Cat's Cradle Flashcards
What command does “Papa” give to Frank?
He would be the next president of San Lorenzo, because he has science.
What is Mona doing to the pilot?
Slipped her sandals off, she was kneading, the instep of the flyer’s boot.
Why, according to the taxi driver, does no one follow Bokonon?
Because they would get the hook. If you feed, gave the man a place to sleep you would be hooked nobody wanted that.
Who are the Hundred Martyrs to Democracy?
The hundred men conscripted to fight in the war on Germany and Japan declared one hour after Peal Harbor was attacked.
Why does the author “envy” the mosaicist?
Because he said you can’t say a thing to him that he won’t turn inside out over.
Who is the mosaicist?
The person painting the photograph (Philip Castle).
What, according to Castle, is a writer equal to?
A drug-salesman.
Why does Castle upset H. Lowe Crosby?
Because he told him he was an Bokononist and screw him. Openly breaking the law.
What are the two painters doing to each other in the room?
They were pressing the soles of their bare feet together.
Why is the author confused by their reaction to his entrance?
He didn’t understand what they were doing illegal.
What did you see occurring?
The way they say “hy-u-o-ook-huh”.
Why does It seem Philip Castle is so pessimistic and skeptical?
The conversation they had before gave him the wrong impression of him.
Who calls the author?
Major General Franklin Hoenikker.
Why does Philip’s father start giggling?
The story he was telling about how he walked out with a flashlight beaming over all the dead’s body’s.
Why is Stanley the first plump San Lorenzan the author had seen?
Gets treated well.
Why, according to Newt, do children grow up crazy?
A Cat’s Cradle is full of X’s with no cat nor cradle at all in it.
Who is Julian Castle’s hero?
Jesus Christ.
What is hell, according to Julian Castle (it is not the painting)?
Black.
Why does Angela want Newt to take art lessons?
So he would know if he was doing something or not.
What is ironic about Julian Castle (the saint)?
The way he is a Bokonist but says he only talks about Jesus to keep his voice moving to say something important one day… meaningless.
What does Castle do to Newt’s painting?
Threw his painting off the cantilevered terrace.
What does Angela say to Newt?
Told him he had paint on his face. Wash your face.
Why does “Papa” Monzano dislike Castle’s methods?
They treat the last rites of the Bokononist Church to those who want them.
What is Boko-maru?
Foot business.
What are the two things that make Castle’s hospital “run”?
Aspirin and Boko-maru.
What hasn’t the author caught onto yet?
Everyone on San Lorenzo is a devout Bokononist, the hy-u-o-ook-kuh not with-standing.
Why, according to Castle, was the religion of Bokononism invented?
To make people less miserable.
Why is Bokononism outlawed?
His own idea asked to be outlawed in order to give the religious life of people more zest, more tang.
Why does the “hook” work as a deterrent of crime?
He’s seen in the chamber of horrors at Madame, tussaua’s more zest too, keep it running, out of fear.
What happened about every six months?
McCabe would announce triumphantly that Bokonon was surrounded by a ring of steel, which was remorselessly closing in.
Why does McCabe and Bokonon’s drama make people happy?
Great actors, they were employed full time as actors in a play everyone understood. They were half-angel, half-pirate.
Why did both McCabe and Bokonon “go insane”?
Half Angel whither away, McCabe knowing the agony of the tyrant and Bokonon knowing the agony of the saint.
Why did this lead to using the hook?
McCabe never went that crazy made serious effort to catch Bokonon it was inevitably (fatal, living the lie).
Why, according to Angela, did the world mistreat her father?
Certainly an injustice, not enough paid, he gave to much.
What does Castle say happened to Newt’s painting (and his cigar butt)?
It was Papa’s Monzano’s birthplace, incidentally, waterfall ends in a big stone bowl there. Being dried in the sun.
Why does Angela want to cry?
She thinks how much people are being paid an dhow much father got paid.
How does Newt calm her down?
Tells her to play her clarinet.
How does Newt explain why Angela makes her marriage seem happy?
The cat… and the cradle.
What does the author shriek at Julian Castle after he hears her play her clarinet?
Didn’t expect the depth, the violence, and the almost intolerable beauty of the disease.
What is Castle’s advice?
Just pretend you understand.
Why didn’t Frank show up for supper?
Keeping a vigil by “Papa’s” bed. Papa was dying in great pain.
Why does Frank need to talk to the author?
Wanted him to where he could get ahold of him at any time.
What does Zah-mah-ki-bo mean?
A Bokononist word meaning Fate–inevitable destiny.
What is “Papa” dying of, according to Julian Castle? What made him collapse?
Cancer and all the drugs he had been taken.
How did “Papa” come to power?
McCabe.
Why is Dr. Schlichter von Koenigswald a member f the author’s karass?
He will have saved more people in a small amount of time as he let due in year 3010 Holocaust.
Who is the training camp named after?
Jesus Christ.
Why do soldiers show up at the house?
To dig foxholes and machine-gun pits to protect the future president.
Why does the author begin doubting his capacity for free will?
Made him feel as though his own free will were as irrelevant as the free will of a piggy-wig arriving at the Chicago Stockyards. Push everywhere. Not knowing what’s going on.
What happens when the author asked for The Books of Bokonon?
Tells them they are no copies and they were filth.
What is the myth centering on Borasisi and Pabu?
Borasisi, the son, held Pabu, the moon, in his arms, and hoped that Pabu would bear him a fiery child.
