The Sirens of Titan is the story of wealthy and fortunate 22nd-century industrialist Malachi Constant. The science-fiction novel deals with a Martian invasion of Earth, Constant's quest to find the source of his seemingly inexplicable luck, and his ruminations on ideas like human agency, the all-knowing nature of God, and the purpose of the existence of the human species. Constant survives the conquest of Earth and becomes an intergalactic wanderer drawn into a much larger mystery.
The Sirens of Titan largely deals with questions of free will, with multiple characters being stripped of it and the revelation that humanity had been secretly manipulated for millennia for an inane purpose playing major roles in the story. Free will and the lack thereof became major themes in Vonnegut's later novels, especially Slaughterhouse-Five (1969) and Breakfast of Champions (1972). More broadly speaking, lack of agency has been a hallmark of Vonnegut's novels, with the protagonists struggling against forces they can never overcome and often can't comprehend. None of the characters in The Sirens of Titan have chosen to be in their position, but are driven by forces and wills beside their own, and can do no more than try to make the best of it.
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