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Chapter 60
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
At Monzano airport, the passengers convert their American money into local currency, called “Corporals.” John notices wanted posters for Bokonon, and warning that any practitioners of the religion will be killed on “the hook.”
There is a subtle joke at play here. The Corporal currency unit is named after McCabe, who himself was a corporal in the U.S. army. But the name is most likely based on cartoonist Norman McCabe, who created a Looney Tunes propaganda film (“Tokio Jokio”) mocking the Japanese in 1943 (and was credited as Corporal McCabe). The wanted posters and warnings about Bokonon are just for show.
Themes
