Cat's Cradle Chapters 1-7

Salut!

Okay so far I am liking this book. I like how the author writes; it draws me in and entertains me so I'm not bored. This is a good thing, because usually the books we read for school are kind of boring, but this one makes me laugh and keeps me interested. At first I was a little skeptical about how the book related to postmodernism. But, as I read on, the biggest example kind of jump out and said Boo! The biggest example I found was all of the references to religion that were in the first few chapters of the novel. This quote is an example of how the book relates to postmodern ideals: "Anyone unable to understand how a useful religion can be founded on lies will not understand this book either" This is another way to state that religions are based on narratives. A way to legitimize a religion is to make up a story about that religion: how it came to be, what is says about life, what will happen to believers after they die. Narratives can be true, but many of them are also lies. Religion is useful to put the masses in to groups, and to control those groups. So these religions use narrative laws to be useful. Besides relating this idea to Christianity, the novel also talks about another "religion" called Bokonon. This religion openly states that it is based on lies; in fact, the narrator himself said "I would have been a Bokononist then, if there had been anyone to teach me the bittersweet lies of Bokonon." You would think that people would not want to believe in a religion that openly states it is full of lies. But to some, this could just be a form of an open narrative: it openly states it is made of lies, so people know exactly what they are getting in to. That was the most obvious example of how postmodernism is invested in the novel.