Cat's Cradle

"No damn cat, and no damn cradle."

             The aspect of Cat’s Cradle that amazed me the most was the insanely weird characters throughout the entire 287 pages. In my opinion, the strangest characters in Cat’s Cradle are the three men of the Hoenikker family. Felix, Newt, and Frank are the most screwed-up characters I have ever read about. A well known fact about families is that they are all dysfunctional; any family that claims to be normal is more than likely lying. This statement not only rings true for the Hoenikker family, but they raise the dysfunction to a sick level.

            Dr. Felix Hoenikker, one of the fathers of the atomic bomb, is celebrated in society as a caring hero and a genius. Once he passed, his office at work was roped off and a golden plaque reveals these words, “IN THIS ROOM, DR. FELIX HOENIKKER, NOBEL LAUREATE IN PHYSICS, SPENT THE LAST TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS OF HIS LIFE. ‘WHERE HE WAS, THERE WAS THE FRONTIER OF KNOWLEDGE.’ THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS ONE MAN IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND IS INCALCULABLE.” (55-56) Felix may go down in history as an astounding scientist, but he certainly will not be known for his great parenting. As a genius, one expects him to be socially awkward, but Felix allowed that awkwardness to rule the relationships with his children. Felix never played any games with his children, except for one with Newt. “Making that cat’s cradle was the closest I ever saw my father come to playing what anybody else would call a game.” (11) Holding a piece of string in his son’s face was the only bonding time Felix ever spent with Newt.

            I think the lack of a relationship with his father affected Newt, but the fact that he can never live up to his father really messed up his personality. On top of everything else negatively influencing Newt, he happened to be born a midget. Newt is sweet, polite, and pleasant, but is always putting himself down. “Everybody is in class but me. I’m a very privileged character. I don’t have to go to class any more. I was flunked out last week. I was a pre-med. They were right to flunk me out. I would have made a lousy doctor.” (13) At least Newt talks and tries to be social, which is more than his brother ever did.

He may be a midget, but at least he aint a pissant!

            Frank is the queerest child from the Hoenikker family. He barely ever spoke to anyone in high school, let alone his own family. Frank’s hobbies involved forcing bugs to fight, hiding under bushes while reading dirty books, and building models of everything from planes to houses to boats and more. His fellow high school peers called him Secret Agent X-9 because he always left to go somewhere else. Frank never stuck around anyone. The best description I could find of Frank was by a bartender who happened to go to high school with him. “He was just one of those kids who made model airplanes and jerked off all the time.” (23)

Glad I didn't put up a picture of a boy jerking off?

            I furiously wonder if under different circumstances these men would have lived happier lives. Dr. Felix was an identical twin, and therefore probably felt the need to outshine his brother in order to be noticed, but because Felix became the man he did, he played a serious role in the destruction of his own children’s characters. I believe that if Felix were more involved with his children and if his wife, Emily, was still alive, that Newt and Frank would have turned out to be better men; but there is no way to tell for sure. I only feel sorry for them.

What could have been.