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
John’s taxi driver asks if he can take a detour first to his own mother’s grave and then to the tombstone salesroom nearby. John agrees peevishly. The owner of the salesroom is Marvin Breed, brother to Dr. Breed.
The taxi driver’s request functions as a gentle reminder of grief. The unspoken presence of the dead hints at the indiscriminate way in which weapons like the atom bomb kill people.