Cat's Cradle

Quoting a calypso song from The Books of Bokonon, John explains the concept of a karass: a team of people who work together to advance God’s will without realizing that they are doing so.

John excerpts an anecdote from The Books of Bokonon about a woman who claimed to understand God’s ways but was confused by the blueprint for a doghouse. The story illustrates the impossibility of fully understanding God’s purposes.

John explains his intention, through this book, to explore the work of his karass. He identifies members of his karass, including Dr. Felix Hoenikker, a scientist who helped create the atomic bomb, and his son, Newt Hoenikker. When John began to gather information for his book about the atomic bomb, he wrote to Newt, then a college student, asking what he remembered about August 6, 1945, the day the bomb was dropped.

In a letter, Newt explains that he was six years old in 1945. On the day the bomb dropped, his father, who spent almost all of his time on scientific research, did something out of character: He made a string figure known as a cat’s cradle and sang a nursery rhyme to Newt. The string came from a manuscript that a prisoner sent to Dr. Hoenikker, which imagined the end of the world in the year 2000 due to a powerful bomb.

Continuing his letter, Newt explains that he was frightened and ran outside when Dr. Hoenikker sang to him. In the yard, Newt found his 12-year-old brother Frank watching bugs fight in a jar. A few minutes later, Newt’s 22-year-old sister Angela scolded Newt for not appreciating their father as “one of the greatest men who ever lived” (16). The three siblings got into a fight, but Dr. Hoenikker didn’t notice or respond.

Newt explains with relief that he recently dropped out of school due to poor grades.

In a postscript, Newt questions John’s description of the Hoenikkers as “illustrious,” suggesting “glamorous” is more accurate.

Shortly after Newt wrote to John, news broke of a short-lived romantic relationship between Newt and Zinka, a Ukrainian dancer who, like Newt, is a little person.

A year later, John travels to Ilium, New York, where the Hoenikkers used to live. He contacts Dr. Asa Breed, who was Dr. Hoenikker’s supervisor at General Forge and Foundry Company, where Dr. Hoenikker worked while researching the atomic bomb.

John spends his first evening in Ilium at a local bar. John talks to the bartender and a sex worker named Sandra, who knew Frank in high school. He was so unsociable that they called him “Secret Agent X-9” (23).

Sandra recalls that Dr. Hoenikker was supposed to speak at graduation, but he didn’t show up, so Dr. Breed gave a speech praising science over superstition. The bartender recalls hearing about a scientific discovery that revealed “the basic secret of life” (25), something to do with protein.

An older bartender recalls the day the bomb dropped. He mixed a drink called “End of the World Delight” for a beggar. Dr. Breed’s son visited the bar and explained that he was quitting his work at the research laboratory because of the bomb.

John spends the night with Sandra, who tells him that Dr. Breed loved Dr. Hoenikker’s wife; he might be the father of the Hoenikker children.

The next morning, John joins Dr. Breed on his way to work. Dr. Breed describes Ilium as “a family town.” He also shares the story of a murderer, who killed 26 people and was sentenced in 1782.

Navigating rush-hour traffic, Dr. Breed recalls that Dr. Hoenikker once abandoned his car, leaving it running in traffic. His wife, Emily, picked it up, but she got into a wreck on the way home, which contributed to her later death in childbirth.

In the parking lot of General Forge and Foundry, Dr. Breed introduces John to Miss Francine Pefko, the secretary of a famous chemist. Miss Pefko claims that Dr. Breed and the other scientists “think too much” (33).

As they enter the building, Dr. Breed suggests that Miss Pefko ask the chemist to explain anything she doesn’t understand, but she says that he would have to start at a kindergarten level. Dr. Breed is annoyed to hear her describe nearby scientific displays as “magic.”

Arriving in his office, Dr. Breed helps his secretary, Miss Naomi Faust, put up a Christmas decoration that reads, “Peace on Earth” and “Good Will Toward Men” (37). Naomi reminds him that the Girl Pool, a group of female typists who work in the basement, are expected to come caroling soon, as it is tradition.

John interviews Dr. Breed, who is offended by his insinuation that the scientists who invented the bomb are immoral. Dr. Breed explains that his company engages in “pure research,” or the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake.

Dr. Breed recalls various military leaders’ attempts to get Dr. Hoenikker to solve problems for them. One general was particularly interested in a chemical agent to get rid of mud.

Dr. Breed explains that substances freeze following certain patterns on the atomic level, but if a new pattern were created, it could cause existing liquids to freeze in a new pattern by a chain reaction, creating new variants of ice, such as “ice-nine.”

The Girl Pool arrives and sings, “O Little Town of Bethlehem.”

After the carolers leave, Dr. Breed explains that if a marine tossed a fragment of ice-nine into a muddy field, it would solidify all the connected water in the field, allowing the marines to march through on solid ground.

John asks whether ice-nine would lead to the end of the world, since it would start a chain reaction freezing all water. Dr. Breed insists that ice-nine doesn’t exist.

Unknown to Dr. Breed, Dr. Hoenikker succeeded in creating a fragment of ice-nine, which has a melting point of 144.4 degrees Fahrenheit, shortly before he died. Following his death, his children split up the ice-nine among themselves.

In Bokononism, each karass has a wampeter, meaning a central object or idea. John identifies the fragments of ice-nine as the wampeter of his karass.