Hmmm...I don't really know what I wanna talk about this week. Nothing is really interesting to me right now. I'm gonna start talking about some stuff in Cat's Cradle I guess and see if I can't get any new ideas flowing.
Okay, so I find the tombstones of the Hoenikker parents to be quite interesting. The first question on one of the handouts we got this week talked about it and I wish we would have gotten through the questions because they're interesting. Anyway, I first think that it was interesting when John asked where the Hoenikker plot was the cemetery custodian simply told him "Can't miss it. It's got the biggest marker in the place." Now, when John shows up at the plot he is expecting to see Felix Hoenikker's grave. But what he actually finds is Angela Hoenikker's grave. All the children had written something on the stone or marked it in some way. It showed and love and that she was not forgotten even though she was dead. The tombstone was "..alabaster phallus twenty feet high and three feet thick." This is a huge memorial and seems suitable for such an amazing scientist. But it's not Felix's. How much bigger could his be? When John found Dr. Hoenikker's grave was just "..a marble cube forty centimeters on each side. 'Father,' it said." Shockingly Felix's tombstone was really small and the only thing it said on it was father. The narrator later find out that it was in his will that this be his memorial. But why? Why would he want something so small? Especially when his wife had something so big. Is this suggesting something? Was Angela more than just a wife? Maybe she had a part in everything Felix did. Maybe she did something even bigger and more important.
We don't really know much about Angela right now so I'm interested in finding out more and hopefully figuring this out. It's very interesting to me and I'm pretty sure that it has a meaning and it isn't just some stupid detail. If it was there wouldn't be two chapters on it.
Peace.
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I'm reading Cat's Cradle for fun right now, and I too am curious about the graves. Well, mostly Emily's. Anyways a quick little Google search led me to your blog.
ReplyDeleteYou think a twenty-foot monument for Felix is reasonable? I agree. But why the phallus? When it is said that the grave belongs to Emily, a thought comes to mind, and I hope I'm not being to critical with this: is Emily being called a whore? I don't know much about her yet; I'm only on section 36.
By the way, I think you mixed up Emily and Angela.
Enjoy the book!
- Alex
Sabre buddy!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I was really curious about the Hoenikkers' graves as well. Although, I think I have a different viewpoint than you on this matter. I think what Vonnegut was trying to convey in this case is that "less is more." If Felix had had an enormous monument constructed in his honor, I think it would have killed the mystery of him that Jonah was trying to uncover. Even though he accomplished great things in his lifetime, other people have too, and I don't think a person needs to have an enormous phallus above them to be remembered. He would always have been remembered anyway, through history books, and frankly, since his atomic bomb killed thousands and thousands of people, I don't think he deserves to be remembered in a good light.
hey ariel!
ReplyDeleteI too find it interesting how Felix's tombstone was so big. And I like how you brought up that she might have been a part of Felix's experiments. Maybe he felt so guilty about creating something that kiled so many people, that he didn't deserve to have a huge monument. And maybe he want't the focus to be more on his wife's tombstone to overshadow his own? Both Felix and Emily are interesting characters, and I'm looking foward to finding out more about them. Thanks for the insight!