—-Many literary critics regard Cat’s Cradle as Kurt Vonnegut’s best work. Vonnegut himself grades it as one of two A-plus’s in company only with Slaughterhouse-five which certainly deserves the grade. Though I myself might rank Sirens of Titan, Jailbird and maybe Breakfast with Champions above Cat’s Cradle there is without doubt worthy reason for it’s acclaim for it explores our tumultuous relationship with technology, religion, and truth.—-

Cat’s cradle is a string game for the pre-90’s readers or a yo-yo move for my fellow 90’s nostalgics. The idea as shown below is to imagine there is a cat (the yo-yo) in a cradle of string. Kid’s have an easily employable imagination and so enjoy this illusion.

One of the best line’s in the book comes towards the end where Jonah a journalist soon to become an island president discovers that his new friend Angela Hoenikker’s marriage might not be as pleasant (far the opposite) as it appears on the surface. Jonah exclaims to her brother, Newt that he thought they were so happy together. His response was “See the cat, see the cradle?”

Newt’s referring to the illusion one puts on that hides the truth underneath. The outward happy appearance of Angela’s marriage hiding an abusive truth just as the fanciful cat’s cradle disguises that it is just a bunch of string.

Our world is full of cat’s cradle’s, these illusions hiding truth. They are dangerous because the one’s displayed by others lead us to generate an inaccurate view of reality. And since everyone wants to display the most wonderful of cats cradles we start to view our bunch of string as lacking for not performing such a wonderful trick. Worse yet, it makes us believe we have to put on our own illusions that fit this perceived (but incorrect) reality so that everyone thinks our yo-yo of a life is worthy.

The sad thing for Angela in the story and for anyone putting on an illusion is that you come to believe it in a way. Vonnegut said in another book, Mother Night, that on some level “we are who we pretend to be, so be very careful about who you pretend to be”. For Angela, this means she tricks herself as much as anyone else and is hindered from improving her own situation or even seeking counsel and help from others. What then, do the illusions we put on on a daily basis keep us from achieving?

I’ve been known to say, for example, that “I am always okay” because I do think it is important to be a tough individual. But as I grow older I’m trying to find the balance between toughness and vulnerability. “I am always okay” while true, does not translate to “I am always well”. One day I might have a full on panic attack about where I am in life at 30 years old or feel isolated but not have the introvert energy to reach out to hang out with someone and then sometime later I’ll put up some adventure or fitness picture on Instagram partially to remind myself (and ashamedly, everyone else) that I’m at least excelling in a few areas. See the Cat? See the Cradle?

I think it’s fantastic to share our positive experiences with each other, I hope I occasionally inspire someone to go outside or to get healthy and in shape for instance. And I know when I see someone else killing it, I’m inspired to maybe start my own business too, or to go sky diving too, or to go to Thailand too. We just have to be really careful to understand what we’re seeing isn’t the full spectrum of reality and all the hidden parts are equally important to understand.

In the age of social media, listicles, click-bait, politicians on twitter, dating apps…(etc. etc. etc.) we see more and more yo-yo tricks and less string. Reality might be subjective to our experience, I just think it’s imperative for us to open our minds a little wider, think a little deeper and ask a few more questions. Is what you see around you and what you display to the world real? Or is it just a Cat’s Cradle?