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. The novel itself has a circular structure because readers cannot appreciate the full significance of the epigraphs until they have finished reading and returned to the beginning. Circles are used to symbolize nothing, as in the figure for zero [0], and everything, as in the symbol for infinity, a loop that crosses itself. Circles traditionally symbolize wholeness, because the line has no end, and emptiness, because the area inside is empty. But a loop of string is not a cat s cradle until human hands shape it, so the cat s cradle becomes a symbol of our ability to shape the world around us and by shaping it, give it meaning. Newt Hoenikker, who as an adult is still terrified by the memory of his father thrusting a cat s cradle in his face, has done some research on the game. He points out that humans have been making cat s cradles for hundreds of thousands of years, and the activity is part of cultures all over the world. The long history and universality of the cat s cradle makes it a perfect symbol for all of humanity s varied attempts to structure the world in a meaningful way, including magic, religion, fiction, philosophy, and science. For Newt, the cat s cradle represents parental tyranny over children because it figures so prominently in his own childhood trauma: No wonder kids grow up crazy. A cat s cradle is nothing but a bunch of X s between Page 91somebody s hands&. No damn cat and no damn cradle. Some readers assume that Newt s opinion is authoritative because he is the novel s resident expert on cat s cradles, but the rest of the novel suggests deeper meanings for the symbol. On the literal level, Newt is correct~ there really is neither cat nor cradle in a cat s cradle. But the novel insists repeatedly that human creations are not to be taken literally but should be seen as creative fictions. The point of making a cat s cradle is not to create a real cat and a real cradle, but to have fun making something out of nothing. In fact, the cat s cradle is only one of the many figures that can be made from a loop of string. The joy of the game comes from transforming one figure into another, and it is comparable to the joy that Bokonon felt in transforming elements of Christianity into his new religion. As Bokonon repeatedly warns, the harm arises only when we begin to think of our fanciful figures as literally true when we expect a real cat and a real cradle. Vonnegut engages in a similar sort of transformational play throughout the novel, and the symbol of the cat s cradle appears in many different guises. When Jack, the owner of the hobby shop, tells John about his attempt to restore order to his life after his wife has left him, he uses the image of a cat s cradle: I m still trying to pull the strings of my life back together (74). In this way, a chance remark by a minor character becomes part of the symbolic web that gives the novel its distinctive shape. Probably the most significant transformation of the cat s cradle symbol can be found in Vonnegut s description of the fanciful house designed by Nestor Aamons, Mona s father. We have already seen that it represents a marriage of art and science through creative play, but it is also a sort of cat s cradle, a cunning lattice of very light steel posts and beams (163). In engineering terms, the purpose of the lattice is to distribute the weight of the terrace so that it can be borne by light steel beams that could never support it otherwise. The architect achieves structural strength and stability by creating dynamic tension, between the posts and beams, just as Bokonon framed a new social order for San Lorenzo by creating dynamic tension between groups of people (120). Like the lattice design, Bokonon s new religion reduces the burden of human existence by distributing it more evenly. Obviously creating a perfect society on a desperately poor island is more difficult than designing an artful house. Human beings are not as strong and reliable as steel beams. As Julian Castle explains to John, both Bokonon and McCabe cracked under the weight of their roles and went insane, but the symbol of the cat s cradle allows Vonnegut to explore the underlying similarities between activities as diverse as art, science, religion, and sociology. The Page 92tension in the strings gives the cat s cradle its shape. The tension in the steel gives the lattice its strength. The tension in the novel between the opposed forces of nihilism and belief and art and science gives it symbolic power, not to resolve these conflicts in favor of one side or another, but to show that dynamic tension between them is essential to a creative and fulfilling life. AN INTERTEXTUAL READING An intertextual approach to reading a novel recognizes that all texts are part of a cultural web that links them to other texts. By examining the relationships between texts, we achieve a deeper understanding of individual texts and of the culture that produced them. An intertextual approach assumes that writers visions of the world are shaped by their culture, which includes language, customs, beliefs, and, perhaps most importantly, other literary texts. Intertextual critics view literature as an ongoing conversation. Writers find their place in the conversation by commenting on, revising, critiquing, or parodying the work of earlier writers. Previous works of literature provide them with a storehouse of symbols that are familiar to readers and have accumulated power through repeated use. The first sentence of Cat s Cradle invokes two wellknown works of literature in only three words: Call me Jonah (1)
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