Content Warning: This section references death by suicide and sexual assault. Additionally, the source text uses outdated language, which this guide reproduces only in direct quotation.

The narrator, a middle-aged writer, introduces himself as John. When he was younger and still a Christian, he began to gather material for a book about the day the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan. Now, John practices Bokononism, a religion from the island nation of San Lorenzo.

Quoting a calypso song from The Books of Bokonon, John explains the concept of a karass: a team of people who work together to advance God’s will without realizing that they are doing so.

John excerpts an anecdote from The Books of Bokonon about a woman who claimed to understand God’s ways but was confused by the blueprint for a doghouse. The story illustrates the impossibility of fully understanding God’s purposes.