How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Call Me Jonah. My parents did, or nearly did. They called me John. (1.1)
The idea that art is a lie pops up in the first line of the novel. Vonnegut will get to the point later—but for now, just know you're being lied to and enjoy the ride.
Quote #2
The novel was about the end of the world in the year 2000, and the name of the book was 2000 A.D. It told about how mad scientists made a terrific bomb that wiped out the whole world. (5.7)
"Life imitates Art far more than Art imitates Life," said Oscar Wilde in his essay "The Decay of Lying." In the case of Cat's Cradle, that means art foreshadows the inevitable disaster of ice-nine. Thankfully, our reality has managed to avoid its possible year 2000 disasters… so far.
Quote #3
"That was one of [Hoenikker's] hobbies," said Miss Faust.
"What was?"
"Photographing how cannonballs are stacked on different courthouse lawns. Apparently how they've got them stacked in that picture is very unusual." (27.24-26)
Again with the life imitating art stuff. In this case, Hoenikker's cannonball art will eventually go on to be the basis of ice-nine. So, maybe it's not always a good thing?
Quote #4
I might have been vaguely inclined to dismiss the stone angel as meaningless, and to go from there to the meaninglessness of all. But after I saw what Krebbs had done, in particular what he had done to my sweet cat, nihilism was not for me. (36.9)
John finds meaning in the art of the stone angel because the alternative, nihilism, is represented by a trashed apartment and a dead cat. Yeah, we'd side with art too.
Quote #5
"Well, if you ever do do the book, you better make Father a saint, because that's what he was." (51.21)
Art's lies can influence how people view reality, and here's a perfect example. Angela's proposal suggests that John can "make" Hoenikker into whatever he wants. "Saint" sounds nice, but wouldn't "suave, debonair secret agent" be better?
Quote #6
"Father needs some kind of book to read to people who are dying or in terrible pain. I don't suppose you've written anything like that." (70.10)
In Cat's Cradle, art is medicine for the terminal condition called life. Sure, it may just be a placebo, but if that's case, then you can take as much as you want without any side effects.
Quote #7
Newt remained curled in the chair. He held out his painty hands as though a cat's cradle were strung between them. "No wonder kids grow up crazy. A cat's cradle is nothing but a bunch of X's between somebody's hands, and little kids look and look and look at all those X's…." (74.28)
Newt points out how art works, and we can extend it to discuss any art. It's not a woman smiling; it's just a bunch of paint on canvas. It's not a story about Armageddon; it's just words on a page. Hmm, art really is kind of crazy, but at least it's a good crazy.
Quote #8
"I don't think [Newt's painting is] very nice," Angela complained. "I think it's ugly, but I don't know anything about modern art. Sometimes I wish Newt would take some lessons, so he could know for sure if he was doing something or not." (76.8)
Swing aaaaaand miss. Angela completely misses the point of Newt's art—which is, you can create your own point to his art.
Quote #9
"[The San Lorenzans] were all employed full time as actors in a play they understood, that any human being anywhere could understand and applaud." (79.2)
Vonnegut must have really liked the "Life imitates Art" idea, because here it is again. This time, though, it goes one step farther. Here, life imitates art to the point that it becomes art. In this case a play.
Quote #10
"No, I don't think my conscience would let me support a strike like that. When a man becomes a writer, I think he takes on a sacred obligation to produce beauty and enlightenment and comfort at top speed." (103.93)
Substitute the word writer with the word artist. See what happened there? Pretty cool.