Complete Control? - Sirens of Titan

A re-occuring question of whether we are in complete control of our own destinies has been a topic for many philosophers and thinkers for quite some time. Free will seems to run through this novel as several characters battle against what they see to be their destinies.

Early on in the story, the character Beatrice is told what her fate will be and she rebels against this prophecy, but continues to be assured about the events that will take place are unchangeable. She tries to do everything she can to avoid this fate, but in doing so she fulfills the prophecy. The same goes for Malachi as he tries to avoid his destiny.

It is as if every character is imaging that they have the capacity to transcend their destiny by making decisions they feel they are in control of.

This begins to ask many questions in the novel dealing with "God" and religion. One of which is how the Constant's came about their luck. Noel Constant using the initials from the first words of the Bible to determine which companies to invest in is pretty crazy, but this brings up the question of it being blind luck or the strength of some higher power. If it being blind luck, it can still be considered fate and would make for a great story. If this is the power of God, then what does this mean? Or is fate just another part of "Gods" plan to give people flexibility in believing what the wish?

The style of science fiction that is introduced by the author when we arrive on Mars is somewhat humorous. The antennas that are described to be installed in the soldiers heads is amusing. They definitely call back to the iconic "Martians" that have antennas. Especially how they are all marching in unison, taking orders, and acting very robotically without any outside emotions. One aspect that I like is how they are able to question there actions internally for brief moments before they feel pain from the antennas.

Triumphs and animism - Anansi Boys

This story is interwoven with numerous examples of good and or innocence, winning out over evil. A good example is in romantic relationships with Fat Charlie and his brother Spider. A somewhat shy and unassertive youth, Fat charlie worships his fiancee Rosie and plays along with her game of no sex before marriage. Then Spider appears on the scene and promptly starts sleeping with Rosie, breaking his brother's heart and revealing Rosie as somewhat of a phoney. But by the end of the story Fat Charlie has married Daisy, the cop, and is raising a son. I sense that this is a better match for Fat Charlie and that his goodness and honesty have amply rewarded him.

The author summons the dark beliefs of animism, showing how they work in peoples' lives, then banishes those beliefs by showing how they are powerless to overcome the innate goodness of most people. By dragging these animistic beliefs and characters into the sunlight, they lose their power which is based upon manipulation of human beings through fear.

Theme - Time - The Night Circus

I found that "time" plays an interesting role in the novel, particularly in the way that it affects the circus performers. Time is most directly symbolized through the clock Herr Thiessen builds for the courtyard. Seemingly at first, it just looks as a beautiful black clock with white face and silver hands, but as it is wound, it begins to take a life of its own. Its face, like puzzle pieces, slowly fall away and morphs from white to grey and finally to black. It's described as something "dreamlike", bring light to the circus theme of creating a "dream world" where visitors walk during the night. All of the circus performers seem to be magically protected from the effects of time, non of them, except for the Murray twins, have aged a day since the circus opened. The only person to actually question the nature of time within the circus is Lainie Burgess, who dies shortly after raising her questions.

In the end, Widget insinuates that the entire novel is an allegory to time. At the end of the novel, Widget begins retelling the story, starting with the first line, again hinting at the cyclic nature of time. There is no sense of time within a dream world, which is likely what Morgenstern is hunting at with the novel's jumbled and fragmented format. The novel jumps around in time, highlighting the way past, present, and future are all intertwined.

Good vs Evil, Friendship and Understanding -Lord Fouls Bane

Most of the people in this land that Thomas was transported to talk about a person called the Creator. Even tho no one can describe what he is, they do say he created the earth and is the enemy of Lord Foul. The creator is accounted as someone who is caring for the earth but can't destroy Lord Foul. The creator is the good.

The evil one would therefore be Lord Foul. Most of the plains folk refer to him as the gray slayer, giants call him the soulcrusher, and many more differnt names. Lord Foul is not given a name, body, or description of what he looks like. He has these servants that can morph into anything they want. Most of the people that serve Lord Foul are  ugly and enjoy killing.

One thing I picked up on was how the ring would change color between night and day which was signifying good and evil. It also put emphasis on the fight going on inside Thomas' mind because he is unsure on what to do .

For Thomas, he is definitely a broken man throughout the story and is in need of friendship, but refuses to show emotion or open up with anyone. This begins to hurt him greatly as the story plays out. So he fills himself with rage and cuts himself off from the world thinking on nothing but his disease. He pushes everyone away and has pushed himself to hate and anger so long that he has no ability to cry. A piece of his humanity is gone. He feels sure that he can't survive if he looses his hate because that is the thing that has kept him safe for so long.

There is so many things that Thomas has to unravel. He has no idea why he has found himself in the land, or what this Lord Foul wants, if it is a dream or not and what decision he has to make in the end. The destroy the land or to save it.