dition to Dr. Hoenikker and his doomsday games, Vonnegut provides an interesting analysis of atomic age society with the Bokonon religion. This religion, completely made up by Vonnegut and used in this novel, is the religion of every single inhabitant of San Lorenzo, the books imaginary banana republic. This is the island where Jonah eventually ends up, and where the ice-nine holocaust originates. (It also, being a Caribbean nation, strangely resembles Cuba.) Bokonon is a strange religion. It was created by one of the leaders of San Lorenzo, a long time ago. Essentially, Bokonon is the only hope for all inhabitants of San Lorenzo. Their existence on the island is so horrible that they have to find harmony with something. Bokononism gives them that. It is based on untruths, to give San Lorenzans a sense of security, since the truth provides none. This concept can be summed up in this Bokononist quotation: زLive by the foma* that makes you brave and kind and healthy and happy. *Harmless untruths (4)س The inhabitants of San Lorenzo do not care what is going on in their real lives because they have the foma of Bokonon to keep them secure and happy. And Vonnegut is trying to say that is what is happening to the rest of us. Americans, and the rest of the world for that matter, have this false sense of security that we are safe and secure. That in our homes in Indiana with our dogs and Gioielli 7our lawnmowers, we think we are invincible. Everything will be okay because we are protected by are government. This is the foma of real life, because we are trying to deny what is really going on. Weصre in imminent danger of being annihilated at any second, but to deny this very real danger we are creating a false world so that we may live in peace, however false that sense of peace may be. Throughout the entire novel Vonnegut gives little snippets of زcalypsosس : Bokonon proverbs written by Bokonon. Verse like:I wanted a...
