Vonnegut's Simple Style in Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle

Vonnegut's Simple Style in Cat's Cradle

The simple style with which Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. writes

his novels belies the complexity hidden behind his

sentences. Vonnegut's novels, as a result, are amazingly

easy and, to many, enjoyable to read, yet they contain

messages that go to the very root of humanity, messages that

are not hidden underneath flowery prose. The success of

Cat's Cradle, like all of his novels, relies on this

simplicity to reveal its messages about religion, death, and

apocalypse to the reader.

Cat's Cradle is composed of a series of short, very

direct, and seemingly simple sentences, that, when combined,

form a surprisingly complex novel. Cat's Cradle, like most

of Vonnegut's novels, is not very wordy. Vonnegut will

almost always say things directly; for example, when

discussing the history of San Lorenzo, he writes,

"Subsequent expeditions came for gold...found none, burned

a few natives for entertainment and heresy, and sailed on"

(89). Vonnegut uses a very direct and flippant manner when

he writes of things that others might not confront, such as

the cruelty of the conquistadors. He does not try to hide

his messages subtly, so his readers get the full meaning out

of his novel, even if they are reading the book merely for

entertainment. One does not have to search through his novel

word-for-word to find Vonnegut's themes. Instead, Vonnegut

sends his themes via simplicity and exaggeration. For

Vonnegut to convey his ideas successfully to the reader, he

must use a simple style to do s o; his point of view is so

contrary to the norm that simplicity is the only way for him

to get hi...

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...continue trying, because it is human nature to

risk destroying the world to further one's own ends.

Cat's Cradle depends on Vonnegut's simplicity and other

literary techniques, like exaggeration, to make its point.

Man's destructive nature is made quite clear in this

excellent novel, and unnecessary words and sentences would

have destroyed the clarity of Vonnegut's message. The

message, and the readability of the novel, are more

important than if the novel is of the same literary caliber

as the likes of Shakespeare and Hemingway. Vonnegut's simple

sentences, combined with exaggeration, irony, and elements

of science fiction, make his novels, and the messages

contained within them, very powerful, and very enjoyable to

read. In this way, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. has established

himself as a literary master.