 More topically, "Cat's Cradle" takes the threat of nuclear destruction in the Cold War as a major theme.The Cuban Missile Crisis, in which world powers collided around a small Caribbean island, bringing the world to the brink of mutual assured destruction, occurred in 1962, and much of the novel can be seen as allegorical.Like most of Vonnegut's work, irony, black humor and parody are used heavily throughout.