Black Humor in Vonneguts Cats Cradle :: Cats Cradle Essays

Black Humor in Vonneguts Cats Cradle The phrase Black Humor has the broad meaning of lick fun at subjects considered deadly serious or even taboo by some2. This definition is simple, and yet embodies an important idea that is often at sea in more complex definitions the idea that Black Humor can actu altogethery be fun, and provoke laughter. This is not, of course, the only important aspect of the term, and I shall explore some of the other important defining features of Black Humor before moving on to discuss its use in Kurt Vonneguts Cats Cradle3. Many critics provoke attempted definitions of Black Humor, n whizz of them entirely successfully. The most significant recurring features of these definitions are that Black Humor works with absurdity, ironic detachment4 opposing moral views held in equipoise, humanitys lack of a sense of purpose in the unpredictable nuclear age, the realization of the complexity of moral and aesthetic experience which affects the individuals abilit y to choose a course of action5 and a playing with the readers ideas of reality6. On their own these elements dont make up what we understand as Black Humor. Combine all of these ideas with the generation of humor, particularly by means of incongruity, and as a method of releasing tension, 7 and I think that we are close to realizing the complexities of Black Humor. But perhaps the best definition of all comes from a Black Humorist - Vonnegut himself. Black humorists holy wanderers find nothing but junk and lies and idiocy wherever they go. A chewing gum swathe or a used condom is often the best they can do for a Holy Grail.8 What, then, are Vonneguts uses for Black Humor in his sweet Cats Cradle? I believe he has three primary uses, which are entertainment furthering the novels themes and raising self-awareness in the reader. Entertainment Vonnegut believes that writers can influence peoples ideas profoundly. In one of his many speeches he stated the following We will become influential when those who have listened to our myths have become influential. Those who are influential now are alive in accordance with myths created for them by writers when they were young. It is perfectly clear that our rulers do not question those myths for even a minute during lively day after busy day. Let us pray that those terribly influential writers who created those our leaders were humane.