Blog Assignment 2

"He gave so much, and they gave him so little." -Angela pg. 177

In this passage Angela starts to drink heavily and then begins to describe to Jonah, Newt, and Julian Castle about the lack of income her father, Dr. Hoenikker, earned. He received a forty-five-dollar bonus for every patient and a twenty-eight thousand dollar salary. For Dr. Hoenikker's generation, that amount of money is a very large income, but Angela thought her father deserved a lot more. She also explained how it was fair that Dr. Breed made ten thousand dollars more.

Earlier in the book, Vonnegut described how Angela Hoenikker devoted her entire life around the well being of her father. Because her father didn't take care of himself, she was there making sure his jacket was on and he was always fed. Now that he had died, Angela is still upset that Dr. Hoenikker didn't get paid well enough for the work he did. In my opinion, Dr. Hoenikker committed so much of his life to science that he wouldn't worry about anything else except pursuing pure research.

The Hoenikker family was described to never being a closely knit family, but Angela was the one who tried to bring them all together. She may have believed her father deserved more money because she put in so much time taking care of her father. Knowing that he is a very busy scientist, she committed to being there for him so he could put all his time into his work. She was looking out for her whole family and wanted the best for them, and she would put their worries always ahead of hers.

Kurt Vonnegut's description of Angela during the entire Cat's Cradle leads me to believe that she took the role of mother after her mother died. The family was left helpless and she stepped in and did what she believed was the right thing to do. One example in the book that I saw Angela playing the motherly role was when Newt had black paint on his hand. She told Newt "You've got paint all over your face, honey. Go wash it off." pg 170. This quote doesn't sound like a sister to brother relationship, it sounds more mother to son to me.

I responded to this part of the story because it shows Angela's true character on what type of role for the family she has taken. Vonnegut described her as taking the motherly roles, and I believe she is the glue that kept the Hoenikker family together.

My first question is why does Angela believe her father deserved more money, after he created the atom bomb? Another question is what does Vonnegut want his readers to know about the atom bomb and its relationship to Dr. Hoenikker? Lastly, why did Vonnegut describe Angela as a motherly type person, then put her into a terrible marriage with a bad husband?