Cat's Cradle/ Postmodernism

“Postmodernism cultural forms reflect the dislocation and fragmentation of language communities- splintered into small groups- each speaking a “curious private language of its own, each profession developing its private code or dialect and finally each individual coming to be a linguistic island, separated from everyone else” (PCS 14) (Postmodernism For Beginners 37). People are isolated in small distinct discourses and then eventually these discourses branch out even farther, so people have their own individual opinion just to themselves. People become alienated from their own loved ones. In Cat’s Cradle, Newton Hoeniker writes that when his father won the Nobel Prize his, “Mother cooked a big breakfast. And then when she cleared off the table, she found a quarter and a dime and three pennies by Father’s coffee cup. He’d tipped her” (14). Newton’s father, Dr. Hoeniker, views his wife as a mere waitress who is not really a part of his life. He does not think that she made him breakfast because she loves and is proud of him but because she is obligated to as part of her job. His relationship to his wife is one of a business transaction, where she takes care of him and he brings home the bacon. He feels no love for her. Dr. Hoeniker’s only relationship is with science.
Cat’s Cradle exemplifies the postmodern concept of detachment from family. Dr. Hoeniker fills the void in his life with achieving his goals in science, which become his sole purpose in life. He does not cherish his family because that would distract him from attaining his dreams. His wife and kids are just daily encounters he has like tipping a waitress at a local diner. Dr. Hoeniker is the sole member of his own discourse adhering to his own beliefs that are legitimate to him.