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УДК 1751
Ahmadova Latifa
Ganja State University DOI: 10.24412/2520-6990-2022-26149-31-34
POLITCAL PARODY IN KURT VONNEGUT'S "CAT'S CRADLE" NOVEL
Ахмадова Латифа
Гянджинский государственный университет
ПОЛИТИЧЕСКАЯ ПАРОДИЯ В РОМАНЕ КУРТА ВОННЕГУТА «КОШАШКА КОЛЫБЕЛЬ»
Abstract.
The novel Cat's Cradle occupies an important place in the work ofKurt Vonnegut, a prominent representative of the Black Humor literary movement that emerged in American literature in the 1950s. The novel is important as a kind of symbolic expression of various problems of social and political life. The title of the novel was taken from the title of the game Cat's Cradle. The intertexts established in the novel Cat's Cradle evoke the events that took place in the process of writing the novel "The Last Day of the World" within the framework of the work of a hero named John. The novel is a parody of the assessment of the atomic bomb as an indicator of development that caused the tragedy of mankind, and a number of Christian leaders who kept silent about it. Criticism of those who, with bitter laughter, turns science and religion into the cause of disasters, is carried out through the theory of Vonnegut, called Bokononism.
Аннотация.
Роман «Колыбель для кошки» занимает важное место в творчестве Курта Воннегута, яркого представителя литературного течения «Чёрный юмор», сформировавшегося в американской литературе в 50-е годы ХХ века. Роман важен своеобразным символическим выражением различных проблем общественно-политической жизни. Название романа было взято из названия игры Колыбель для кошки. Интертексты, установленные в романе "Колыбель для кошки", вызывают в памяти события, происходившие в процессе написания романа «Последний день мира» в рамках творчества героя по имени Джон. Роман представляет собой пародию на оценку атомной бомбы как показателя развития, вызвавшего трагедию человечества, и ряда христианских лидеров, хранивших о ней молчание. Критика тех, кто с горьким смехом превращает науку и религию в причину бедствий, осуществляется через теорию К.Воннегута, именуемую бокононизмом.
Keywords: Kurt Vonnegut, novel, "Cat's Cradle ", San Lorenzo, parody
Ключевые слова: Курт Воннегут, роман, "Колыбель для кошки ", Сан-Лоренцо, пародия
Kurt Vonnegut, the classic writer of the 20th century American counterculture, was the author of plays, essays and other short works, but he was more famous for his novels, especially in the 1960s and 70s. In the writer's novels, such as "Cat's Cradle" (1963), full of sharp criticism, irony and parody, has an important place. "Even the title of the novel is a clear example of the importance of acting for Vonnegut. Cat's Cradle is a children's game where the player twists a string between their fingers, causing them to create different patterns" [7].
Political parody is in the foreground in the novel. "In the 20th century, parody was elevated to the central and most representative artistic device, a catalyst for artistic creativity and innovation" [9].
The choice of this name for the novel is not accidental, there is a match between the nature of the game and the issues the writer is aiming for. "Cat's Cradle is played with a circle of string wrapped around the player's fingers. The player or players manipulate the string by looping, changing, and arranging it to create shapes. A number of players pass the string back and forth between their hands." [8].
The work satirically describes the catastrophes of political crimes committed by people with the help of
science in the person of the scientist who received the Nobel Prize for developing the atomic bomb that America dropped on Hiroshima. On the day of the first test of the bomb, the actions of the scientist who showed his little son the game "Cat's Cradle" are interesting. In his childhood memories about his father, his son writes: "He must have been very surprised when I made a form called "cat game" from that piece of string, maybe he remembered his childhood. He suddenly left his study and did something he had never done before, he started to play with me [5, p. 27-28]. Here, the writer focuses on an important point: "Then he sang. "My cat, swing on the branch of the tree until the wind makes the cradle sway. A branch breaks, the cradle falls, the cradle and the cat fall to the ground" [5, p. 28]. The cradle symbolizes the next generation. The writer's main target of criticism is the scientist who boasts of the dangerous chemical weapon he has developed puts the world and humanity in front of tragedy with "real games" [5, p. 27].
The game "Cat's Cradle" is also a successful choice of the writer who wants to show that everything is shrouded in falsehood. In a paragraph he noted: "Nothing in this book is true. "Living with Foma (harmless lies) will make you brave, noble, healthy and
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happy," said K. Vonnegut, presenting a powerful parody by contrasting the harmless laws of the Boko-nonism religion he invented with the political games of the world, symbolized by the game "Cat's Cradle". It is also possible to understand this from the author's words presented near the end of the work: "One of the oldest games in the world is cat's cradle... For hundreds of thousands of years, adults have been dangling pieces of string intertwined in front of the eyes of children... What you call a cat's cradle is a bunch of lines between two hands. Children just keep looking at those lines... There is neither a cat nor a cradle" [5, p. 176].
The period when the novel was written coincided with a period when the cold war was intensifying in the political world. "After the Second World War, the capitalist countries wanted to destroy the newly created structure by all means. The USSR, on the other hand, intended to spread socialism around the world. It was these wishes of the parties that led to the start of the Cold War between them" [1, p. 176-179]. From this point of view, the novel is an important example of an ironic attitude to political, military, economic, social issues, different aspects of using the possibilities of technical civilization.
It is known that the tragic killing of 250,000 people as a result of the nuclear weapons first produced in the United States based on the Manhattan Project and the bombs dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, and Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, caused serious revolutions in literature as well as in political life. A year before the publication of the novel "Cat's Cradle", the Cuban Missile Crisis was taking place in political life. "In the early 1960s, for the first time, it was possible to attack both countries with the help of intercontinental ballistic missiles installed on their territory" [6]. The placement of US ballistic weapons in Italy and Turkey, and Soviet missiles in Cuba created great tension in 1962 and the threat of a nuclear war. This period is also marked by the impending conflict in Vietnam.
While writing the novel, K. Vonnegut felt the influence of these two important historical-political and military conflicts. It is no coincidence that the island of San Lorenzo, described by the writer in the work, is located on the shores of the Caribbean Sea and reminds us of Cuba.
Thinking of Son-Lorenzo as a utopian place was also related to the mentioned aspects. In the literature of the 20th century, utopia was mostly used to express the disappointment arising from historical and political conditions and as a literary method set against real countries. As if in response to the events, dystopias and satirical utopias turned into typical utopian novels of this century [3, p. 1].
As some points have been mentioned, sharp satire, irony, and sometimes even warnings are reflected in utopias and dystopias. "Utopias are often satirical, while satire is directed at the society in which the writer currently lives... Dystopias are more like dire warnings, dark shadows cast by the present into the future rather than satire [...]. If we don't pull our socks up, this is what will happen to us" [4, p. 94].
As utopian as the novel sounds, San Lorenzo is not independent, but actually under American rule. As a
poor country with limited resources, it depends on the speculation of American investors and the visits of tourists. This utopian experience is based on the equality of people, reflecting the founding myth of America. It can even be assumed that this imaginary island is a part of the United States during the Cold War, with its policy of "putting good against evil" [5, p. 40], and postpones the final solution through the medium of a fairy tale. "The random placement of Vonnegut's island shows us the exterior of a typical Latin American country with all its clichés - a dictator and his children, a commodity economy, an urban nation, and a wealthy American's view of 'San Lorenzo.' Those who are only interested in three things: fishing, adultery and boko-nonism" [3, p. 9]. The writer describes the island as follows: "The Republic of San Lorenzo was written on the board... A healthy, prosperous, progressive, freedom-loving and beautiful country, a country that is interesting to both American investors and tourists" [5, p. 93]. People with the same karass consider it a chance to work in the Republic of San Lorenzo when they go to the island by plane. But here, too, it is observed with parody: "Will things get better in San Lorenzo?
It will get better, of course. The people here are so poor, ignorant and cowardly that their heads work" [5, p. 102]. The writer evaluates the Republic of San Lorenzo, which he chose as a utopian place, as America's closest friend until now, and writes: "America is misunderstood in many places, dear Ambassador, but not here" [5, p. 153]. These words are interesting in terms of attitude towards the world trend about America. The parodic attitude towards the meaning of the name of the holiday also attracts attention in the section where the arrival of the writers and other travelers to San Lorenzo coincided with the holiday called "One Hundred Victims of Democracy" [5, p. 154] is described as a pleasant event.
K. Vonnegut sees in the novel "the heartbreaking necessity of lying about reality and the heartbreaking impossibility of lying about it" [5, p. 107]. In Structuring the Void (1992), Jerome Klinkovich explains that K. Vonnegut's anthropological research convinced him that reality was arbitrary and impermanent, because the basic facts of life can change by the circumstances of birth or the vagaries of the national economy or just after some time [2, p. 37]. The religion of Bokononism invented by the writer in the work is also aimed at this goal. "Bokononism in the novel is really a world where we have to fight against hope with hope. The changes in Vonnegut's views on life and death, hope and despair are indeed palpable. The game between Vonnegut's hopeful movement towards the light and the relentless and determined darkness shows the uniqueness of the art world" [3, p. 10].
One of the unique features of the novel is the strong sense of political parody. The original attitude to the mentioned historical events and the world political arena is one of the different aspects of the novel "Cat Nanny".
The first contradictions of the American-Soviet conflict are seen in the fake love adventures between the scientist's youngest son Newt and Ukrainian Zinka, a member of the dance group: "When little Zinka
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sought political asylum in the United States, it made headlines, and then they disappeared along with little Newt. A week later, little Zinka visited the Soviet embassy. He said that Americans are very materialistic. She wanted to return home" [5, p. 35]. One of the heroes who went to San Lorenzo hearing that in their conversations he was a "communist supporter" [5, p. 109] and that "they fired him because he was unsociable." His reasoning that it had nothing to do with communism" [5, p. 109] is an example of a parody of Soviet-American relations.
K. Vonnegut's political parody covers the whole world and very subtly: "... We talked about General Casting and Welding company, we talked about birth control pills with the Pope, we talked about Jews with Hitler... We talked about priests with sexual obsessions" [5, p. 38].
K. Vonnegut says that politicians turn science into a weapon of their wars: "Everything a scientist does, one way or another, eventually becomes a weapon. He said that he does not want to help the politicians'... wars any more. [5, p. 42]. In order to express the mood of humanity, which experienced a moral crisis after the use of the atomic bomb, the writer compares the speech of a scientist to a weapon: "If I had gone to university like this, I would not have been able to understand what he said. Moreover, what they say are things that will turn everything upside down, like an atomic bomb, etc. [5, p. 49]. In the person of Dr. Hoenikker, scientists remind the writer of horror: "In every question I asked, I implied, however indirectly, that the creators of the atomic bomb were complicit in a heinous crime." [5, p. 54]. The words of Dr. Hoenikker's daughter Angela about the book to be written about her father, "if you write the book, show my father as a holy man, because he really was" [5, p. 125] were also presented as an example of sarcasm. K. Vonnegut evaluates him as "the father of the bomb, the father of three children, the father of ice nine" [5, p. 126].
Political parody was also directed at the Nobel Prize in the person of the scientist who developed the atomic bomb. "They bought it with the money of the Nobel Prize. Two things were bought with that money; A house in Cape Cod, and that grave" [5, p. 79], the writer sharply sneered at equating the disaster of millions to a house and a tombstone: "Dynamite money," I said admiringly, thinking about the intensity of dynamite and how a tombstone would bring comfort to a poor house" [5, p. 79]. In order to show the stone heart of the scientist, the writer condemns him with the words "if the most beautiful woman in the world, his wife, died of lack of love and lack of understanding and that man did nothing..." [5, p. 81] and expresses the impossibility that someone who helped in the preparation of the atomic bomb is not guilty.
To show that the destructive power of weapons also causes a moral vacuum in the field of science, K. Vonnegut draws attention to the fact that young researchers are moving away from the field of science: "He was preparing to become a great researcher. Then they dropped a bomb on Hiroshima. The young man left work, pulled his head aside, and then came here and said he wanted to sculpt" [5, p. 85].
K. Vonnegut appeared as an indicator of technical development and does not accept any weapon aimed at the massacre of humanity and culture: "The San Lorenzo Cathedral, which was blown up by dynamiting in 1923, was considered one of the greatest wonders of the new world that came out of human hands" [5, p. 136].
The most successful discovery of K. Vonnegut, who wants to draw attention to the selfishness of US politics, is related to ice-nine. "The ice-nine was the last gift of Felix Hoeniker to humanity before he met his creator" [5, p. 65], the narrator said, "when it fell, it would become ice-cold and the world would come to an end" [5, p. 65]. It was used to drain the swamp in order to ensure the comfort of the suffering US army: "He made a piece of ice-nine. Blue-white color. Melting degree - 45.7" [5, p. 66].
One of K. Vonnegut's interesting thoughts about America's political image in the world and American egoism in the novel is the chapter "Why Americans are hated". The writer writes: "The worst kind of treason," said Minton, "is to say that Americans are not loved wherever they go, whatever they do... Americans are hated in many places, it's true. People are generally hated in many places. Claire wrote in her letter that Americans suffer the natural punishment of being human by inciting hatred, and they should not hope to escape this punishment. But the Commission for Loyalty to the Motherland was not interested in this.
Claire and I once believed that Americans were unlovable" [5, p. 111]. As it is clear from the example, the writer exposes and satirizes some of the common thoughts about Americans in the face of their citizens.
Although K. Vonnegut parodies politics, religion, which leads to human disasters, in the novel "he also says something that is definitely true" [5, p. 69]. For this, the writer focuses on the conversation between Dr. Hoeniker and Mrs. Faust. Mrs. Faust, whom John asked about her memories of the scientist, tells the following incident: "We were involved in a lawsuit once. He claimed that I could not say anything that was absolutely true. I told him "God is love".
- What did he say?
- He said "What is God? What is love?". "But "God is really love," Mrs. Faust replied, let Dr. Hoeniker say whatever he wants" [5, p. 69].
As it can be seen, K. Vonnegut presented a number of important issues in the novel "Cat's Cradle" and criticized them by means of irony and parody. Although the tendency of the writer is often hidden behind inter-texts, K. Vonnegut's humanist thoughts are clearly felt in the logically structured work.
References:
1. Geoffrey Jones. The Cambridge History of Capitalism: Volume 2, The Spread of Capitalism: From 1848 to the Present.
2. Klinkowitz Jerome. Structuring the Void: The Struggle for Subject in Contemporary American Fiction. - Durham: Duke UP, - 1992.
3. Entezam Mahtab. Abbasi Pyeaam. Utopia in Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle. International Letters of Social and Humanistic Sciences. 2015 SciPress Ltd.. -Switzerland, Vol. 42, - pp 1-11.
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4. Vonnegut Kurt. Cat's Cradle. - New York, Avon, - 1973.
5. Wolfgang Bayer. Geheimoperation Fursten-berg. www.spiegel.de. Der Spiegel. (22 .03.2021).
6. http://courses.washington.edu/freudlit/Morris %20Cat's%20Cradle.htm#:~:text=In%20the%20early
%20sixties%2C%20Kurt,lies%2C%20absurdity%2C %20and%20irony (04.08.2022).
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