The Sirens of Titan
The mysterious, delusive moon
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4.1 The mysterious, delusive moon Titan is the biggest of forty-seven Saturn’s satellites known so far and the second biggest moon in our solar system. It was named after the Titans, the twelve children of the god of the skies Uranus, and the goddess of the earth Gaia. The twelve first-generation Titans were led by the youngest, Cronus, who overthrew their father. As Greek mythology says, a fight between a son and father repeated itself once more. Cronus’s son Zeus, who led the Olympians, eventually overthrew the Titans in the Titanomachy and imprisoned them in Tartarus, the depths of the underworld (Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia). This fierce and protracted fight is well-known as the War of the Titans and in the course of time it has inspired many writers and film producers. One of the most famous films on this topic is English film Clash of the Titans. This film of 1981 directed by Desmond Davis did not only excellently treat this mythological topic, but was also one of the best fantasy films of that time. In The Sirens of Titan, there is also a war conflict. It is the war between the terrestrials and the inhabitants of Mars. Although the war between Mars and Earth did not last so long as the war of the Titans: “The war between Mars and Earth lasted 67 Earthling days” (Vonnegut 166), it has an important feature that corresponds with the War of the Titans. The Martians are not extraterrestrials, as might be supposed. They are people who are offered to travel to Mars, where they are brainwashed and recruited into the Army of Mars. In other words, the war between Mars and Earth is a fight of terrestrials against terrestrials; similarly the fight of the Titans against the Olympians is a fight between relatives. Except this aspect, there are no other links to Greek mythology which could have inspired Vonnegut to choose just Titan as one of the settings for his story. It is more interesting to compare the picture of Vonnegut’s Titan with the astronomical knowledge about the real planet. According to the latest observations in astronomy, Titan appears to have a net of canals, lakes and seas. These, consisting mainly of liquid hydrocarbon, provide a possible source for elementary forms of life, similarly to Titan’s atmosphere, rich in organic compounds (Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia). Kurt Vonnegut lifted his creative pen to write The Sirens of Titan in the 1950s, long before the significant discoveries about Titan were made. It then appears very bizarre that his description of Titan approaches reality in so many aspects: There are three seas on Titan, each the size of Earthling Lake Michigan. The waters of three are fresh and emerald clear. The names of the three are the Winston Sea, the Niles Sea, and the Rumfoord Sea. There is a cluster of ninety-three lakes, incipiently a fourth sea. The cluster is known as the Kazak Pools. Connecting the Winston Sea, the Niles Sea, the Rumfoord Sea and the Kazak Pools are there three great rivers. Three rivers, with their tributaries, are moody – variously roaring, listless, and torn. Their moods are determined by the wildly fluctuating tugs of eight fellow moons, and by the prodigious influence of Saturn, which has ninety-five times the mass of Earth. The three rivers are known as the Winston River, the Niles River, and the Rumfoord River (Vonnegut 265,266).
Another interesting aspect is the way in which the author describes Titan’s landscape. Titan is the only place in the solar system where Rumfoord can exist as a solid human being and not as a broadcast image. Therefore, it seems obvious that he names its rivers and seas after himself. However, the reader might perceive it as a means to convey the author’s critical attitude towards Winston. Winston Rumfoord, described as an absolute ruler, who wishes to change the world for the better as he says in his Pocket History of Mars: “Any man who would change the World in a significant way must have showmanship, a genial willingness to shed other people’s blood […]“. “Enough of these fizzles of leadership, in which millions die for nothing or less!” says Rumfoord. “Let us have, for a change, a magnificently-led few who die for a great deal.” Rumfoord had that magnificently-led few on Mars and he was their leader. He had showmanship. He was genially willing to shed the blood of others (Vonnegut 174).
In other words, although Rumfoord regards himself to be the one who gives the world order, and manipulate people, it becomes more and more apparent that this is not the case. On no account is he a godlike man, in fact he proves to be the one who has been manipulated and abused most when he admits to Beatrice: “Some day on Titan, it will be revealed to you just how ruthlessly I’ve been used, and by whom, and to what disgustingly paltry ends” (Vonnegut 64). Finally, in order to undermine the importance of Rumfoord’s deeds and attempts to change the life on Earth, as well as to highlight the immensity of everlasting, unknown and inexplicable powers that shape our lives, the narrator leaves Rumfoord and his dog Kazak at the mercy of the universe. Captured by chrono-synclastic influndibula and thrown out of Titan into the infinite, desolated space, they disappear: “In a punctual way of speaking,” came Rumford’s glottal tenor from the cocoon, “good-by.” The cocoon and Rumfoord disappeared with a pft. Rumfoord and his dog were never seen again (Vonnegut 298). All this evidence reveals the author’s opinion on human triviality in the contract with the universe. On the other hand, “Vonnegut forces his reader to consider what it means to be human in a chaotic, often abused and irrational universe” (Literature Online). Moreover, he believes there is a way out of this chaos, violence and irrationality as Jay MacInerny says about Vonnegut: “he is a satirist with heart, a moralist with a whoopee cushion, a cynic who wants to believe” (New York State Writers Institute). He not only believes, but also uncovers this deepest belief of his to all his readers. It is the importance of basic human decency in a world of madness, chaos and pain, and his belief in love that is usually the main message Vonnegut wants the reader to get. This basic but important idea appears right at the beginning of the book: Everyone now knows how to find the meaning of life within himself. But mankind wasn’t always so lucky. Less than a century ago men and women did not have easy access to the puzzle boxes within them. They could not name even one of the fifty-three portals to the soul. Mankind, ignorant of the truths that lie within every human being, looked outward – pushed ever outward. What mankind hoped to learn in its outward push was who was actually in charge of all creation, and what all creation was all about. Mankind flung its advance agents ever outward, ever outward. Eventually it flung them out into space, into the colourless, tasteless, weightless sea of outwardness without end. These unhappy agents found what had already been found in abundance on Earth – a nightmare of meaninglessness without end. Outwardness lost, at last, its imagined attraction. Only inwardness remained to be explored. Only the human soul remained terra incognita. This was the beginning of goodness and wisdom (Vonnegut 7,8). The starting point ‘now’ in the book refers to the future in reality; that is when the narrator recollects the past; he actually points at the present reality. So, the memory of the past is in fact supposed to give an account of the present state of the society. This ability of Vonnegut’s to discuss significant issues is manifest in his novels. Moreover, he is excellent at sharing his ideas to the readers in a natural and casual way such as throughout the description of the landscape or characters. The first two pages of the twelfth chapter of The Sirens of Titan, depicting the water resources on Titan, in which the narrator points at contradiction of the power and uselessness of Rumfoord, as well as Rumfoord’s personality portrait itself, are eloquent samples of author’s art to appeal to readers. Vonnegut succeeds in giving Titan a role of imaginary and delusive world. Titan, a beautiful planet with “the most pleasant climate imaginable” (Vonnegut 36), which is the only celestial body Rumfoord can physically exist on, emerges at the end of the story as a mere chimera. It is Rumfoord’s illusion, as he finally disappears. It is Malachi’s illusion, as he finally returns to Earth knowing it is not a place but people that gives sense to one’s life. Moreover, it can be seen as an illusion that the mankind pursues in order to discover the meaning of life in relation to the universe or noble aims. Vonnegut simply says that there is only one meaning why to live, and that is ourselves and people we love.
At the same time, Vonnegut’s sirens are incredibly beautiful, almost supernatural women. The picture of them appears in front of Constant’s eyes when Winston Rumfoord tries to explain what will happen to Constant. But he neither believes Rumfoord, nor can he see the point in his foreseen cosmic travels. He is more than satisfied with his life on the Earth and thinks that there is no place in the universe which could entice him away from his terrestrial property, nor there is a woman who would achieve to do so. However, he is not so convinced when he looks at the picture: Within the margins lay shimmering depths. The effect was much like that of a rectangular glass window in the surface of a clear, shallow, coral bay. At the bottom of that seeming coral bay were three women – one white, one gold, one brown. They looked up at Constant, begging him to come to them to make them whole with love. Their beauty was to the beauty of Miss Canal Zone as the glory of the Sun was to the glory of a lightning bug. Constant sank into a wing chair again. He had to look away from all that beauty in order to keep from bursting into tears (Vonnegut 38).
They were statues made by Salo of Titanic peat. Of the millions of statues made by Salo, only these three were painted with lifelike colors. It had been necessary to paint them in order to give them importance in the sumptuous, oriental scheme of things in Rumford’s palace […]. The pool‘s bottoms and sides were lined with a blanket of viscid slime, and the three statues in the middle, the Sirens od Titan, were under a mucilaginous hump (Vonnegut 278,309). This extract, in contrast with the first one, divulges the truth about the sirens. The fact that sirens are not living women but mere statues made of Titanic peat, the beauty of which is finally ruined, is not just the narrator’s way of describing the sirens, but presumably attempts to show deeper thoughts. This betraying recognition might be seen as the author’s opinion on the space exploration or the progress in technology and science. Although the space exploration, and progress in technology extends peoples’ knowledge and science constantly alters their lives, none of this changes our private relationships, fears, or happiness. Vonnegut represents his belief that the modern society is possessed by searching for meaning of the existence and therefore explores the universe. Nevertheless, people often forget to care for each other, to fulfill their roles as mothers, sons, friends, husbands satisfactorily. Thanks to the sirens, Vonnegut encourages his belief that there is no other meaning of life but love. This is aptly expressed at the end of the novel when he puts his words into Malachi Constant’ mouth: “You finally fell in love, I see,” said Salo. “Only an Earthling year ago,” said Constant. “It took us that long to realize that a purpose of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be loved.” (Vonnegut 313). Conclusion What, then, have I traced and learned on my way though the fictional worlds of The Sirens of Titan? Although I have always been keen on Vonnegut’s novels, I have discovered a lot of interesting new aspects in this novel and now I view Kurt Vonnegut’s work from slightly different angle. Considering the individual chapters, I would like to comment on what are the four complex, distinct worlds that Vonnegut achieves to design on the four celestial bodies. Analyzing the planet Earth and the two protagonists in the first chapter, I have come to a conclusion that Vonnegut is well aware of the Earth’s values. He sees Earth as the only suitable planet for the mankind and appeals to people to realize this and take better care of it. He considers the space exploration of different planets as possible places to live on pointless. Similarly he sees the endless desire of a man to discover the underlying order and who is in control of it – that is, “what’s going on”. The aim of the second chapter is to prove the author’s intention to treat the planet Mars as a war symbol. It is obvious that Vonnegut thought this issue through with great acumen as there is a number of details that point at the fact that he chooses Mars to symbolize war and violence intentionally. Mercury, the centre point of the next chapter, proves to be a symbol of harmony. It does not only symbolize harmony as such, but also helps the reader to understand what a base for ‘finding our own inner harmony’ is. The last chapter, in order to emphasize the role of the plane Earth, illustrates Titan to be an embodiment of human curiosity about outer worlds. Titan is designed so as to warn the reader against false images and delusive aims. The analysis, in general, succeeds in tracing various postmodern feature and beliefs in The Sirens of Titan. I have revealed the aspect of ‘playing games’, as well as the blend of fiction and reality, or “the threat of total engulfment by somebody else’s system” (Sim 129), all of which are typical of the postmodernism. In spite of the fact that the novel is considered to be the most sci-fi of all Vonnegut’s books, I have also identified an aspect that supports the argument that he was not an ordinary science fiction writer. The unstable roles of the main characters that change throughout the novel disrupt the ordinary science fictional concept of strictly fixed characters. This revelation of mine would probably please Vonnegut as he himself did not feel to be a sci-fi writer once saying: “I learned, in 1952 from the reviews of Player Piano, that I was a science fiction writer […]. I have been a soreheaded occupant of the file drawer labeled science fiction ever since, and I would like out, particularly since so many serious critics regularly mistake the drawer far a urinal” (Literature Online). Nonetheless, it is Vonnegut’s particularly legacy to the reader that constitutes the strongest point of this novel. He encourages the readers to be concerned with their inner lives, to take greater care of the planet Earth as well as of the people they love, and not to allow themselves to be corrupted by the authorities. The novel is penetrated with common decency, kindness and love. However skeptical or critical attitude towards the modern society Vonnegut voices, it is clear that he is an optimist who believes his appeal will find ‘an ear sensitive enough’ to hear it. Finally, the most interesting revelation I have come to is how thoroughly Vonnegut worked with various mythological and astronomical details when inventing his alternative worlds. I have found it very puzzling that even in cases where he uses his imagination to illustrate these worlds, he comes incredibly close to the facts which were only discovered later. The fact that Vonnegut’s vision of Titan is so close to the real satellite, although the important discoveries about Titan were made after The Sirens of Titan had been written increases the feeling that the author’s message this novel tries to pass to the reader should be taken very seriously. Resumé Tato práce analyzuje alternativní světy, které Kurt Vonnegut vytváří ve své vesmírní novele Sirény z Titanu. V úvodu jsem se krátce věnovala Vonnegutově životní a literární cestě a, pro lepší srozumitelnost mé práce, jsem stručně zpracovala obsah knihy. Jelikož román Sirény z Titanu se odehrává na čtyřech různých vesmírných tělesech, má práce se zaměřuje na tato čtyři prostředí děje. Každá jednotlivá kapitola je věnována jedné planetě, Zemi, Marsu, Merkuru a Titanu, seřazeny ve stejném pořadí jako je navštívil hlavní hrdina Malachi Constant. Zabývám se tím zda a do jaké míry se Vonnegut drží astronomických faktů při popisu vesmírných těles, či jestli volba právě těchto planet souvisí nějakým způsobem s mytologii. V analýze se také snažím rozpoznat jednotlivé prvky postmodernismu a scifi, a tím prokázat zda tato kniha patří do tohoto literárního směru a žánru. Hlavní cíl mé práce se ovšem soustředí ne jen na to jaké světy se Vonnegutovi daří ve své novele vytvořit a jak tyto světy působí na čtenáře, co v něm evokují, ale především na odkaz tohoto díla, který vyjadřuje spisovatelovy postoje, přesvědčení a hodnoty.
In the first two pre-chapters, I briefly introduce Vonnegut’s literary style and life. To make my work more comprehensible, I also summarize the plot of the story. As the novel The Sirens of Titan is set on four different celestial bodies, I focus on these four settings in my work. Each chapter is devoted to one of the planets, Earth, Mars, Mercury and Titan, ordering them in the same way that the main character Malachi Constant visits them. I am concerned with the question of whether and to what extend Vonnegut’s description of the planets keeps to the astronomical knowledge, or whether his choice was inspired by mythology. I also attempt to trace features of postmodernism or sci-fi in the novel. Nevertheless, the main aim of my bachelor thesis concentrates not only on what worlds Vonnegut invents and what such worlds evoke in reader’s mind, but also on the legacy of the book that expresses the author’s beliefs and values.
University Press, 1994. Sim, Stuart. Postmodernism. London: Routledge, 2001. Trávníček, Jiří, and Jiří Holý. Lexikon teorie literatury a kultury (Dictionary of Literary and Cultural Theory). Brno: Host, 2006. Zámarovský, Vojtěch. Bohové a Hrdinové Antických Bájí (The gods and Heroes of the Ancient Legends). Praha: Máj, 1965. Jařab, Josef; in ed. Hlinský, Martin, Zelenka, Jan. Od poea k Postmodernismu (From Poe to Posrmodernism). Praha: Odeon, 1993. “Kurt Vonnegut.” Literature Online. 25 October 2006 <http://lion.chadwyck.co.uk>. “Postmodernism.” Literature Online. 25 October 2006 <http://lion.chadwyck.co.uk>. “Science fiction.” Literature Online. 25 October 2006 <http://lion.chadwyck.co.uk>. “Kurt Vonnegut.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 7 October 2006. 25 October 2006 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Vonnegut>. <http://www.vonnegut.com/artist.asp>. “Titan.” Novinky.cz. 25 October 2006 <http://www.novinky.cz/.>. “Titan.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 7 October 2006. 25 October 2006 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titan>. “Mars.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 7 October 2006. 25 October 2006 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars>. “Mrecury.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 7 October 2006. 25 October 2006 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury> “Harmonium.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 7 October 2006. 25 October 2006 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmonium_%28poetry_colection%29> “Kurt Vonnegut.” The New York Times. 12 April 2007. 4 May 2007 <http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/12/books/12vonnegut.html>. “Kurt Vonnegut.” New York Writers Institute. 8 April 2006. 2 November 2006 <http://www.albany.edu/writers-inst/vonnegutkurt.html>. “Kurt Vonnegut” CNN. 12 April 2007. 4 May 2007 <http://cnn.entertainment.clickability.com>. “Sirens” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 7 October 2006. 25 October 2006 <http://en.wikipedia.ogr/wiki/sirens>. “Titans” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 7 October 2006. 25 October 2006 <http://en.wikipedia.ogr/wiki/Titans>. Apendix 1: Kurt Vonnegut’s portraits 
Kurt Vonnegut (11 November1922 – 11 April 2007) 
One-liner Self-portrait Appendix 2: The fourth celestial bodies The Sirens of Titan is set on 
The planet Mars 
The planet Mercury 
The Saturn’s satellite Titan 
The planet Earth Appendix 3:
Short story collections:
Collected essays:
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