As a reminder please come prepared to each discussion group by watching the Vine we agreed upon last week. This week’s Vine is titled “Cat Destroys Bag.” Please read the analysis and then answer the discussion questions after. Thank you.

As the Vine begins we see our protagonist the cat. The cat is nameless and sits upon a bare floor. An empty paper bag rests before her. The cat is looking at the bag with a quizzical expression. The bag, being a bag, rests contently letting life wash over it with no objections.

The cat, as if beckoned by the empty paper bag, jumps into it, disappearing from our eyes. Only the rustling of the bag and the doleful meowing of the cat can be heard. We assume the cat is alive in the bag. We assume the cat is sad. We assume the bag is neutral to the cat.

The rustling of the bag and meowing grows more intense as does our yearning for the cat to escape the bonds of this bag. The bag remains stoic and without action, letting life go its course. The bag’s rustling becomes more intense. The cat? We again assume the cat is alive based on the logical assumption that when the cat jumped into the empty bag it remained in the empty bag unless this is a Schrödinger situation.

The live and/or dead cat in the bag becomes even more agitated. Growls emanate from the bag. Suddenly, the viewer sees a clawed paw tear through the bag. The cat bursts out of the bag free from its shackles of bag oppression. Free at last, the cat does not rest nor is it content. The cat shreds the bag until it is confetti. The cat then yawns vaingloriously as if a lion after the kill. A small piece of the bag, still afloat from the ravaging, falls contemptuously next to the cat. The bag, nothing more than shreds of its previous form, acquiesces.

Discussion question #1: The nameless cat. The Bare floor. The empty paper bag. Is life meaningless?

Discussion question #2: If paper bags turned into humans what would their language be?

Discussion question #3: Paper bags and the banality of evil. Is evil wrought by inaction better or worse than purposeful evil?

Discussion question #4: When the cat bursts out of the bag and shreds it into little pieces is this a metaphor for the relationship with your mother? Call her. She just wants to hear your voice.

Discussion question #5: I bought that cat so many toys and she plays with the bag the toys came in. Typical.

Extra Credit: Find a paper bag and put it on your head. Does it make you feel more powerful? Do you have the nascent urge to commit acts of pure evil? Take the bag off your head. Rip it into as many small pieces as you can. Use it as tinder to start a fire. Discuss the transient nature of life with the next person you see.

Thank you, next week our Vine Discussion Group will be about a Vine entitled “Dog Drinks from Hose.” Themes will include resource management and alcoholism.