To Find a Purpose, To Find Foma Christopher Lee 11th Grade

See the Cat? See the Cradle? These two all-important lines ring throughout the book, constantly confusing both the characters in the book and the reader themselves. It is used in comparison to Angela’s marriage and religion as a whole, although the title of the book itself hints at a larger meaning to the general themes and issues the book is attempting to satirize. Dr. Hoenikker, a major player in the scheme of Cat’s Cradle, states that he doesn’t need to bother with made-up games with all the “real games” going on, but seems oddly fascinated with Cat’s Cradle, “the closest [Newt] ever saw [his] father come to playing what anybody else would call a game.” (9) The importance of the empty and hollow game of Cat’s Cradle is a key aspect of the book to discover, especially in relation to the intriguingly complex character of Dr. Hoenikker.

A social recluse, Dr. Hoenikker is a paradox - he has the brilliant mind of a genius and advances technology by great strides, but he has the social mindset of a child, putting his needs above everyone else’s by ignoring his wife and callously pulling his own daughter out of school in order to serve his needs when his wife passed away. Despite his brilliant scientific brain, he ultimately did...