Bokononism Teachings Essay

1002 Words5 Pages
Don’t be a fool! Stop reading this paper at once! It is nothing but “foma!” In the novel Cat’s Cradle, Kurt Vonnegut makes up a religion called Bokononism which is based on “harmless lies that make you brave and kind and healthy and happy” (Vonnegut title page). Along with his made up religion, Vonnegut also creates an island that is intended to be perfect, the island of San Lorenzo which is where Bokononism finds its roots. Vonnegut provides three significant “teachings” of this made up religion Bokononism, Human Religion and nature is based on lies, all people are ignorant and people feel like they need to be apart of something to be important. Throughout the novel Vonnegut keeps showing the reader that human religion and nature is based solely on lies: “The first sentence in The Books of Bokonon is this: All of the true things I am about to tell you are shameless lies” (5). All of the people on the island of San Lorenzo are told that they can not worship Bokonon or practice Bokononism, that if caught they will be put on the hook for death; however, every single person on the island practices Bokononism. “And [John] asked Stanley, the major-domo, if there happened to be a copy of The Books of Bokonon about the house. Stanley pretended not to know what [John] was talking about. And then he grumbled that The Books of Bokonon were filth. And then he insisted that anyone who read them should die on the hook” (190). Having established that the book is clearly made up of lies the reader has to determine if what is being read is truth or foma. “And then he brought me a copy from Frank’s bedside table” (190). Vonnegut makes his characters contradict themselves, one minute Frank is telling John that The Books of Bokonon were filth and no one should read them and then the next he returns to John with a copy for him to read. Through this one example in the book Vonnegut

More about Bokononism Teachings Essay

Open Document