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Chapter 15
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Cat’s Cradle, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Science and Morality
Religion
Governance, Politics, and Nationhood
Absurdity and Meaninglessness
Summary
Analysis
Now inside the building, Miss Pefko turns on the power for the educational exhibits in the Lab, setting flasks bubbling and lights twinkling. She describes it as “magic”; Dr. Breed takes offense at her use of that “medieval” word. The exhibits, he says, are the “exact opposite of magic.”
Miss Pefko expresses wonderment at the exhibits. Dr. Breed takes exception because, to him, wonderment is directly contradictory to the aims of science—to explain, to eliminate mystery. His use of the word “medieval” is telling, betraying his view that human history is an upward trajectory set in motion by scientific progress.
Themes
