Interpretations of Sirens (Chapters 1-3)
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Why does Rumfoord offer Constant full-disclosure?
Why does Constant choose a path different from the ones presented to him?
How does money affect Constant’s view of life?
How does Constant’s reputation affect his ethos?
What function does Constant’s sarcasm serve in the letter he writes to Mrs. Rumfoord?
Why is the human race considered a readjustment (do not answer literally based upon what is said the book)?
What Constant’s exigence for sending the letter to Rumfoord?
posted by D. Robin @ 11/25/2008
19 comments
19 Comments:
Rumford offers full-disclosure to Constant to help and play him. Rumford knows that it does not matter what he says to Constant the future will still take place, and there is not one thing that Constant can do to change that. Constant with the knowledge that Rumford gives him can take two paths one is accepting it and the second is to reject it and try running away from it. For the first path with the knowledge that Constant has about his future he can prepare to make the best of it. The second route that Constant can take is to deny his future and try running away from it, and in the book, Constant chooses to take the second route. He sells the company that owns the ship “The Whale” so there is no way that he will get to Mars. In class, Mr. Robin talks about how pointing out is just half of it, and the other half is explaining it and why it is there. This idea is the same with Rumford giving Constant the full disclosure. Rumford giving Constant that information is just half of it, the other half is how Constant reacts to it, and what actions he decides to take afterwards.
The idea of free will plays a large role in the Sirens of Titans, but it also plays a large role in American society. Even though the book was published in 1959, the idea of free will is still prevalent in our society. No one likes to be told what to do; it does not matter if you are a little kid or an adult. The reason people do not like being told what to do is because if they listen they are being controlled by someone else. The idea of free will is even more prevalent in America because we enjoy many more individual rights than most of other people in other countries. We hold our individuality and freedom with high regards. Therefore, when we are told and listen to someone we lose that freedom of choosing what we want to do. S when Rumford tells Constant him that he will go to Mars, Constant tries do anything that will prove Rumford wrong and go his own way, he goes far as selling a highly profitable business, which owns the space ship “The Whale,” so he no longer has anything that will transport him to Mars.
-Mo Khan
(Per.1)
The sarcasm in Constant’s letter serves to push away Beatrice from Constant. Neither Constant or Beatrice wish to have their destiny come true In Constant’s mind he thinks that if he writes a repulsive letter to Beatrice there would be no chance of her ever coming near him. In the letter Constant writes that Beatrice is the greatest dame there ever is and he believes that her type of dame is the best kind. As the audience reads the letter, they get a feeling that Constant believes that he is the hardest person to ever get. By acting like he is all that and treating Beatrice with no dignity at all he hopes to drive away Beatrice.
-Mo Khan
(per.1)
I think Rumfoord offers Constant full disclosure because he wants help him. He may want Constant to know what is going to happen so Constant will be able to make decisions accordingly. Even though Constant is in denial with his future now and is doing everything in his power to keep away from Mars, eventually he may have to listen to Rumfoord’s advice. For example, Rumfoord told Constant to keep an eye on his future son’s good-luck piece of metal. Rumfoord is giving Constant helpful advice.
Constant chooses a path different from the ones presented to him because he does not want to die. In the book, Constant comes to the conclusion that he will die on Titan because that is the last place Rumfoord says he will be. Constant does everything in his power to cut off all ties with him and space travel. He sells all of his holdings in Galactic Space Craft. Also, he throws a 56 day party to try and make himself ill and unable to travel.
Money affects Constant’s view on life by allowing him to practice free will. The fact that he has money, and basically an endless amount of it, makes Constant think he can do whatever he wants. This leads him to live a carefree lifestyle full of drugs, alcohol, sex, and reckless abandon.
Constant’s reputation of being the richest man in the world obviously raises his ethos. However, his reputation of being an insincere jerk lowers his ethos. This is evident in the way that Beatrice treats him. Beatrice is repulsed at the idea of mating with Constant because of his poor reputation.
Constant uses sarcasm in his letter to Mrs. Rumfoord to further repulse her. He wants to do everything possible to cut all ties with her because he does not want to mate with her on Mars, because that means he is on his way to Titan, which means he is presumably on his way to death. By making Mrs. Rumfoord think less of him, he figures the less chance he has of mating with her.
The purpose of Constant’s letters to Mrs. Rumfoord is to keep her away and make him absolutely intolerable to her. His exigence is that he does not want to space travel because he thinks he will die on Titan. If he can disconnect himself from Mrs. Rumfoord who is supposed to have his child, he thinks perhaps he can change his fate that Rumfoord told him.
In response to Mo’s statement about free will in The Sirens of Titan, I think that fate and destiny (another set of themes in the novel) are intertwined with this subject. Even if nothing stops a person from taking the action they want, there always exists the possibility that they were “fated” to take that action. In this situation, the question of whether or not they truly had any choice comes up. While it could be stated that they had freely chosen their action, they could have been guided by a higher power (bringing in another set of themes in the novel: religion and God), which would mean they had no free will. An interesting perspective on this subject, would be noting that no character in the novel has free will, since Vonnegut wrote the book in a certain way.
This same idea of fate also relates to Constant’s constant (I could not resist writing that…) decision to choose a path different from the ones provided for him. As Mo stated, Constant wants to run away from his future and basically wants to change his own fate. Rather than walk along the visible paths, he attempts to escape fate by taking what he sees as another path. This mentality also links to his own arrogance. By thinking that he can change his own fate, Constant displays his belief that he can reach the top of the world, and he actively pursues this dream (another theme of the novel) as demonstrated by his act of climbing the fountain in the first chapter. Ultimately, Constant chooses to take a different path because he believes that he can avoid fate and become important enough to choose it for himself.
As a side note (although not really off-topic) I would like to pose the question of what everyone else thinks of the idea of fate. Since we can only look at what has already happened, it could be stated that every choice is already predetermined. If I need to make a choice between action A and action B, after the choice is made, did I really choose for myself which action to take? Was it already determined that I would make that choice based on my personality or other factors? It is an interesting question to ask yourself next time you choose between Pepsi and Coca-Cola.
-Randolph Chua (who finally had time to write a blog comment)
Constant chose to climb on top of the fountain instead of choosing one side or the other because he wants to conquer the fountain. He does not want someone else to choose his path for him. The lawn mower created two ways for Constant to go around the fountain. One of the paths goes to the right and toward God and the other to the left and toward the path of the Devil. Constant believes he holds such great importance in the world that he can decide where he will end up. He justifies his importance by his belief that money holds the greatest value and he is “worth three billion dollars” (p.11). Constant’s materialization and selfishness continue once he reaches the top of the fountain. Vonnegut uses a metaphor to repeat the idea that Constant’s world revolves around money. One at the top, Constant holds his watch up to the sun, letting his watch “drink in the wherewithal that was to solar watches what money was to Earth men” (p.11). Vonnegut compares the sun, a powerful force of nature, to money, which Constant believes is the most powerful force between humans. Constant not only has his mind set on the power of money, but also thinks of himself as an extremely powerful man because he has great amounts of money. Thinking that he has this great power, Constant chooses his own path around the fountain to demonstrate his power. He believes his power controls everything and no one else can decide what he will do.
Marni Gonnering
Constant's sarcasm in the letter he sends to Mrs. Rumfoord is meant to annoy and anger her (Beatrice). On page 44, it directly says that "Malachi Constant had taken to writing Beatrice Rumfoord offensive letters, in order to keep her away-in order to make himself absolutely and permanently intolerable to her." Constant uses sarcasm to write these letters because he is trying to stop his future from happening. Earlier on in the previous chapters, Constant was told by Mr. Rumfoord that his future wife would be Beatrice and they would have a child together on Mars. He will eventually end up at Titan, his final destination where he will die. One way Constant tries to prevent this is to keep Beatrice away from him.
Constant's sarcasm in the letter helps portray him as a pig so Beatrice will not fall in love with him. His object is for them to not marry and have a child. In the letter he mentions that "You're [Beatrice] the only kind of dame I never had, and I'll bet your kind is the greatest" (45). Constant's plan works for soon after reading the letter "Beatrice had bought a capsule of cyanide-more deadly, surely, than Cleopatra's asp." She was going to drink it if she ever met Constant again. All their foolish efforts are in vain for the reader soon finds out that Constant and Beatrice are manipulated to going to Mars. They end up having a child named Chrono on a ship going there.
Ben Wu
First off, I disagree with Mo’s first comment. Why does Malachi have only two options when faced with Rumfoord’s knowledge? I agree that he could accept his fate or reject it and run away, but why couldn’t he reject it and actively fight back? Or accept parts of it and refuse others? When Malachi “climbed the fountain itself,” he defied the false dilemma (Vonnegut 11). Why could he not defy the false dilemma again here and try to change his fate?
As for Constant’s reputation, I think that he thinks his reputation and ethos are extremely high. He considers himself a messenger, a fact supported by his name translating to messenger, and only humbly asks for “a first-class message from God to someone equally distinguished” (Vonnegut 12). Who is as equally distinguished as God? Malachi has done nothing to deserve the honor of such a distinguished message, but he thinks he should. His reputation and his wealth cloud his ability to see his flaws.
Kind of corresponding to Malachi’s reputation but really more just bugging me, Malachi is a chauvinistic pig. “Constant had not been bullied into feeling inferior… Constant was a male and Mrs. Rumfoord was a female, and Constant imagined that he had the means of demonstrating… his unquestionable superiority” (Vonnegut 16). Just because he is male, he thinks he is above Mrs. Rumfoord. He has never even met her, yet he puts her into the submissive role of stereotypical womanhood. That is close-minded and ignorant, as well as oppressive and idiotic.
As for free will vs. fate, I believe in free will. I believe humans have the choice to determine their actions. Those actions will have consequences that could almost force a person to choose a certain way, but it is the ability to choose that matters. It is in choosing that the actual life in our years exists. If fate did exist and everything we did was predetermined, what would even be the point of living? Everything would end up the same anyway, so why even try? Why not just replace humans with robots programmed to obey orders? I have to believe in free will. If not, life isn’t worth living.
Kathryn Hasz
The question of what is Constant's exigence for sending the letter to Mrs. Rumfoord ties in closely to the question of the function of sarcasm in the letters (my previous post). Constant's exigence is in fact survival. Mr. Rumfoord tells him that in the near future, he will go to Mars and there Beatrice (Mrs. Rumfoord) will become his wife. Mr. Rumfoord then tells Constant that his journey will end on the moon Titan. Constant believes that "since the itinerary ended on Titan,...He was going to die there" (43). To prevent this future from ever happening, he decides to distant himself from Beatrice. He sends her letters with sarcasm to make her hate him more and make her have a negative view on him. All of this is to prevent her from falling in love with him. He hopes these actions will prevent him from getting to his final destination of Titan where he will die. By sending Beatrice these letters he thinks he has changed his future but inevitably, Constant ends up having a son with Beatrice.
Ben Wu
How does money affect Constant’s view of life?
Because of the abundance of Constant's money, he takes the quality of life that he has for granted. The problem is that Constant inherited the money from his father. He did not put any effort or work into it. Constant, as a result, does not know what suffering is. His ego builds to tremendous heights as a result. When Rumfoord tells Constant that he will go to Mars he replies with "I'm not going" to prevent Rumfoord from being right (31). He does not like the feeling of suppression and others having control over his life. His ego transcends to how his wealth brings him "women so beautiful, anybody between the Sun and Betelgeuse would sit down and cry" (31). This situation causes Constant to view life as a game where he can always respawn but he soon finds out that it is not always the case.
After meeting Mr. Rumfoord, Constant uses any methods possible to prevent the future that Rumfoord predicts will happen. It is at this point that Constant values his life over money. It is predicted that Constant will die on Titan after visiting Mars.. Constant even goes to the extremes of giving most of his money away so he will not have a spaceship to go to Mars. He throws a party that "fifty-six days later, was it petering out" (45). A random woman at the party tells Constant after he wakes up from his drunkenness that he "gave an oil well to every woman at the party" (58) She also says that Fern, the President of Constant's Company, told her to tell Constant that "you're broke." (51).
In the beginning, the large amounts of money that Constant had caused him to view life as carefree and easy going for he got pretty much whatever he wanted. But he was willing to throw all of that money away in order to extend his life. Constant is pretty materialistic and sees money as a good solution to anything.
Ben Wu
Why does Rumfoord offer Constant full-disclosure?
Rumfoord offers full disclosure to Constant because he wants to give off the appearance that he is God, having the characteristics of omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent. Because Rumfoord went through the chrono-synclastic infundibula, he was “scattered far and wide, not just through space, but through time as well.” (9). This event made him omnipresent, being everywhere at once. Rumfoord claims he is omniscient, that he knows everything. He even claims that he can “read your [Constant’s] mind” (17). But when his wife, Beatrice, tells Rumfoord to just read her mind, Rumfoord replies, “all I get is static” (48). By saying those words, he contradicts himself earlier and it proves that he cannot read minds. This situation also means that Rumfoord is not omniscient. He tells his wife that she doesn’t know “who ruthlessly” used he has been (61). By saying these words, it shows that Rumfoord is not omnipotent, or all-powerful enough to control the situation he is in. He is in fact trapped in the chrono-synclastic infundibula. He tells Constant everything because it makes him seem like a God who knows everything, is all-powerful, and is everywhere. Constant has a big ego and Rumfoord does as well. By showing that Constant is below him, Rumfoord in a way has defeated Constant mentally.
Ben Wu
Why does Constant choose a path different from the ones presented to him?
Constant chooses a path different from the ones presented to him to express his free will. The first instance of Constant creating his own path happens when he is walking towards Rumfoord’s house. He comes upon a fork on the road when he is walking. He “chose neither one fork nor the other, but climbed the fountain itself” (11). He does this action because he is “worth three billion dollars” (11). He is motivated by spitefulness and by goads from childhood” (25). All of this contributes to Constant’s big ego. Constant cannot let anyone show superiority to him or make him submit. Constant recognizes the two paths in the road as a false dilemma, a situation where only two options seem to exist but there are more. By choosing one path or the other, he is submitting to Mr. Rumfoord and his design of the road. Rather than submit, Constant chooses the third option of crawling on top of the fountain to escape the false dilemma. This action demonstrates Constant’s free will in that he is not being told what to do. Constant knows he is making his own decisions for himself. Also climbing on top of the fountain symbolizes Constant’s superiority. Being on top of something, such as a pyramid or the world has a positive connotation. Constant has superiority at the top. At the top, Constant can see everything and this knowledge gives him power. By choosing different paths than the ones presented to him, Constant demonstrates his free will and superiority.
Ben Wu
Constant is one of the richest man in America, he has everything made for him before he was even born. The reason Constant is so well-off is because his dad, Noel, used a unique technique when investing in companies and that method paid off for Noel. Since Noel has a lot of money he can get anything and everything that can be bought, because of that he believes he is the most significant person alive, because of his economic status. He believes that life is all about having money and nothing else, because in his mind if you do not have money, how can you possibly have anything else. Constant has this thought because he is materialistic (like most Americans), and since material possessions can only be obtained by buying them with money, money is the most important thing to human being. This view on life also gives him a bad reputation.
Constant’s reputation is good in the business/economic sense, but in social value his reputation is lowest. Constant is very anti-social and has little or no friends, because true friends cannot be bought. Because of his low social status his reputation among his peers and other Americans/humans is low, this all leads to ethos, because if no one thinks high of him, he would not have high ethos, because if his ethos was high he would have a good reputation.
-Mo Khan
(Per. 1)
How does Constant's reputation affect his ethos?
Constant is known as “the richest American,” (7) “worth three billion dollars, much of it inherited (11). Because he is known to have the most stable financial status, his ethos rises. His money puts him in a position of authority and power that many people envy but at the same time they acknowledge him for it. But these physical aspects of his life are the only good side to him. His personality causes him to have considerably low ethos, the people that know him do not give him much credit. Mrs. Rumfoord insisted that Malachi behave “like the gentleman he was not” (10) for she knows that Constant is nothing more than a pig. On page 24 the following description was give to Constant, “Everything Constant did he did in style-aggressively, loudly, childishly, wastefully-making himself and mankind look bad. Constant bristled with courage-but it was anything but un-neurotic. Every courageous thing he had ever done had been motivated by spitefulness.” He is known to have to ability to get any woman he wants, due to his money, and he throws a party later on in chapter 2 where he gives vast amounts of money away while he was drunk. This reputation that he has causes him to have very low ethos. While he was drunk, he married a woman at the party and she doesn’t take him seriously. In fact, anyone that knows Constant doesn’t takes him seriously, including Ransom Fern. Fern is the President of the company, Magnum Opus. Constant owns this company and when he runs out of money, Fern decides to quit. His reputation for luck also causes very low ethos for everyone hates him for it. Constant never does anything to earn the billions of dollars he has for it was all inherited. Constant makes no effort and people hate him for it. Overall, Constant mostly has a bad reputation because of the good luck that he has but doesn’t deserve and his lack of a socially acceptable personality. Because his personality and reputation are worth nothing, his ethos is not very high which in turn causes others to not respect him.
Ben Wu
What function does Constant’s sarcasm serve in the letter he writes to Mrs. Rumfoord?
Constant's sarcasm has two different functions. One is to keep Mrs. Rumfoord from falling in love with him. "-in order to make himself absolutely and permanently intolerable to her" (45). Constant specifically states that he wants to keep Beatrice away from him. This function leads to the next function of his sarcasm, which is to escape Constant's destiny. He believed that Mr. Rumfoord could read his mind and see into the future. He wanted to do everything in his power to avoid the future that Rumfoord laid out for him. Just like when Constant climbs the fountain in the fork in the road, he takes a completely different path. He tries to avoid, but in the end, as we all know, destiny is unavoidable.
-Kristina Gonzalez
Constant literally chooses a different path than the expected one. When he encounters the fountain in the first chapter, he “could choose the side of the fountain on which he preferred to pass” (Vonnegut 11). He could go right or left. He chose neither, instead “impulsively… climb[ing] the fountain itself” (Vonnegut 11). He tries to exercise his free will and trump the influence of fate. Malachi wants to control his life, “intending when he got to the top to see whence he had come and whither he was bound” (Vonnegut 11). If he could see his path, he could control it and change it if he so desired. Malachi does not have enough strength or will to defy his fate though. Despite his attempt to control his choices by going over the fountain, this small change does not significantly alter his overall fate. He still goes to the Rumfoord Estate and learns of his fated travels across the universe. Fate still wins.
Kathryn Hasz
Constant’s reputation lowers his ethos. When first introduced to the readers, Vonnegut calls him “Malachi Constant of Hollywood, California, the richest American” (Vonnegut, 5). Vonnegut mentions multiple times in the story the Constant came from Hollywood. It seems like a nice place to be from but Vonnegut gives it a negative twist. He considers it to be a rich and showy place to come from, and maybe the reason Constant is selfish. Constant proves his selfishness when he repeatedly tells Rumfoord his name means “faithful messenger” (Vonnegut, 30). He thinks very highly of himself and has confidence that he will deliver an important message for someone very important. Constant is the richest man which gives him some credentials, but he is so inwardly focused and selfish that this gives him low ethos.
Marni Gonnering
Rumfoord offers full disclosure to Constant because there is no way it can change. And Rumfoord reveals this because no matter how hard Constant tries to avoid marring Beatrice, it is going to happen. He also knows what Constant’s personality is like. By knowing this information he knows that Constant will try to avoid these events from occurring. This information also helps to reveal why Constant chose to climb the fountain rather than choose one Path. Constant is someone who wants everything to be done his way. He does not want someone to tell him what he should do. This characteristic forces him to climb the fountain and try to avoid the inevitable future. The fact that Constant is as rich as he is attributes to this characteristic because he can do anything he wants with his money. This makes him think that he can do whatever he wants when he is dealing with the rest of his life, and no one can stop him.
- Rachel Kakareka
To respond to what Randy was talking about, I do believe that whatever action you chose was already determined, we are just simply unaware because subconsciously we know which way we would go to escape the future. This is known as fate (a common theme in Sirens).
Since fate, freewill and destiny all go hand in hand and intertwine with each other, the reference to them all on page 11 was interesting. As Marni states that Constant believes he holds such great importance in the world that he can decide where he will end up. Another quote that would benefit her claim was on page 11 and Vonnegut states “Impulsively, Constant chose neither one fork nor the other, but climbed the fountain itself.” This is also an example which shows Constant trying to dictate his future, by choosing his own direction, and not by giving into the false dilemma of choosing left (devil) or right (god).
Jenny Birkholz
per. 1
How does money affect Constant’s view of life?
Constant was born into extreme wealth due to his father's luck. Without the obstacle of money, Constant views life through a different heuristic than most individuals. When money is no longer an issue, life seems easier and more open to possibility. If any of us achieved a large fortune wouldn't your life drastically change? Since Malachi Constant has extreme wealth, he feels above everyone else. For an example, he climbs the fountain instead of choosing a path. This shows his unwillingness to comply to rules. He feels above rules since "money talks". As most rich people in society, (Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, and other actors and actresses..)Constant displays his "ability" to do whatever he wants and even change his own fate. Constant clearly shows his desire to change his fate and live his life the way he wants. Money can't buy happiness, but a person endowed with an unbelievable fortune can see life in a whole new light.
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