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Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Sirens of Titan, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Free Will vs. External Control
Religion and the Search for Meaning
Wealth, Power, and Inequality
Human Intelligence, Foolishness, and Hubris
Summary
Analysis
An infantry of 10,000 Martian Army soldiers marches to the sound of a snare drum, which sounds like “Rented a tent, a tent, a tent” over and over. They wear green uniforms. One particular soldier in the second regiment of the First Martian Assault Infantry Division is a private who was demoted from lieutenant-colonel three years ago, and has been on Mars for a total of eight years. Privates in his position, who are often older than their peers, tend to get nicknames like “Gramps” or “Unk.” This one in particular is named Unk, and physically resembles Malachi Constant.
The fact that Unk and Malachi Constant are the same person is not withheld from the reader—their exact physical similarity means that the revelation of Unk’s identity is not meant to be a surprise. Yet what is kept mysterious is the process by which Malachi Constant has become “Unk.”
Themes
Unk and the other soldiers are standing in a “hollow square” surrounding a stake. A red-haired soldier is chained to the stake. His uniform has been stripped of decorations. Without seeming to receive instructions, the soldiers all relax as if they’ve been told, “at ease.” The man at the stake doesn’t make a sound, but he is screaming with his eyes. He wants to send a signal to his best friend, Unk, but can’t locate him among the soldiers. Unk has just spent a period in the military hospital being treated for mental illness, and now doesn’t recognize his best friend—or anyone else. He doesn’t even know his own name.
This chapter is arguably the most horrifying in a novel full of disturbing scenes. Again, it is important to recall that Vonnegut isn’t conjuring a vision of the army out of thin air—Vonnegut himself served in the U.S. Army during World War II, and was captured as a P.O.W. in Dresden. It is easy to see how his experiences led him to create a particularly horrifying depiction of military life.
Themes
At the hospital, the doctors and nurses explained to Unk that they had implanted an antenna in his head that would cause him pain if he did things “a good soldier wouldn’t ever do.” They gave him a little taste of this pain, which was awful. After being released, Unk feels confused and uncomfortable in his surroundings. Unk’s platoon leader, Sergeant Brackman, orders Unk to strangle the man at the stake until he is dead. Unk follows this order, marching up to the stake according to the rhythm of the snare drum. Standing in front of the chained-up man, Unk pauses, disturbed by the man’s look of horror. However, then Unk feels a prick of pain in his head, so he keeps going.
The moment when Unk pauses and then strangles the man anyway after feeling the prick of pain provides a crucial meditation on the nature of free will. While people like to think of themselves as acting freely, in reality most human actions are instinctive, based on the drive for survival. One of the aspects of this drive is the avoidance of pain, and this is such a powerful force that it causes Unk to murder another man almost unthinkingly.
Themes
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Although the man at the stake also has an antenna in his head that keeps silent, he “heroically” manages to speak, repeatedly saying Unk’s name. He mentions phrases to try and jog Unk’s memory of their friendship, but Unk strangles the man until he is dead. After it is done, all the soldiers are brought to attention—even the dead man’s body flinches, but he can no longer properly obey his antenna because he is dead. The soldiers march away.
The image of the dead man still obeying orders after death is particularly haunting, and indicates how little individual human lives are valued within this military context. It’s clear that they are viewed as a collective force who must obey orders rather than as individuals who deserve to live freely.
Themes
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