“See the cat? See the cradle?” (Vonnegut) This is one of Vonnegut’s most important lines in his novel Cat’s Cradle. And I strongly believe that it embraces the fundamental nature of Postmodernism. And what is that exactly? It is the idea that there is no such thing as absolute truth.
Well, let me explain more about this line from Vonnegut. It is referring to a game called cat’s cradle where series of string figures are created between a set of hands. As the game continues, the string pattern becomes complex and the entangling of lines seem never ending. This is a physical description of a cat’s cradle. I believe there is much more to it than that. A cat’s cradle also represents an outlook on truth and difference.
How we see inside the cat’s cradle is how we see the truth. And truth is represented differently by all people. Look at the society of World State in Huxley’s Brave New World. There are buildings that exceed the clouds. Their population is produced by a manufacturing line. And promiscuity between couples is encouraged. The truth I know tells me that buildings are safest low to the ground, people are not produced but created between two people that love each other very much, and promiscuity definitely is not the best way to exercise trust within a relationship. But this is how the people in Huxley’s book represent truth. This is what they see inside the cat’s cradle.
In the end, people all over there world will always have their differences. Whether it their way of life or the religion they believe, we should be accepting of it. Their view inside the cat’s cradle will always be different from ours. What it really comes down to is that there actually is "No damn cat, and no damn cradle" (Vonnegut).
"There's this expression called postmodernism, which is kind of silly, and destroys a perfectly good word called modern, which now no longer means anything."
~ Twyla Tharp
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ANDREWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Nice comparison of postmodernism to cat's cradle. I would have really never thought it that way but i like the way how you just flat out say that there is no such thing as absolute truth right in the beginning. It goes straight to the point and i get what you mean when you say "As the game continues, the string pattern becomes complex and the entangling of lines seem never ending. This is a physical description of a cat’s cradle. I believe there is much more to it than that. A cat’s cradle also represents an outlook on truth and difference." The world out there has so many different values and different people that it would be impossible to have everyone agree on the same thing in life. The more we grow the more our society will have more senseless truth. A place of variety makes this world a better place to live in anyways because who would want to live in a world where everything was the same. The cat's cradle will forever increase into a more complex universe that has more questions than answers because of the population that seems to never decline in numeros. So i leave you with this... life is like a lesson with people who need more necessities than others, and we have to come to realize to share and aid others in need because if we continue to be bitter civilians who don't come to terms on anything, then there is notthing valuable to learn in life than just selfishness. You get the point and if we just keep making differences or an impact on peoples' lives then maybe society will come to understand the meaning of Postmodernism. :)))
ReplyDeleteLoL vErY NaAcE!!!!!!!
ReplyDeletebefore i respond to ur blog..... PAMBAM nice pictue your such a gangsta lol
Anywayz ANDREW!!
I likeed your blog is was all the way verry nacceee! I really liked the quote you used :)
"In the end, people all over there world will always have their differences. Whether it their way of life or the religion they believe, we should be accepting of it. Their view inside the cat’s cradle will always be different from ours. What it really comes down to is that there actually is "No damn cat, and no damn cradle" (Vonnegut)." I 100 percent agree with you on this, everyone if different in their own unique way. For example, me and you, we both have our own beliefs and religion that we follow and at the end like you stated there is no "No damn, and no damn cradle"
=)
At the end you just have to try to make an impression or a differences and slowly everyone can start to understand the concept of POSTMODERNISM.
Alrighty, so Andrew…… I really enjoy reading your blogs because you always have a different approach than what I thought of, which makes yours interesting to read. The first thing I liked was that you said that “truth is represented differently by all people” because that is so true. People often think of truth differently because they were raised differently, which causes them to have different views and ideas on different topics or things. Also I do think how you compared Cat’s Cradle to Postmodernism was a brilliant idea because I definitely did not event think of that. Way to Go!!! Anyways, that example conveys that there really is no such thing as a darn cat or a darn cradle because there is no one definition for it. People have to determine for themselves what they believe it means to them. Overall, one again, your blog was interesting and entertaining to read!
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