Malachi Constant: Various Identities in One Life In the book "The Sirens of Titan", one of the main characters, Malachi Constant, experienced something that normal people can never think of. He was the "chosen one" who was asked to prevent a interplanetary war. He was so arrogant and disdainful that people always looked upon him. Later, he chose to cooperate with Martians, but was betrayed. Luckily, he had a small family, and he met his loyal friend, Salo. During this journey, he discovered himself and changed his identity, from a arrogant rich man to a generous friend; from a single man to married woman's lover; from a common people to a hero, which is different from his name set by the author-- "Constant", never change. It is
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When Constant first appeared in the story, "He was not a great scientist. He was not even well educated. He was... a notorious rakehell ", which was totally opposite with Rumfoord, and even different from the our imagination of a hero (7, Vonnegut). During that time, he was just a common people. However, there is no doubt that, Constant meet the requirement of being a hero, who "is shown against a background of environment, heredity, and personal history "(Vogler). When people considered that, Constant was a "notorious rakehell", he was against the most part of the society. Then, he received "the call to adventure", though almost all the people think that he should not be "the first person ever invited by Mrs. Rumfoord to a materialization"(8, Vonnegut). There was no surprised that Constant rejected the asking at first, and Rumfoord, the caller became a "mentor". Instead of giving " him or her training, equipment, or advice that will help on the journey" directly, Rumfoord showed his power to Constant that he could see the future. He told Constant something about the future, but Constant didn't believe it. In this case, he was "the hero’s guide or guiding principles"(Vogler). Also, to make Constant a true hero, he confronted many difficulty, including losing his
When Constant first appeared in the story, "He was not a great scientist. He was not even well educated. He was... a notorious rakehell ", which was totally opposite with Rumfoord, and even different from the our imagination of a hero (7, Vonnegut). During that time, he was just a common people. However, there is no doubt that, Constant meet the requirement of being a hero, who "is shown against a background of environment, heredity, and personal history "(Vogler). When people considered that, Constant was a "notorious rakehell", he was against the most part of the society. Then, he received "the call to adventure", though almost all the people think that he should not be "the first person ever invited by Mrs. Rumfoord to a materialization"(8, Vonnegut). There was no surprised that Constant rejected the asking at first, and Rumfoord, the caller became a "mentor". Instead of giving " him or her training, equipment, or advice that will help on the journey" directly, Rumfoord showed his power to Constant that he could see the future. He told Constant something about the future, but Constant didn't believe it. In this case, he was "the hero’s guide or guiding principles"(Vogler). Also, to make Constant a true hero, he confronted many difficulty, including losing his