The Sirens of Titan

by

Kurt Vonnegut

Boaz is a real commander of the Martian Army, meaning that he has the ability to directly control others through their antennae while remaining undercover among the troops. A young black man, Boaz was an orphan back on Earth and was conscripted into the army when he was only 14. Throughout his time in the novel, Boaz feels conflicted between his desire to protect himself and maintain his position of (relative) power and his loneliness, which makes him seek out Unk as a friend. Boaz and Unk end up being sent to Mercury by Rumfoord, where they get trapped for a number of years. While there, Boaz suffers a mental breakdown and develops a deep love for harmoniums, the strange, coral-like aliens that live in the planet’s caves. When Unk finally gets the chance to escape Mercury, Boaz chooses to stay, out of his sense of love and loyalty to the harmoniums.

Boaz Quotes in The Sirens of Titan

The The Sirens of Titan quotes below are all either spoken by Boaz or refer to Boaz. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Free Will vs. External Control Theme Icon
).
Chapter 5: Letter From an Unknown Hero Quotes

As free as it wanted to be—that’s how free the free will of Boaz was.

Related Characters: Malachi Constant / Unk / the Space Wanderer, Boaz
Related Symbols: Antennae
Page Number: 116
Explanation and Analysis:

[…] he was too good a soldier to go around asking questions, trying to round out his knowledge.

A soldier’s knowledge wasn’t supposed to be round.

Related Characters: Malachi Constant / Unk / the Space Wanderer, Boaz
Page Number: 119-120
Explanation and Analysis:
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The Sirens of Titan PDF

Boaz Quotes in The Sirens of Titan

The The Sirens of Titan quotes below are all either spoken by Boaz or refer to Boaz. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Free Will vs. External Control Theme Icon
).
Chapter 5: Letter From an Unknown Hero Quotes

As free as it wanted to be—that’s how free the free will of Boaz was.

Related Characters: Malachi Constant / Unk / the Space Wanderer, Boaz
Related Symbols: Antennae
Page Number: 116
Explanation and Analysis:

[…] he was too good a soldier to go around asking questions, trying to round out his knowledge.

A soldier’s knowledge wasn’t supposed to be round.

Related Characters: Malachi Constant / Unk / the Space Wanderer, Boaz
Page Number: 119-120
Explanation and Analysis: