, but all of the things that she has put through has seriously shaken her faith in religion. However, although shaken, Offred still holds onto her religion because her loss of faith has not gone so far that she is willing to, "throw out" (57).

PART B:

One of the most humorous lines of the novel takes place when the Commander takes Offred to Jezabelle's. " 'I thought this sort of thing was strictly forbidden,' I say. 'Well, offically,' he says. 'But everyone's human, after all' " (237). Is this not the biggest statement of hypocrisy in this entire novel. Here is the Commanders saying that even though all women's rights and many men's rights are completely non-existant, all for the good of the women to protect them and to keep inappropriate images and thoughts out of men's minds, here is a place where men are complete breaking the rules. All of these oppression of rights, and here are the Commanders and other high ranking officals having a great time and associating with prostitutes because, hey everyone is human. The nonchalant tone in which the Commander says this makes him sound like a huge hypocrite. He can escape any time he to this place where he can experience a facade of pleasure and "love" that he has been stripped of in this society. Offred on the other hand, has to live day in and day out with no rights and she has no place to escape to. Jezabelle's stands to show what a ridiculous society Gilead is because it is a place of no rights and mass discrimination, and right around the corner in one of the back alleys is a whore house, that serves the needs of the Commanders and other men because after all, everyone is human.

PART C:

Now my opinion. If I ever have to read this book again, I do not know what I will do. Every moment I read it was mental agony. I do not deny the brilliant way in which Atwood makes her stand on extremists, religionist and femanists alike, through uses of diction, tone, and social commentary. However, I hated this book. The monotanous tone in which it was written, while intended by Atwood to convey the meaninglessness and boringness of Offred's life, made reading very difficult and unenjoyable. In my opinion, there was little excitement that would keep a reader interested and after a while, reading virtually the same thing over and over loses its appeal. If I had to recommend this book to another, my suggestion would be to put this book down, never pick it up again, and read something, anything else. Yes I know this view is quite extreme but it really shows how much I disliked this book.

Anthem

Anthem, a novel by Ayn Rand, takes place in a dystopian futuristic setting. Here, all people are equal: there can be no competition, the job you are assigned is your job and you will do it with a smile on your face, people are given numbers instead of names, it is wrong to think for oneself, and men and women do not know the joys of love and companionship. However, it is in Anthem that a common streetsweeper with a "curse" questions the validity of this convoluted society.

PART A:
Light is a major symbol throughout the novel. It is seen in various places, from Equality's lightbulb to his new name later on. Light represents truth and stands in stark contrast to the dreary, monocromatic theme of this modern society. In this society, the only colors seen are grays, whites, and browns. However, this light serves to cut through these dismal colors and the dismal sociey. On a deeper level, the light enlightens Equality. It is the cummination of his illegal studies and research. It symbolizes how Equality has shown light upon the lies and deciet of this society, and his light shines as a torch to cut through the facade. It makes him stand alone from everyone, even the World Scholars who fear his light because it goes against everything they stand for, and on a deeper level is cutting through all the lies they have worked so long to establish. Another major use of light symbolism is in the name Equality takes for himself. Prometheus was a god who was the bringer of light to the humans he loved so much. He gave them the gift of fire and through it light. He was forced to suffer extremely for it, but still did it for his beloved humans. Equality is no different. He speaks of how he will bring a certain few from the city, those that silently question, and he will enlighten them and together they will build a new society. Like Prometheus, Equality was forced to suffer but in the end the rewards were great.

PART B:
I would say that one of my favorite lines in this novel takes place when Equality and Liberty are walking together in the woods.
" 'We love you.' But then they frowned and shook their head and looked at us helplessly. 'No,' they whispered, 'that is not what we wished to say' "(86).
This a major line in the novel. The Golden One wishes to say "I love you". However, one of the major themes of the novel is the lack of individuality and the lost knowledge of the word "I". Equality is driven to the knowledge of this word when he watches the martyr be burned for using the Unspeakable Word. He wonders why this man is smiling and does not seem to mind that he is being burned. He seems happy that he finally has understood and become enlightened. This martyr of the pyre has passed the torch onto Equality, and now it is his turn to accomplish where those before him had failed and died. This one sentence is a very romantic line in that Liberty wants so badly to tell Equality how she feels about him, yet she struggles to say it because she does not know the proper words. The lack of such a simple word as "I" has led to the inability of individuals to express their feelings, emotions, desires, and needs. It has stripped individuality from this people and cast them into an existance of unhappiness and in the case of some individuals, questioning and torment. This passage goes to show how vital his one word is in the life of every human on the planet.

PART C:
Now for my opinion of Ayn Rand's Anthem. This novel was one of the best books I have ever read. Although relatively short in length and easy to read and understand, Anthem was able to keep me captivated from start to finish. I was a huge fan of the storyline and I was constantly trying to work out different possible reasons for this distopian society in my head. It was also the first novel I was able to see the deeper meaning to and it was great to be able to understand what the author had in mind other than giving readers a good time. If I were asked about Anthem I would recommend it to anyone, especially if one is looking for a good, quick read with a great story and an even better deeper meaning.