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Chapter 38
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
John reads another essay that he suspects is ghost-written but is purportedly by Frank. In this, Frank outlines how he was stranded on a raft in the Caribbean Sea, fearing he was close to death. He looked at the sky, willing to meet his “Maker,” but instead saw the mountains of San Lorenzo. He wondered if this was “Fata Morgana,” but it was the peak of Mount McCabe. Frank alighted on San Lorenzo. John points out, from his present-day vantage point, that “the essay didn’t say so, but the son of a bitch had a piece of ice-nine with him.”
Like Bokonon and John, Frank’s description of his arrival on San Lorenzo ties in with the idea of fate bringing people onto its shores. This fate is rendered absurd by the books ending. “Fata Morgana” is a kind of mirage, suggesting the illusory nature of the claims about San Lorenzo. John’s interjection reminds the reader that the end—of both the novel and the world—is coming.
Themes
