Chapter 29: Gone, but Not Forgotten to Chapter 54: Communists, Nazis, Royalists...
Pages 61- 119
This section delves further into the story of the Hoenikkers while revealing more of Jonah's character and introducing some more people and ideas, that somehow all come together in the genius mind of Kurt Vonnegut. I have noticed that he makes a "cat's cradle" with his characters and the stories, overlapping, intertwining, and crossing over in sections while still having the central background and constant "thread" of being the story of Jonah and his search for information on Dr. Hoenikker. We see Jonah visit the cemetery, a tombstone establishment, Jack's Hobby Shop, back to New York, and the Republic of San Lorenzo, all the while getting deeper into the story and the satire Vonnegut creates about humanity at this time.
My thoughts...
The sticky noting continues as I try and notice and cover everything of importance, and it is madness. There is also the issue of me getting too interested in the story and completely forgetting to mark and keep an eye out, but I still have a massive amount of topics to cover and continue on from the first post.
The Bokononists...again
Bokononism, once again, makes many appearances throughout this section. The first instance is when he agrees to make a detour with the cab driver to the tombstone salesroom across from the cemetery, peevishly at the time. He reflects back on this moment with his new Bokononist ideals and how "'Peculiar travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God"' (Vonnegut 63). This idea is further demonstrated as he finds a lost, and unpaid for, family heirloom from one hundred years before, later revealed as being Jonah's vin-dit, initial shove in the way of Bokononism. Without venturing inside, Jonah would have never noticed this connection to the town of Ilium.
When it is revealed that the money for Emily Hoenikker's tombstone had come from the Nobel Prize "dynamite money" Jonah sees the complexities in the way the world works as the Bokononist idea of being "Busy, busy, busy...how complicated and unpredictable the machinery of life really is" (Vonnegut 66). This example demonstrates not just this specific story line with the prize money and the tomb, but the novel as a whole. Every action, story, person, is intertwined in such unpredictable complexity that reader is surprised by each of the connections, as with his family name being on the stone angel.
Another idea of Bokonon is that of a durpass. A durpass is a karass, or the group of people that are intertwined in the fulfillment of their fate, composed of just two people. It is the Bokononist form of true love. This is seen by Jonah in the Mintons, and he claims their love and durpass can never be invaded.
The concept of a fake karass is also unvealed, a granfalloon, seen as meaningless in the scheme of fate and Gods plan. Examples are given of these granfalloons, the political parties, cultures, nations companies. When describing this idea, Bokonon sings, "If you wish to study a granfalloon,/ Just remove the skin of a toy ballon" (Vonnegut 92). By "removing" the skin from a balloon we get nothingness because that is what they are, nothing.
The history of Bokonon and how Jonah came to know of him was threw a "sort of scholarly" book about San Lorenzo, containing a paraphrase of the quote "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's" to "Pay no attention to Caesar. Caesar doesn't have the slightest idea what's really going on" (Vonnegut 101). This idea was "welcomed" in Jonah's mind, that no one had a real notion of what was really happening.
The first Bokonist poem Jonah ever read was "'Papa' Monzano, he's so very bad,/ But without bad 'Papa' I would be so sad;/ Because without 'Papa's' badness,/ Tell me, if you would,/ How could wicked old Bokonon/ Ever, ever look so good?" (Vonnegut 102-103). This poem is reflective of the idea that good and bad is subjective and comparitive, Bokonon looking better in comparison to the horrible dictator 'Papa'.
The biography of Bokonon is also provided, born in 1891 a subject of British rule on Tobago island. Born to a wealthy family, from Blackbeard's treasure, with 5 older siblings and educated in Episcopal schools. He set sail alone in 1911 for London to attend the London School of Economics, but enlisted in the army for WWI and ran through many unfortunate maritime adventures on his return trip back to Tobago. He spent many years drifting from place to place on the current, before being wrecked completely naked on San Lorenzo. Upon this wreck, he reports "A fish pitched up/ By the angry sea,/ I gasped on land,/ And I became me" (Vonnegut 107). The idea that Bokonon came to be on San Lorenzo washed clean by the ocean and completely naked, came to him as a type of rebirth. "Be like a baby,/ The bible say,/ So I stay like a baby/ To this very day" (Vonnegut 107-108). He maintains his rebirth and new start on the island of San Lorenzo and became a new man.
Another idea of Bokonon is that of a durpass. A durpass is a karass, or the group of people that are intertwined in the fulfillment of their fate, composed of just two people. It is the Bokononist form of true love. This is seen by Jonah in the Mintons, and he claims their love and durpass can never be invaded.
The concept of a fake karass is also unvealed, a granfalloon, seen as meaningless in the scheme of fate and Gods plan. Examples are given of these granfalloons, the political parties, cultures, nations companies. When describing this idea, Bokonon sings, "If you wish to study a granfalloon,/ Just remove the skin of a toy ballon" (Vonnegut 92). By "removing" the skin from a balloon we get nothingness because that is what they are, nothing.
The history of Bokonon and how Jonah came to know of him was threw a "sort of scholarly" book about San Lorenzo, containing a paraphrase of the quote "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's" to "Pay no attention to Caesar. Caesar doesn't have the slightest idea what's really going on" (Vonnegut 101). This idea was "welcomed" in Jonah's mind, that no one had a real notion of what was really happening.
The first Bokonist poem Jonah ever read was "'Papa' Monzano, he's so very bad,/ But without bad 'Papa' I would be so sad;/ Because without 'Papa's' badness,/ Tell me, if you would,/ How could wicked old Bokonon/ Ever, ever look so good?" (Vonnegut 102-103). This poem is reflective of the idea that good and bad is subjective and comparitive, Bokonon looking better in comparison to the horrible dictator 'Papa'.
The biography of Bokonon is also provided, born in 1891 a subject of British rule on Tobago island. Born to a wealthy family, from Blackbeard's treasure, with 5 older siblings and educated in Episcopal schools. He set sail alone in 1911 for London to attend the London School of Economics, but enlisted in the army for WWI and ran through many unfortunate maritime adventures on his return trip back to Tobago. He spent many years drifting from place to place on the current, before being wrecked completely naked on San Lorenzo. Upon this wreck, he reports "A fish pitched up/ By the angry sea,/ I gasped on land,/ And I became me" (Vonnegut 107). The idea that Bokonon came to be on San Lorenzo washed clean by the ocean and completely naked, came to him as a type of rebirth. "Be like a baby,/ The bible say,/ So I stay like a baby/ To this very day" (Vonnegut 107-108). He maintains his rebirth and new start on the island of San Lorenzo and became a new man.
The Family
We learned some about the family in the first section but it was limited, mostly the late Felix Hoenikker and his son Newt, with a great many other characters thrown in. In this section, we meet much more of the family, including the late Emily, Angela, and Frank.
Franklin
Franklin Hoenikker: the Modern Major General. I could not for the life of me figure out where I had heard that but I found it! ...Anyhow, this is how Franklin is introduced as being alive, working next to the dictator Miguel "Papa" Monzano on the island of San Lorenzo. | |
Prior to this point where he is seen to be alive, he was nonviolent and his only true care was miniatures. When Jonah visits Jack's Hobby Shop, where Frank use to work, he is shown this side of him. Jack shows Jonah an exquisitely detailed miniature town, complete with working doorknobs, all created by Frank. Jack regards Frank as a "genius" and, as believing he was killed in Florida, mourns for him and the great loss of talent for the world.
Emily (Mother)
"Pretty?...when I see my first lady angel, if God ever sees fit to show me one, it'll be her wings and not her face that'll make my mouth fall open. I've already seen the prettiest face that ever could be. There wasn't a man in Ilium County who wasn't in love with her, secret or otherwise" (Vonnegut 67). Emily was sought after by all in her community, yet she chose Felix, and eccentric man who cared for no one. I'm interested why she made this choice as she was never loved by this man, that we have seen.
Felix (Father)
Marvin Breed provides us with the most insightful representation of Felix's character, saying "I suppose it's high treason and ungrateful and ignorant and anti-intellectual to call a dead man as famous as Felix Hoenikker a son of a bitch. I know all about how harmless and gentle and dreamy he was suppose to be, how he'd never hurt a fly, how he didn't care about money and power and fancy clothes and automobiles and things, how he wasn't like the rest of us, how he was so innocent he was practically a Jesus....But...But...but how the hell innocent is a man who helps make a thing like an atomic bomb?" (Vonnegut 67-68). He shows not only what he is pressured by society to think, but also what he truly thinks are the flaws of the man. Breed knows how he should be swayed but he recognizes his true feelings on Hoenikker's innocence and his goodness.
Breed also provides further insight into Felix Hoenikker's self, remarking, "Sometimes I wonder if he wasn't born dead. I never met a man who was less interested in the living. Sometimes I think that's the trouble with the world: too many people in high places who are stone-cold dead" (Vonnegut 68). Hoenikker has no care for his fellow man, no compassion at all for humanity, making him essentially dead. It is these people that are the plagues of society when placed into power. They care not for their fellow man
Breed also provides further insight into Felix Hoenikker's self, remarking, "Sometimes I wonder if he wasn't born dead. I never met a man who was less interested in the living. Sometimes I think that's the trouble with the world: too many people in high places who are stone-cold dead" (Vonnegut 68). Hoenikker has no care for his fellow man, no compassion at all for humanity, making him essentially dead. It is these people that are the plagues of society when placed into power. They care not for their fellow man
Angela
"...in the same miserable family, there's that great big, gawky girl, over six feet tall... She didn't have any friends...Every so often at night she'd lock herself in her room and she'd play records, and she'd play along with the records on her clarinet" (Vonnegut 71). This passage was extremely indicative of Angela's character, of her loneliness and her complete isolation from her peers due to her family situation. She was the primary caregiver who never experienced anything outside her home and taking care of her family.
Her family was everything to her. She shows Jonah her photo album of those who mean everything to her. Upon seeing these, her thinks "What she had trapped in plexiglass, what she had trapped like fossil beetles in amber, were the images of a larger part of our karass" (Vonnegut 114). She trapped her memories and loved ones so she could never lose them, so she would always have something to take care of, even if its only a photo.
I found Angela's situation with her husband to be a bit bizarre and I am skeptical about her husband's true intentions. She tells of how her father had just died and a man who didn't even know she was alive came to her home to comfort her. "Two weeks later,... [they] were married" (Vonnegut 117). I feel like that is a bit rushed, but then again no one ever connected to her so she was extremely lonely. Regardless of his intentions, he filled the void in her life.
Her family was everything to her. She shows Jonah her photo album of those who mean everything to her. Upon seeing these, her thinks "What she had trapped in plexiglass, what she had trapped like fossil beetles in amber, were the images of a larger part of our karass" (Vonnegut 114). She trapped her memories and loved ones so she could never lose them, so she would always have something to take care of, even if its only a photo.
I found Angela's situation with her husband to be a bit bizarre and I am skeptical about her husband's true intentions. She tells of how her father had just died and a man who didn't even know she was alive came to her home to comfort her. "Two weeks later,... [they] were married" (Vonnegut 117). I feel like that is a bit rushed, but then again no one ever connected to her so she was extremely lonely. Regardless of his intentions, he filled the void in her life.
The Tombs
Apologies, this may overlap with some of the information in mothers? but it is important in both regardless. The chapters 29, Gone But Not Forgotten, and 30, Only Sleeping, discuss the physicality of the tombstones marking Felix and Emily Hoenikker's graves. The first tomb stone approached is expected to be that of Felix by both the reader and Jonah, it was said to be hard to miss ,"The marker was an alabaster phallus twenty feet high and three feet thick" (Vonnegut 61). This seems like a, somewhat reasonable monument for the burial site of a scientific genius, Jonah even exclaiming, "'By God... how's that for a suitable memorial to a father of the atomic bomb?'"(Vonnegut 61). Quite quickly after this point it is, literally, revealed that this, in fact, the mothers grave. If the grandeur of size was not enough, inscribed upon this tomb stone are two poems, written by each of her children, and the cast of baby Newt's handprint.
These poems in combination with the size of the monument show the overwhelming amount of love the children had for their mother. Further along in the story, it is told that this tombstone was the product of the money gotten from the Nobel Prize, it is also mentioned that Nobel created dynamite. Sidenote: Connection between Nobel and Felix Hoenikker as they both are reverred for creating that which destroys. (http://inventors.about.com/od/dstartinventions/a/Alfred_Nobel.htm if interested) The fact that the money for such a grand monument for their mother was given to them by their father from his prize money either shows his complete lack of care for materialistic things, such as money, or his deep, hidden love for his wife. I will just say, I doubt it is the latter.
In contrast, the father's tomb is the opposite end of the spectrum. While Emily was placed beneath a monument of enormous size and importance, Felix is buried beneath " a marble cube forty centimeters on each side" (Vonnegut 62). While it is specifically stated that this is what he requested in his will, the juxtaposition of such differences highlights the care they had for their mother and the lack of care, generally speaking, they felt for their father, as he never returned it.
In contrast, the father's tomb is the opposite end of the spectrum. While Emily was placed beneath a monument of enormous size and importance, Felix is buried beneath " a marble cube forty centimeters on each side" (Vonnegut 62). While it is specifically stated that this is what he requested in his will, the juxtaposition of such differences highlights the care they had for their mother and the lack of care, generally speaking, they felt for their father, as he never returned it.
The Mystery of the Wackadoo Friend
Ok, this part really threw me for a loop. In chapter 36, Meow, Jonah tells us of how he had lent out his apartment in New York City to Sherman Krebbs. "Krebbs was no close friend [of his]...he presented himself as National Chairman of Poets and Painters for Immediate Nuclear War" (Vonnegut 77). Now this statement is weird enough in itself, who wants nuclear war, especially immediately? The weirdness does not stop there. Jonah tells of his return to the apartment and what he found. The apartment was wrecked by a "nihilistic debauch" (Vonnegut 77), had a long distance call bill of three hundred dollars, set the couch on fire in not one, but FIVE places, killed his cat and tree, and ripped the door to his medicine cabinet clear off. Not only was the place destroyed, but he had also written in poop the following poem:
I have a kitchen.
But it is not a complete kitchen.
I will not be truly gay
Until I have a
Dispose-all.
Along with this eccentric poem came a message over Jonah's bed that said"'No, no, no, said Chicken-licken'" (Vonnegut 78) and a sign around his dead cats neck saying "Meow".
What is gathered from this by Jonah is that nihilism is not for him, that there is meaning and purpose in life. It is not that I do not understand the point of the anecdote about the apartment, but why does Vonnegut include such immense selection of detail about the destruction? The answer is probably just Vonnegut's unique style, but I found it interesting nonetheless.
I have a kitchen.
But it is not a complete kitchen.
I will not be truly gay
Until I have a
Dispose-all.
Along with this eccentric poem came a message over Jonah's bed that said"'No, no, no, said Chicken-licken'" (Vonnegut 78) and a sign around his dead cats neck saying "Meow".
What is gathered from this by Jonah is that nihilism is not for him, that there is meaning and purpose in life. It is not that I do not understand the point of the anecdote about the apartment, but why does Vonnegut include such immense selection of detail about the destruction? The answer is probably just Vonnegut's unique style, but I found it interesting nonetheless.
The Ice Nine...again
We learned of the hypothetical and, as it turns out, very real ice-nine, dreamt up and created by Felix Hoenikker. Obviously, something is to happen with this, for it is brought up repetitively throughout the story in a resentful tone by Joanh. When telling of Frank washing ashore of San Lorenzo, he says "the son of a bitch had a piece of ice-nine with him-- in a thermos jug" (Vonnegut 83). The hostility is clearly depicted in this situation as he calls him a son of a bitch. When speaking of the other siblings on the plane, Jonah reacts similarly, saying "The little son of a bitch had a crystal of ice-nine in a thermos bottle in his luggage, and so did his miserable sister, while under us was God's own amount of water, the Caribbean Sea" (Vonnegut 111). By calling them both sons of bitches and miserable the negative attitude held by Jonah on their secret ownership of this isotope is palpable.
Along with the negativity that Jonah harbors toward the Hoenikker children, it is also told of how they split up the ice nine the Christmas eve that their father died. It is not clear whether they had anything to do with his death because of this, but I doubt it.
Along with the negativity that Jonah harbors toward the Hoenikker children, it is also told of how they split up the ice nine the Christmas eve that their father died. It is not clear whether they had anything to do with his death because of this, but I doubt it.
Americans
Whilst aboard the plane to San Lorenzo, Jonah speaks to two very different couples. The second pair met, the Crosbys, criticize the work of Horlick Minton, husband of Clair, who they claim to be a communist sympathizer and believed he was fired from the State Department of being so. The Mintons tell a different tale of how he had gotten fired because his wife had written an article to the New York Times from their post in Pakistan. In it, she said, "'how Americans couldn't imagine what it was like to be something else, to be something else and proud of it'" (Vonnegut 97). This idea is representative of Vonnegut's caricature of the American people and government, how Americans cannot understand what it is to not be American, to have a different culture and values to be proud of and defend.
While this may have been the message she was trying to convey with the letter, one statement in particular made the government question the couples loyalties. She had said "'Americans... are forever searching for love in forms it never takes, in places it can never be. It must have something to do with the vanished frontier"' (Vonnegut 97). This was an insult to the people and the government, to unmask the fact that Americans are not revered amongst all populations of the world. Minton discusses how they are not hated for being American, but rather for being human and being different and that his wife's only point was to "point that American foreign policy should recognize hate rather than imagine love" (Vonnegut 98). The true issue had with this article was not with what it was suggesting in terms of policy, but rather the way it stated and unmasked the truths of how the world truly felt about the nation in a time after so much turmoil.
While this may have been the message she was trying to convey with the letter, one statement in particular made the government question the couples loyalties. She had said "'Americans... are forever searching for love in forms it never takes, in places it can never be. It must have something to do with the vanished frontier"' (Vonnegut 97). This was an insult to the people and the government, to unmask the fact that Americans are not revered amongst all populations of the world. Minton discusses how they are not hated for being American, but rather for being human and being different and that his wife's only point was to "point that American foreign policy should recognize hate rather than imagine love" (Vonnegut 98). The true issue had with this article was not with what it was suggesting in terms of policy, but rather the way it stated and unmasked the truths of how the world truly felt about the nation in a time after so much turmoil.
Quotes I like:
"'It's a small world,' I observed. 'When you put it in a cemetery it is'" (Vonnegut 64).
"There is a legend...that the golden boat will sail again when the end of the world is near" (Vonnegut 109). I just think this may be foreshadowing about how ice nine may end the world and that the boat will sail at this point.
"There is a legend...that the golden boat will sail again when the end of the world is near" (Vonnegut 109). I just think this may be foreshadowing about how ice nine may end the world and that the boat will sail at this point.