then Bokonon, cynically and playfully invented a new religion" (Achebe 172). But then McCabe outlaws it and makes practicing any religion other than Christianity punishable by the deadly Hook, "Anybody caught practicing Bokononsim in San Lorenzo, will die on the Hook" (Achebe 134). All the people on the island have become devout Bokonists, and the struggle between the government and the religion keeps them entertained, and therefore alive, "Well, when it became evident that no government or economic reform was going to make the people much less miserable, the religion became the one real instrument of hope. Truth was the enemy of the people, because the truth was so terrible, so Bokonon made it his business to provide the people with better and better lies" (Achebe 172). The hopeless, directionless people represent mankind as a whole and the government plot represents what Vonnegut sees as society's mindless, clear diversion from reality that keeps everyone interested in life. An example of satire as a vehicle of self-destruction in the story is the Bokonists practice of Boko-maru. Boko-maru is the Bokonists tradition of placing the naked soles of one's feet to another person's naked soles, "Bokononists mingled their souls by pressing the bottoms of their feet together" (Achebe 135). This is the very silly and pointless part of the religion that seems to be based on nothing at all. Bokononism says that one cannot touch soles with another person without loving them, and therefore sole touching is a good thing since it promotes love. This is sarcastic because a Boko-maru comes from a religion that accuses itself as a pack of lies, and yet has a feature that is strangely true. The crucial example of satire as a vehicle of self-destruction in the story is that no matter what religion people believe in, no matter what acts of goodness people perform, nothing in the end can save everything from total ruin and pointlessness. T...
