The Twisted Love within Cat's Cradle Joseph Janey College

Love. A simple yet ever so complicated emotion. How can an emotion that supposedly brings about such happiness and joy also bring about some of the worst characteristics of today’s world and lead to such catastrophe? The loaded concept of love and the problems that seem to arise from it or to be more specific, the search for it are all explored in Cat’s Cradle. Kurt Vonnegut uses various characters within the text to demonstrate the different types of love by their unique quests to attain it and the resolution of that desired quest. Newt, seen as an outcast, represents the portion of the population looking for companionship from the outside in. On the other hand, John seemingly has no aspiration to find companionship, but more of a need after getting caught up in a lust for a girl as it so often happens nowadays. Lastly, Felix is the poster boy for those who neglect family and friends, only caring about what is directly in front of him. Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut demonstrates how the twisted path to find one of life’s greatest treasures, love, can lead to utter destruction or humiliation as it brings out the underlying problems of society. This is shown first hand through Newt’s wish to connect with Zinka who turns out to be...